why 007 ?

stagglebeet

Why did Fleming choose the moniker 007 for Mr. Bond AND NOT ANY OTHER 00 NUMBER?

Hardyboy

Moving this to the Lit forum. . ."Site Help" is for issues you're having with the site itself, such as login troubles, etc. Carry on.

mrbond

I have often wondered that maybe 7 was his fav number

Barbel

stagglebeet wrote:

Why did Fleming choose the moniker 007 for Mr. Bond AND NOT ANY OTHER 00 NUMBER?

Various explanations/suggestions have come up over the years- here are a few:

In Martinis, Girls and Guns by Martin Sterling & Gary Morecambe (Robson Books, 2002) a friend of Fleming's (Sir John Morgan) theorises that the inspiration came from Elizabethan spy John Dee, whose code number was 007.

In James Bond- A Celebration by Peter Haining (W.H. Allen, 1987) the author suggests that the title of Kipling's short story ".007" may have been an influence in selecting the number- the story itself is about a train.

Donald McCormick's 17F The Life Of Ian Fleming (Peter Owen, 1993) discusses a few possibilities too long to detail here including more information on the John Dee mentioned above.

James St. John Smythe

Awesome post, Barbel! I think a lot had to do with John Dee. He did draw quite a bit from those real spooks.

7289

I have read IF got the "monicker" from a bus that passed by his London residence. Most likely source of the "oo" is that top secret material that passed through Naval Intelligence durning WW2 was coded "oo". Why Fleming added the "7" is probably known only to him - and he's not talking.

Barbel

Thanks for the kind words, James St. John Smythe. :007)

7289, the bus theory is one mentioned but discounted in the McCormick book. You're right as to the origins of the "00" prefix, but the original question was specifically asking about 007.