Charles Fraser-Smith
Charles Fraser-Smith | |
|---|---|
| Chief of Q Devices Section XV, Special Operations Executive | |
| In office 1940–1945 | |
| Quartermaster (Q) civil servant, CT6, Ministry of Supply | |
| In office 1939–1992 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 January 1904 |
| Died | 9 November 1992 (aged 88) |
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Charles Fraser-Smith (26 January 1904 – 9 November 1992) was an author and one-time missionary who is widely credited as being the inspiration for Ian Fleming's James Bond quartermaster Q. During World War II, Fraser-Smith worked for the Ministry of Supply, fabricating equipment nicknamed "Q-devices" (after Q-ships) for SOE agents operating in occupied Europe. His office also collaborated in many projects alongside the American Stan Lovell and the OSS R&D Branch in devices to be fielded by the US military. Prior to the war, Fraser-Smith had worked as a missionary in North Africa. After the war he purchased a dairy farm in Burrington, Devon, where he died in 1992.