M History, References, SPECTRE

Peringue/Goltz the French heavy-water specialist/scientist.

… the assassination of Peringue, the French heavy-water specialist who went over to the Communists through Berlin, added, thanks to the importance of his knowledge and the fact that we got him before he had talked, one billion francs from the Deuxième Bureau.

Fleming, Ian. Thunderball (James Bond) (p. 54).

Mathis admits now that Goltz, that French heavy-water scientist who went over last year, was assassinated by them, for big money, for big money, as a result of an offer he got out of the blue.

Fleming, Ian. Thunderball (James Bond) (p. 75).

Interesting passages here in Thunderball, about 20 pages apart. Are we to believe that S.P.E.C.T.R.E. assassinated two French heavy water specialists/scientists who had defected to the communists for Mathis, or are they the same person, and Fleming just got the name mixed up?

What even is a heavy-water specialist? What is Heavy Water? From PBS.org:

Heavy water is a form of water with a unique atomic structure and properties coveted for the production of nuclear power and weapons. Like ordinary water—H20—each molecule of heavy water contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The difference, though, lies in the hydrogen atoms. In ordinary water, each hydrogen atom has just a single proton in its nucleus. In heavy water, each hydrogen atom is indeed heavier, with a neutron as well as a proton in its nucleus. This isotope of hydrogen is called deuterium, and heavy water’s more scientific name is deuterium oxide, abbreviated as D20.

That same page notes:

To Norwegian Resistance fighters during World War II, heavy water was a mysterious substance considered so perilous that they were willing, under orders from the Special Operations Executive in London, to sacrifice the lives of their countrymen in order to keep it out of Nazi hands.

Heavy Water also called deuterium oxide, is used in some nuclear reactors to slow down the pace of neutrons as they split, allowing for a more consistent flow of energy.

As this page shows, (under Heavy Water in Europe) French scientists in the 1940s were front and center with the research into heavy water and its uses and also had to take steps to keep their research out of German hands. Nothing is said about any of them attempting to defect to the communists.

in 2016 there was a Norwegian limited run series called The Heavy Water War, which recounts “one of the most compelling stories of World War II: British intelligence and the Norwegian military’s heroic struggle to thwart Nazi Germany’s atomic bomb ambitions by sabotaging the heavy water plant in Rjukan, Norway.”

M Caribbean, References

The Pipe of Peace

The girl gave a cheerful wave of a sunburned hand, raced up the street in second, and stopped in front of The Pipe of Peace, the Dunhills of Nassau.

Fleming, Ian. Thunderball (James Bond) (p. 112).

In Thunderball, James Bond gets his first view of Domino Vitali as she enters the tobacconist’s shop The Pipe of Peace looking for a cigarette so disgusting it will make her stop smoking.

Bond introduces himself as “the world’s authority on giving up smoking” as he does it “constantly.”

After Bond purchases a carton of “Dukes, king-size with filter” for her, they step outside and agree to go have a drink together.

This was a real tobacconist shop at the time of the writing of the novel and for many years before and after. It appears to have closed sometime in the last decade. The photo from the header of this post is from 1962.

M Caribbean, History, References

The 72-lb Silver Bar on Gorda Cay

Every year, treasure hunts for these and other ships are carried out among the Southern Bahamas. No one can guess how much, if anything, has been recovered, but every-one in Nassau knows of the 72-lb. silver bar recovered by two Nassau businessmen off Gorda Cay in 1950, and since presented to the Nassau Development Board, in whose offices it is permanently on view.

Fleming, Ian. Thunderball (James Bond) (p. 107).

Treasure hunts are referenced several times in the James Bond novels. The incident described above is real.

As Fleming described, two Nassau businessmen, Howard Lightbourn and Roscoe Thompson recovered a 72-lb silver bar off of Gorda Cay in 1950. The bar was dated to 1652 and was the property of King Philip IV of Spain.

For many years the bar was indeed displayed at the offices of the Nassau Development Board.

The Development Board was replaced by the Tourism Board, and the current whereabouts of the bar is unknown. (I’ve made an inquiry with the Tourism Board about this.)

The Island is small, approximately 1000 acres in size. It was first inhabited in 1783, and has had a colorful history of pirates, bootleggers and drug runners.

Looking for Gorda Cay on a map today? You won’t find it. In 1997, The Walt Disney Company purchased a 99-year lease on the island and renamed it Castaway Cay. It is now a stop for the Disney Cruise Line.

M Products, References

Tannoy

The Tannoy switched off with an echoing click.

