The need to capture one of the coding machines or Enigma material being used by the German Navy was crucial to winning the Battle of the Atlantic, in which U-boats were attacking convoys bringing essential supplies to Britain. The Allies needed to find out where the U-boats were assembling and when they might attack the convoys, but their codes were extremely difficult to break. Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, became the national centre for codebreaking.
“It would have been one of his first ‘Bond’ type plans as it was very early on in the war,” continued Terry, “when Fleming had just been recruited. They just couldn’t crack the German Naval code. The Luftwaffe’s was easy – they were just so arrogant they didn’t think their security needed to be so good! But the Navy was very strict in discipline. And at that time North Atlantic convoys were under great threat.”
Details of the plan will feature on a limited edition first day cover in the style of a book jacket, in keeping with the stamp designs, which feature different editions of Fleming’s most famous novels, such as Casino Royale and From Russia With Love.
The wording of the plan itself is highly reminiscent of the famous character – a tough bachelor and accomplished linguist, offering the tantalising idea that Bond was born at Bletchley. Fleming probably visited Bletchley during the course of the war, but any records of it are not known.
However, the reaction of key codebreakers at Bletchley, Alan Turing and Peter Twinn, to the abandoning of the plan, are recounted by Frank Birch, Head of German Naval Section at Bletchley Park.
“Turing and Twinn came to me like undertakers cheated of a nice corpse… all in a stew about the cancellation of Operation Ruthless,” he said.
The first day cover is available from Bletchley Park Post Office for £15 plus £1.50 p&p.
