CAMP X The true story of what went on behind the fences ofSTS - 103 (Camp - X) This top secret World War IISecret Agent Training School was strategically placedin Canada on the shores of Lake Ontario.
As outlined in his biography The Life of Ian Fleming written by John Pearson afterthe war, Fleming was required to take the same training as the Camp - X Agentsin order to realize the effect of the process and to have a better appreciation forwhat the Agents endured. On one occasion, he was sent inside with orders toshoot and kill the man he would find hiding in an upstairs bedroom.
Unbeknownst to Fleming, his intended target was in fact the Chief Instructor ofCamp - X, Major William Ewart Fairbairn, a man who, it was fabled, was so goodat his trade that he could dodge bullets! Pearson quotes William Stephenson,Head of the British Security Co-ordination, as having said, "It was a test of nerve....a test to decide whether he (the Agent) really was ruthless enough to kill a manwhen it came down to it." According to the account, Fleming waited outside theroom for a time, then went away. "You know, I couldn't really kill a man that way."Stephenson said Fleming apologized later. Fleming drew from this and his otherexperiences with Agents from Camp - X to write his famous 'James Bond' novels.
Frances Whelan