Again the Tannoy buzzed and echoed. ‘Transamerica regrets to announce a delay on their flight TR 618 to New York due to a mechanical defect.’

Goldfinger Chapter one

Tannoy Ltd is a British manufacturer of loudspeakers and public-address systems.

The company was founded in 1926 by Guy R. Fountain as Tulsemere manufacturing company, and was rebranded two years later as “Tannoy”, – derived from the materials used in the manufacture of its rectifiers (Tantalum / Lead Alloy).

The company quickly became a leading manufacturer of loudspeakers and public address systems, so much so that by 1946 “Tannoy” became synonymous with public address systems, and its name was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

The company remains in business to this day.

M Florida, New York, References, Travel

National Airlines, “Airline of the Stars”

‘National Airlines, “Airline of the Stars”, announces the departure of their flight NA 106 to La Guardia Field, New York. Will all passengers please proceed to gate number seven. All aboard, please.’

Goldfinger, Chapter one

James Bond is in Miami Airport awaiting his Transamerica flight to New York, when he hears the above announcement of a flight from a competing airline.

National Airlines was a major passenger airline which operated from 1934 until 1980 when it was taken over by Pan Am. The slogan “Airline of the Stars” appeared on the planes and was used throughout the 1950’s in reference to Hollywood movie stars flying on the airline. In 1964 they changed the slogan to “Coast to Coast to Coast.”

In 1958, National became the first Airline to fly jets domestically in the United States, first going from New York to Florida, using a Boeing 707.

We’re not told the time that Bond is in the airport, but a look at a 1958 National Airlines flight table tells us that NA Flight 106 left Miami at 10:00PM and arrived in New York at 2:55AM. But as you see, the flight did not go to La Guardia Field, but rather to Idlewild (now JFK).

(It took me a bit to figure out how to read the table.)
M Mexico, References

Capungo

And yet there had been something curiously impressive about the death of the Mexican. It wasn’t that he hadn’t deserved to die. He was an evil man, a man they call in Mexico a capungo. A capungo is a bandit who will kill for as little as forty pesos, which is about twenty-five shillings—though probably he had been paid more to attempt the killing of Bond—and, from the look of him, he had been an instrument of pain and misery all his life.

Goldfinger, Chapter One

Easy entry here, as Ian Fleming defines the term for us. In the context here, it simply means a cheap hitman or assassin.

FInding the actual term in use was a bit more difficult. I didn’t think Fleming just made it up, but I couldn’t find any references to it, other than it being the name given to a minor villain in a motion picture.

Then, on about the 10th page of Google results, I came across a page entitled “The dialect of São João da Chapada: Possible remains of a mining language in Minas Gerais, Brazil” listed among the words was:

Searching Kapiangu brought me to the Portuguese term “Capiango” which is defined as “pessoa que rouba com destreza” – literally translated means “bad person who steals with dexterity.” In Spanish, it can be translated to “clever thief”, or simply thief.

“Bad person” fits with Fleming’s description that this was an “evil man.”

Could Ian Fleming have meant Capiango instead of Capungo? Or had he heard Capungo used in the context in which he uses it here in Goldfinger?

If anyone has further information, I’d love to hear from you.

As for the price of 40 pesos or 25 shillings, the current value of that would be 1.43 GBP or $2.03 USD. Adjusting for inflation from 1958 to to 2021, that would about 13.35 GBP or $18.91 USD.

M Florida, Travel

Miami Airport

JAMES BOND, with two double bourbons inside him, sat in the final departure lounge of Miami Airport and thought about life and death.

Goldfinger, Chapter One

Goldfinger begins with James Bond at the Miami Airport, drinking bourbon following an unpleasant assignment in Mexico.

There has been an airport on the current site of Miami International Airport since the 1920’s.

It is the largest connection in the United States south to the Caribbean and Latin America, which is how Bond found himself there. Some early airlines which were prominent there included Pan American, Eastern Airlines and National Airlines.

Here is a good look back at the history of Miami International Airport. It has many vintage photos of the era when Bond visited.

Here is some 1960 footage from inside the Miami Airport:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGMoHjjXZI4
M Cars

Sunbeam Alpine Talbot

I’ve got you a car, Sunbeam Talbot coupé. New tyres. Fast. Right car for these roads.

Live and Let Die, chapter 16

At the tail of the line stood the black Sunbeam Alpine of Commander John Strangways, RN (Ret.), Regional Control Officer for the Caribbean–or, less discreetly, the local representative of the British Secret Service.

DR NO, chapter 1

They got to the car. It was a black Sunbeam Alpine. Bond looked sharply at it and then at the number plate. Strangways’s car. What the hell? “Where did you get this, Quarrel?”

