A Notable Canadian------Sir William Stephenson (1896-1989 )

[1938 Observer]

The Man Who Won World War II?
A Man Called "Intrepid"


Obituary: "Intrepid" - Sir William Stephenson
Time, Feb. 13, 1989, page 76
DIED. William Stephenson, 93, Canadian-born master spy to whom Winston Churchill gave the code name Intrepid; in Bermuda. Protean in his exploits, Stephenson served as a captain in the trenches and then as an ace pilot during World War I. In the 1920s he invented a method for sending pictures by radio waves. Stephenson directed British intelligence operations in the western hemisphere in World War II, notably the breaking of Nazi ciphers and the disruption of German atomic experiments.
During World War II, William Stephenson set up Great Britain's spy operations in the Western Hemisphere and coordinated the exchange of intelligence between Great Britain and the United States. In this capacity, he also served as a trusted and confidential intermediary between Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Stephenson's influence extended to helping shape U.S. wartime intelligence and special operations capabilities, namely the OSS, later the CIA.

Among the operations undertaken by Stephenson and his New York City based operation was the neutralization of Axis spies, including assassination of Nazi agents with hit and run automobile "accidents" and shooting another through the window of an office building. Such accounts helped inspire the modern spy novels, including the popular James Bond series written by fellow British spy Ian Fleming.

A detailed account of Stephenson's life and exploits can be found in a book titled A Man Called Intrepid by William Stevenson, no relation.

Read a full account at the link.



http://www.personainternet.com/hjtoby/intrep.html

[1938 Observer]

Re: A Notable Canadian------Sir William Stephenson (1896-1989 )

A MAN CALLED INTREPID (1979)
Based on the best-selling book by William Stevenson, this begins in 1939, just before the outbreak of WWII. With his warnings of Hitler's treachery going ignored, out-of-power politician Winston Churchill approaches patriotic Canadian industrialist Sir William Stephenson with an unusual request. Sir William is asked to use his own funds to secretly organize an Allied espionage network, to be set in motion the moment Hitler shows his hand. Joining in this covert operation is American president Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, risking possible impeachment, encourages Sir William to establish a training base for spies in Ontario. Other concerned parties include the courageous French expatriate Madelaine and Sir William's right-hand man Evan Michaelain.



A Man Called Intrepid (Peter Carter 1979) David Niven Barbara Hershey Gayle Hunnicutt Simon York

[1938 Observer]

Re: A Notable Canadian------Sir William Stephenson (1896-1989 )

Obituaries New York Times.By ALBIN KREBS
Published: February 03, 1989

William Stephenson, British Spy Known as Intrepid, Is Dead at 93
Sir William Stephenson, the Canadian-born millionaire industrialist whose adventures as Britain's World War II chief of intelligence in the Western Hemisphere were chronicled in the 1979 bestseller ''A Man Called Intrepid'' died Tuesday in Paget, Bermuda. He was 93 years old. Sir William, who had been living in retirement in Bermuda and Jamaica for many years, was given the code name Intrepid by Winston Churchill because long before his cloak-and-dagger days began he had been one of Britain's top fighter pilots in World War I, an inventor and a financier.

Operating out of a suite in Rockefeller Center in New York, Sir William sometimes served as a go-between for Churchill and Roosevelt and was sent potential American intelligence agents for training at secret bases in Canada. Helped Organize O.S.S. He also helped in the organization of the United States' wartime intelligence operation, the Office of Strategic Services, whose head, Maj. Gen. William J. (Wild Bill) Donovan, later said: 'Bill Stephenson taught us all we ever knew about foreign intelligence.''
William Samuel Stephenson was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Jan. 11, 1896.

In 1914 he dropped out of college to join the Royal Canadian Engineers and suffered gas poisoning in France. He later said he faked his medical history to join the Royal Flying Corps and flew into action after only five hours of flight instruction. He was credited with shooting down 26 enemy planes and won Britain's Distinguished Flying Cross and the French Croix de Guerre.

