Vera Atkins; British Spymaster in World War II

Vera Atkins, 92, a World War II British spymaster who is considered the inspiration for Miss Moneypenny in Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. Although Fleming never identified the real-life models for his characters, it is widely accepted that Col. Maurice Buckmaster, director of Special Operations, was the inspiration for “M,” Bond’s boss. Atkins, as principal assistant to Buckmaster, was viewed as the model for M’s secretary, Moneypenny. In her work for Buckmaster, Atkins coordinated a network of about 500 British agents who parachuted into France to sabotage the Nazi occupation. She briefed them on what to expect in France, helped concoct elaborate cover stories and false identities, and communicated with their families. Intelligent and fiercely loyal to her agents, she stood by the runway to watch each as they took off for their dangerous assignments. Once in the Nazi-occupied country, the spies were kept informed by British Broadcasting Corp.’s French Service in a series of coded messages after evening news broadcasts. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of Allied troops during the war, later called the British agents Atkins coordinated “the equivalent of 15 [troop] divisions.” After the war, Atkins traveled to Germany to investigate the fate of the 118 agents who never returned. She traced all but one, all dead, and gathered evidence to prosecute their killers for war crimes. Unknown to her, the 118th missing agent had been a compulsive gambler and vanished not far from Monte Carlo while carrying 3 million francs of Secret Service money. Born Vera Maria Rosenberg in Bucharest, Romania, she moved to England in 1933 and adopted the surname of her English mother. She was educated at the Sorbonne, and her years in Paris equipped her for her special wartime role. France named her a commander of the French Legion of Honor, and Queen Elizabeth II made her a Commander of the British Empire. On Saturday in London.