Ian Fleming's biographers say that he was promoted to Commander RNVR in 1940. He was still Lieutenant (Sp) RNVR when he was in France in June 1940; someone who met him then ran into him again in New York later 'by this time he was a Lieutenant Commander.' In the Navy List, May 1944 he is listed as Commander (Act). Can anyone tell please me if he would have worn Wavy Navy Commander's braid, as he appears to have been only an Acting Commander.
Acting rank gives one the pay, allowances and insignia of that rank. So Fleming would have had the braid of a Commander. Wiki gives: In May 1939 Fleming was recruited by Rear Admiral John Godfrey, Director of Naval Intelligence of the Royal Navy, to become his personal assistant. He joined the organisation full-time in August 1939,[23] with the codename "17F",[24] and worked out of Room 39 at The Admiralty.[25] Fleming's biographer, Andrew Lycett, notes that Fleming had "no obvious qualifications" for the role.[1] As part of his appointment, Fleming was commissioned into the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in July 1939,[23] initially as lieutenant,[25] but promoted to commander a few months later.[26]. The London Gazette would no doubt give the actual dates of promotion. Tim
UK, Navy Lists, 1888-1970 Name: Ian Lancaster Fleming Year: 1944 Book Title: Navy List: February, 1944, Vol. II Archive Name: Peter Singlehurst TD
Photo of Ian Fleming in uniform. Stripes look more like a Commander's than a Lt Commander as per caption. Cocktails, Casino and Canard: Ian Fleming and the Birth of Bond Tim
Thank you all, that sorts that out. I will go through the Navy Lists to see if I can find when he was promoted. Strange that he seems to have leap frogged ranks, never Sub Lieutenant and never Lieutenant Commander. HMS Galatea's passenger list has only one RNVR officer, a Lieutenant; as he was reported as leaving St Jean de Luz on that ship, I assume that that was him.
Award of King Christian X Liberty Medal Interesting. Looks as though by 1947 he had reverted to Lt Commander. He must have been promoted from substantive Lieutenant sometime between 1944 and 1947. Page 5597 | Supplement 38132, 21 November 1947 | London Gazette | The Gazette Tim
Tim, Thanks. Unfortunately the online Navy Lists at the National Library of Scotland site only seem to start at August 1940; then Fleming I L (NID) was an Acting Lt Cdr. An online search has produced the June list, which is rather difficult to read/use; but Fleming I L was at that time L(Lieutenant) (Sp), which ties in with what I gathered from other sources.
Further info from Navy Lists shows: 1941 Lt (Acting Lt Cdr) (Special Branch) RNVR 1942 Lt (Acting Commander) (Special Branch) RNVR 1946 Lt (Acting Commander) (Special Branch) RNVR 1948 Lt Cdr (Special Branch) RNVR Seniority 26 July 1947 1958 Lt Cdr RN Volunteer Supplementary Reserve, London Division Tim
A little more: Ian Fleming arrived in France by RAF aircraft on 13 June, landing at a deserted airfield near Chateaudun, between Orleans and Le Man, during an air raid. He was accompanied by 'his orderly'? He travelled to Tours with the diamond banker Paul Timbal; part way in a naval truck, which was loaded with Admiral Darlan's champagne - which the matelots were consuming! Fleming did not go into Paris, as he claimed. He then went on to Bordeaux, Le Verdon, Arcachon and St Jean de Luz; telling at least two groups of nurses that he was singlehandedly organising the evacuation (Aerial), as the staff of the consulate had fled (not true). He later met one of the groups in St Jean de Luz and told them that he was organising a 'liner' to evacuate them! He was one of about a dozen people who were evacuated on HMS Galatea on 24 June. A man with a vivid imagination, even then! Diamonds, Heavy Water and HMS Galatea all crop up in his books.
This fits with the info from the London Gazette: Page 5675 | Issue 34656, 18 August 1939 | London Gazette | The Gazette R.N.V.R. I. L. Fleming to be Lieut. (Sp.). 26th July 1939. Page 3983 | Issue 38052, 22 August 1947 | London Gazette | The Gazette R.N.V.R. Actg. Lt.-Cdr. (Sp.) I. L. FLEMING, to be Lt.-Cdr. (Sp.). 26th July 1947. Page 5149 | Issue 39657, 30 September 1952 | London Gazette | The Gazette R.N.V.R. Lt.-Cdr. (Sp.) I. L. FLEMING, removed from Active List. 16th Aug. 1952. Michel
I hade been trying to correct the Wikipedia article on Ian Fleming for a couple of years; the 'editors' seem to prefer Lycett's account rather than the Navy List or the London Gazette! So much for historians.
Roy, earlier Navy Lists, evidently sourced from the National Library of Scotland, are available from here: Internet Archive Search: navy list 1939
See also: Ian Fleming - Wikipedia Person Page His brothers: 47986 Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Peter FLEMING, OBE, MiD, Grenadier Guards 53203 Major Richard Evelyn FLEMING, MC, Lovat Scouts & Auxiliary Units 68350 Captain Michael Valentine Paul FLEMING, MiD**, 4 Ox & Bucks: 01/10/1940 Their father: Valentine Fleming, DSO, MP — Magdalen War Memorial Major Valentine Fleming | War Casualty Details 337500 | CWGC MAJOR VALENTINE FLEMING Awards Distinguished Service Order, Twice Mentioned in Despatches Regiment & Unit: "C" Sqdn., Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars Date of Death: 20 May 1917 Age 35 years old Buried or commemorated at TEMPLEUX-LE-GUERARD BRITISH CEMETERY Grave Reference: II. E. 40. Location: France Additional Info" Son of Robert Fleming; husband of Evelyn C. Fleming, of 118, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London. Member of Parliament for South Oxon, and father of Ian Fleming the creator of "James Bond, Secret Agent 007". Personal Inscription: THE HEIGHTS HOLD PEACE