Eventually the young pilot was himself shot down and imprisoned. Before he escaped from prison camp, William Stephenson came across an ingenious can-opener that had been patented only in Germany. After the war he adapted it, obtained patents worldwide and made it the cornerstone of a future fortune. Millionaire and a Boxer

Before he was 30 years old he had become a millionaire, with a finger in the manufacture of radios, phonographs, automobiles and airplanes. He was also in the construction, real estate, and steel businesses, and had invented the first device for sending photographs by radio. He also won the European lightweight boxing championship.
When Hitler was preparing for World War II, William Stephenson, under cover of his own business operations in Germany, gathered intelligence on Nazi steel, arms, and munitions production and passed the information on to an unofficial intelligence network that reported to Churchill, then out of office but soon to become First Sea Lord and then Prime Minister.

''That was my only training in espionage,'' Sir William later recalled, but in 1940 Churchill sent Intrepid to New York with the title of British Passports Control Officer. After the United States got into the war he became British Security Coordinator for the Western Hemisphere.

Reminiscing about his wartime service, Sir William said that in addition to serving as a link between Churchill and Roosevelt and supervising the training of Americans for intelligence work, he operated a spy network that uncovered the activities of Axis agents in South America and provided valuable information to Washington and London on the movements of Vichy French operatives. Knighted in 1946
Afterward he liked to pass off his job as ''80 percent paperwork,'' but in 1946 the British honored him with a knighthood and the Americans presented him the Medal for Merit, then the United States' highest civilian award. The medal's citation, signed by Truman, said Sir William ''gave timely and invaluable aid to the American war effort.''

After the appearance of ''A Man Called Intrepid,'' written by the similarly named William Stevenson, some of Sir William's recollections were contested by Churchill's private secretary, John Colville.

Mr. Colville, in his 1981 book ''Winston Churchill and His Inner Circle,'' said that foremost among Sir William's false assertions were that he was a constant liaison between Churchill and Roosevelt and that he was in constant contact with Churchill on intelligence and military matters.

Sir William replied: ''Those charges are completely untrue, absolute nonsense.''

After the war Sir William joined with several wartime associates, including General Donovan and former Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, to form the World Commerce Corporation, which provided tools, machinery and technical information to developing countries to set up industries.

Sir William, who was buried yesterday in Bermuda, is survived by a daughter, Elizabeth, and a grandson, Rhys. A spokesman for the family declined to give their surname.
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/03/ob...anted=2&src=pm

[1938 Observer]

Re: A Notable Canadian------Sir William Stephenson (1896-1989 )

The True Intrepid


Churchill's secret weapon.
Nazi Germany's greatest foe.
Ian Fleming's inspiration.

Discover how a hardware salesman from Canada changed the fate of nations and helped win World War Two. Sir Winston Churchill once said, "In war, the truth is so valuable that it must be protected by a bodyguard of lies." At the outset of WWII, in the face of Nazi aggression and American apathy, the British PM required facts and fiction to achieve his goal of defending Great Britain. Churchill trusted one man above all others to generate both. That man was Sir William Stephenson, The True Intrepid.

Stephenson changed the course of the Twentieth Century, yet even after his death he remains firmly in the shadows. From his early family life in Winnipeg to heroic deeds on the front lines of World War One, to his pivotal role during the cold war, Stephenson blazed a trail so unique that history is divided on how he should be remembered.

Previous accounts of his life have been rife with factual errors, no accident when you consider Stephenson himself once said, "Nothing deceives like a document."

Now, for the first time ever, comes an accurate account of his work outside the established intelligence community where, under the guise of British Passport Control, his agents perfected coding, forgery, counter-espionage and propaganda, all with the intent of defeating Hitler's military juggernaut.

In this hour-long documentary, the life of a master spy is examined more closely than ever before. Recently declassified documents and intimate personal reflections from Stephenson's family, operatives, agents, and the former Chief Historian for the CIA offer new insight into a man who took most of his deeds to the grave.

