Ian Fleming was certainly no gun expert. Many here are probably aware that Geoffrey Boothroyd wrote Fleming a letter correcting some of his errors. In return, Fleming--who had a wicked sense of humor--bestowed upon Boothroyd the title of "official armourer to 007". And "Major Boothroyd" appeared in print, when M took away Bond's .25 Beretta . . . although some would quarrel with its replacement, a .32 Walther.
I had the opportunity to see another example of Fleming's sense of humor concerning his fictional secret agent. Fleming knew former CIA director Allen Dulles from WWII days. He always sent Dulles an inscribed copy of the latest Bond book. They're part of the CIA's Historical Intelligence Collection. The book that came out shortly after JFK fired Dulles--I believe it was either "The Spy Who Loved Me" or "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"--had a particularly interesting inscription: "To my old friend Allen Dulles, who no longer has access to this information."
Last edited by L. Brown; 08/22/19 09:26 AM.