DR NO, chapter 4

See they look the part and send them off in the Sunbeam with the roof down. Right?”

DR NO, chapter 5

The Gleaner said that a Sunbeam Talbot, H. 2473, had been involved in a fatal accident on the Devil’s Racecourse, a stretch of winding road between Spanish Town and Ochos Rio–on the Kingston-Montego route. A runaway lorry, whose driver was being traced, had crashed into the Sunbeam as it came round a bend. Both vehicles had left the road and hurtled into the ravine below.

DR NO, chapter 7

The car’s outside. You remember Strangways? Well, it’s his old Sunbeam Alpine. The Station bought it, and now I use it. It’s a bit aged, but it’s still pretty fast and it won’t let you down. It’s rather bashed about, so it won’t be conspicuous. The tank’s full, and I’ve put the survey map in the glove compartment.”

The Man with the Golden Gun, Chapter 4

The various descriptions above have me a little confused as to whether Fleming is saying that the car that Strangways brought to Bond in Live and Let Die, is the same car Strangways still had in Dr No, and was still around for the events of The Man With The Golden Gun.

There are several factors here which bear pondering. In LALD, the car is described as a “Sunbeam Talbot coupé.” A 1951 model of this car is shown here:

Sunbeam Talbot drophead coupe 1951

The first two descriptions in Dr No describe Strangways car as a “Sunbeam Alpine” which was a two-seater sports car manufactured by Sunbeam-Talbot from 1953 – 1955 and then again from 1959 – 1968. Of the first series, (which would’ve been the car described in Dr No) only 1,582 were made. Outside of the UK, US and Canada, only 175 were sent to other world markets.

Sunbeam Alpine 1953 -1955

Despite the similarities, there are some differences here, namely that the Alpine (which to add the the confusion here was also known as the “Talbot” Alpine) was a true open car, it had no roll-up windows or roof. You’ll recall that Bond instructed Quarrel to send the two men “off in the Sunbeam with the roof down. Right?”

If this was a true Alpine, it had no roof to put down. There were snap-on roofs (and windows) available, but Bond’s direction was to put the roof down. The Talbot, as you can see in the top picture, did have a roof that could be put up and down.

Then, after the car is sent off, Bond sees the news that the Sunbeam Talbot was in a fatal accident. You see the confusion?

Then finally, Mary Goodnight is driving Strangways old Sunbeam Alpine? So was the accident on the Devil’s Racecourse fatal to the passengers, but the car was able to be hauled out of the ravine and then salvaged to the point that it could be driven again? Goodnight does describe the car as “rather bashed about” so I guess it is possible, if not plausible.

But again, we’re back from the “Talbot” to the “Alpine.” My guess here is that Fleming did intend for the car to be the same all the way through, and that it was actually a Sunbeam Talbot, from which the Sunbeam Alpine was derived. It seems that the terms were pretty interchangeable during that decade, and most readers then would not have noticed.

M Cars

Hillman Minx

Outside the sun blazed down on the gravel sweep. The interior of the Hillman Minx was a Turkish bath. Bond’s bruised hands cringed as they took the wheel.

DR NO. Chapter 20

James Bond has just completed his report to the Acting Governor and is now set to return to Honey in Beau Desert. You’ll recall earlier in the novel, Bond had been given Strangways’ Sunbeam Alpine to drive, but had sent two men in it, posing as Bond and Quarrel down the Devil’s Racecourse, where the men and the car met an unfortunate end. (or did it?)

So now Bond has apparently been provided with a Hillman Minx to drive. The Minx is actually a very similar car to the Sunbeam, which is a badge-engineered variant. The car was a mid-sized family car from the British car maker Hillman, and was manufactured between 1931 – 1970.

A 1957 Hillman Minx
The Turkish bath interior
M References

S.S. Blanche

An aged tanker of around ten thousand tons deadweight was secured alongside the top of the T. It stood well out of the water, its deck perhaps twelve feet above the quay. The tanker was called Blanche, and the Ant of Antwerp showed at her stern.

DR. NO Chapter 19

The men from the SS Blanche would have dug him out.

DR. NO Chapter 20

Throughout his writings, Ian Fleming would include the names of his friends (and sometimes enemies) in his books.

This one makes me laugh. Blanche is a reference to Blanche Blackwell his (intimate) friend in Jamaica. Describing the fictional ship as An aged tanker of around ten thousand tons deadweight was, as Mathew Parker notes, “a sign that their relationship had reached the point of affectionate teasing”.

Blanche Blackwell