[1938 Observer]

Re: A Notable Canadian------Sir William Stephenson (1896-1989 )

Winnipeg honours spymaster Intrepid

Water Street renamed for wartime spymaster

By JASON HALSTEAD, SUN MEDIA

The Winnipeg Sun November 16, 2009


A downtown street has a new name to honour Winnipeg's spymaster supreme.

Water Street has been renamed William Stephenson Way in honour of Winnipeg's celebrated Second World War intelligence operative.

Sir William Stephenson, who was born in Point Douglas in 1897 and died in 1989 at age 92, ran an elaborate spy operation for British prime minister Winston Churchill during the Second World War while co-ordinating classified information passed between Britain and the U.S. and breaking enemy codes. He was codenamed Intrepid after the telegraph address of his wartime office.

City council recently approved the change of name for the downtown street. Dignitaries, relatives and members of the intelligence community gathered yesterday for the renaming ceremony.

"I thinks it's great and that it's going to start more conversations about him and his life and about his importance in the history of Canada and the world," said Kristin Stefansson, a first cousin twice-removed of Stephenson.

Intrepid was the inspiration for James Bond, the fictional Agent 007 of author Ian Fleming's spy novels and movies, and he also established Camp X, a secret spy school in Whitby, Ont., where about 2,000 Canadian, U.S. and British agents were trained during the Second World War before being surreptitiously sent into Nazi-occupied Europe. He is also credited for playing a role in the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency in the U.S.

"I had the good fortune of knowing Sir William before he died and he was quite a remarkable guy in many ways -- in American history as well as in Canadian and British history," said retired CIA member and U.S. Army Col. Cordell Hart. "Thank goodness Winnipeg remembers Sir William."

Winnipegger Bill Macdonald, author of The True Intrepid: Sir William Stephenson and the Unknown Agents, said it's great to see Intrepid getting his due.

"I think it's great he's finally getting recognition in Winnipeg," Macdonald said. "He was from here, and many people didn't know he was. He was a very important character to the world we live in today."

jason.halstead@sunmedia.ca


http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2...59756-sun.html

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More information on 'The True Intrepid' - a book of secrets about Canada's greatest spymaster - William Stephenson - and the secret organization he created

This particular one is a great website with a number of interesting links. http://www.trueintrepid.com/

[1938 Observer]

Re: A Notable Canadian------Sir William Stephenson (1896-1989 )

The History of Camp X



History
We all know that many Canadians fought with the Allied forces to defend democracy during the Second World War. Many of these people were killed or wounded and all made tremendous sacrifices serving their country.

Not so well known are the contributions made by a small, but unique, group of Canadians who served the cause of freedom in a different way—those who volunteered to be “secret agents.” These brave men and women worked behind enemy lines, in German-occupied Europe and Japanese-occupied Asia, supporting the efforts of the underground resistance movements. These resistance movements were made up of local people fighting against fascist powers trying to take over their countries.


http://www.campxhistoricalsociety.ca/history.htm


Forgotten Truths About Camp X

On the shores of Lake Ontario, a Second World War spy school flourished http://tpn.hfradio.net/CampX.html


and one more interesting article...............................

CAMP X — Canada’s secret spy school
by Bruce ForsythDownload article (PDF Version)

Related Photos

Despite the current mission in Afghanistan, many Canadians still think of Canada as a peacekeeping nation. Our military personnel have served or are currently serving on numerous missions world-wide as members of UN and NATO peacekeeping forces. However, during the Second World War, Canada played a significant role in many aspects of the war effort and distinguished itself in numerous battles and campaigns. Not well publicized though, was Canada’s contribution to “Secret War”: Camp X.

read on.................... http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/commun/...ng.asp?id=3350


and

Camp-X Official Site

http://webhome.idirect.com/~lhodgson/camp-x.htm