Ian Fleming and Operation Golden Eye: Keeping Spain out of World War II

by Mark Simmons

"Detailed [...] readers with a deep interest in WWII will find this rewarding." ― Publishers Weekly

This book tells the story of the various Allied operations and schemes instigated to keep Spain and Portugal out of WWII, which included the widespread bribery of high ranking Spanish officials and the duplicity of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr.

Ian Fleming and Alan Hillgarth were the architects of Operation Golden Eye, the sabotage and disruption scheme that would be put in place had Germany invaded Spain. Fleming visited the Iberian Peninsula and Tangiers several times during the war, arguably his greatest achievement in WWII and the closest he came to being a real secret agent. It was these visits which supplied much of the background material for his fiction - Fleming even called his home on Jamaica where he created 007 'Goldeneye.'

The book begins with Hitler's dilemma about which way to move and his meeting with Francisco Franco at Hendaye in October 1940, a major turning point in the war when an alliance between Germany and Spain seemed possible. Simmons explores the British reaction to this, with Operation Tracer being created by Admiral Godfrey, head of Naval Intelligence. This was a plan to leave a listening and observation post buried in the Rock of Gibraltar should it have fallen to the Germans. A chapter is also devoted to Portugal – the SIS and SOE operations there and the vital Wolfram wars. Operation Golden Eye was eventually put on standby in 1943 as the risk of the Nazis occupying Spain was much reduced. Simmons consulted Foreign Office, SOE, CIA and OKW files when writing this book.

Genres: Military Fiction, History

216 pages, Paperback

First published November 19, 2018

Reviews

[John Purvis]

"Ian Fleming and Operation Golden Eye" eBook was published in 2018 and was written by Mark Simmons. Mr. Simmons has published a dozen books. 

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘G’. This is the true story of novelist Ian Fleming and the work he did during World War II for British Intelligence to keep Spain from entering the war as an ally to Germany. 

While the focus is on how Spain was convinced to stay out of the war, many of the exploits of Fleming and other intelligence agents are shown to be the basis for his later fictional intelligence agent, James Bond. I was a fan of Fleming's Bond novels and found this background information a bonus to the World War II era history. This non-fiction book goes into great detail as to the efforts of the British to keep Spain neutral. 

I enjoyed the 7.5 hours I spent reading this 256-page non-fiction account of World War II intrigue. I thought it was a little chaotic at the beginning and jumped around a bit. As with many non-fiction historical books, there were many names, places, and dates mentioned. Despite this, I still feel that it was a very readable book. This is one aspect of World War II that I had not previously known much about. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/. 

[Martin Koenigsberg]

In Ian Fleming and Operation Golden Eye: Keeping Spain Out of World War II, Mark Simmons, a former RM Commando and writer on Military topics seems to have written two different books and tried to make them one. This book is very interesting and informative when it stays on the topic of the very real danger of Spain entering WWII on the Axis side and the various schemes and programs Britain and later the Britain and the US came up with and executed to accomplish that neutrality. It falters hugely when Simmons tries to discuss Ian Fleming as some sort of great author whose works are worthy of deep reflection. Ian Fleming was a key staff member in British Naval Intelligence, and did some good work in developing No 30 Commando, the "Smash and Grab " unit the British set up to plunder key technology and code materials from the Axis, but his role was one of subordinate gate keeper and "Idea Man" for more important minds during the war. Trying to see any depth or greatness in the series of trashy spy fantasy novels he wrote in the 1950s and 1960s is largely a fools errand- and the book correspondingly lags greatly whenever Simmons lingers too long on that tip.

The James Bond short stories and books were a smash success as films precisely because they were fantastical tales of derring-do that bore little resemblance to real spy craft and the actual hard work of intelligence gathering. They worked as entertainment during the Cold War because they were the antithesis of the eternal vigilance and quiet record keeping that the real confrontation demanded- as well as having simple plots and actual closure - both mostly absent from real life . Franco, the winner of the Spanish Civil War and of the game of musical chairs within the Spanish Military went into WWII with a nation and military exhausted by their own war from 1936-1939- in no shape to tangle with the British Empire that could take his overseas possessions at will with their Navy or the USA that could out produce any three world opponents with industrial and financial might. His country needed massive outside help- not a new war of aggression - even if helped greatly by the German and/or the Italians- the other Fascist states who courted him. Inside his own country he had to deal with a Fascist Party who were to his right- and a populace who wanted recovery far more than conquest. He might have been a reactionary murderer, but he was a realist who wanted to focus on consolidation of power. The British did not have to do a lot of convincing- they just had to remind the Caudillo of his essential weakness on the world stage- whilst it was the Germans and Italians who were trying to get him to leap out of his comfort zone. When the book deals in these truths- it is at its best and quite interesting. So a qualified recommendation from this reviewer.

There are a lot of adult themes (sex, both commercial and otherwise illicit, drinking, and lying), but few graphic violence passages, so this would be a good read for the Junior Reader over about 13/14 years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, a pretty mixed bag. For the Gamer who wants to game Spain as a Axis ally, German plans to take over Spain, British moves to stop it, or the mooted Spanish attack on Gibraltar that was a contingency plan of the German High Command, there is ample information on those here. For the Modeler, less information although some novel and engaging dioramas might come to mind from the text. The Military Enthusiast will find a lot of very interesting plots, plans and programs tried by all sides in this dance- many of which are quite informing to one's understanding of WWII. Stay clear of the Fleming adulation and there is good book here- give in to it at your peril as a thinking reader.

[Al Berry]

A better book than I hoped, in that it doesn’t follow Ian Fleming too much, but more a focus on all efforts to keep Spain out of world war 2, with occasional references to what Fleming was doing.

Author puts a lot of information in the book but he isn’t the best writer, and has some bad segues, jumping around characters in a very strange manner.

Admiral Carnais was probably the man most responsible for keeping Spain out of the War, I didn’t realize until this book how grateful Franco was, they brought Carnais’s widow out of Germany where she was destitute, gave her a villa and comfortable pension in Spain.

[Alice]

I saved this for a short break in Gibraltar, which made it all a lot more real. There are places where the writing could be tighter, but it's a well-researched and thrilling story of an area of the war that is often overlooked.