Paddy Ridsdale

Paddy Ridsdale

Dame Victoire Evelyn Patricia "Paddy" Bennett, Lady Ridsdale DBE was Ian Fleming's secretary during World War II and was the model for his character Miss Moneypenny, James Bond's loyal, long-suffering secretary. Bennett had also been Julian Ridsdale's secretary.

She was wife of Sir Julian Ridsdale and daughter-in-law of Sir Aurelian Ridsdale. She served as an intelligence operative during World War II.

It was later disclosed that she had assisted Fleming's counter-intelligence efforts during World War II. She was responsible for creating a fictitious identity for Axis consumption of a body which had turned up drowned, "The Man Who Never Was". The body was "disguise [d] as that of a naval officer, complete with totally convincing "secret" papers showing a different plan of attack ... [t] he body, appearing to be a casualty from a shot-down plane, would then be floated ashore in Spain, where local German spies would find it ... Fleming's task was to make the body totally convincing. The book covers the minute attention paid to detail, which included placing theatre tickets and love letters in 'Major Martin's' pockets ( [http://delarue.net/fleming.htm] )." Paddy Bennett wrote those love letters.

She was chairwoman of the Conservative MPs' Wives club for which she received a damehood in 1991, ten years after her husband's knighthood.

She survived her husband, who died in 2004; they had been married since 1942 and had one child, a daughter.

External links

* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/23/db2302.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/07/23/ixportal.html Sir Julian Ridsdale's obituary]
* [http://delarue.net/fleming.htm Ian Fleming bio with details re WW2 counter-intelligence and Paddy Bennett's role]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Julian Ridsdale — Sir Julian Errington Ridsdale, CBE, (8 June 1915 ndash; 21 July 2004) was a British National Liberal and later Conservative Party politician and long serving Member of Parliament for the constituency of Harwich in Essex. He took a particular… …   Wikipedia

  • Décès en décembre 2009 — Décès 1992 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 Décès en 2009 : ← Janvier Février Mars Avril Mai J …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of World War II topics (P) — # P 15 Termit # P 59 Airacomet # P 61 Black Widow # P 80 Shooting Star # P 4 class torpedo boat # P. G. Wodehouse # P. O. Box 1142 # P. Y. Saeki # P107 # Paavo Berg # Paavo Nurmi # Paavo Yrjölä # Pablo de Escandón y Barrón # Pacific Fighters #… …   Wikipedia

  • Miss Moneypenny — Moneypenny redirects here. For other uses, see Moneypenny (disambiguation). Miss Moneypenny Character from the James Bond franchise Miss Moneypenny from the film series, here as played by Lois Maxwell …   Wikipedia

  • List of Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire — Below is a List of Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire from the Order s creation in 1917 until the present day:1910s*1917: The Baroness Byron, The Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, Sarah Lees, Edith Lyttelton, The Marchioness of… …   Wikipedia

  • Epsom Derby — The Derby redirects here. For other uses, see Derby (disambiguation). Group 1 race Derby Stakes The Derby at Epsom, 1821 by Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) Location Epsom Downs …   Wikipedia

  • Derby d'Epsom — Cet article concerne une course de chevaux. Pour la toile de Théodore Géricault, voir Le Derby d Epsom. Le derby d Epsom …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Operation Mincemeat — was a successful British deception plan during World War II. As part of the widespread deception plan Operation Barclay to cover the intended invasion of Italy from North Africa, Mincemeat helped to convince the German high command that the… …   Wikipedia

  • Epsom Derby — Derby d Epsom  Cet article concerne une course de chevaux. Pour la toile de Théodore Géricault, voir Le Derby d Epsom. Le derby d Epsom …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Miss Moneypenny — Personaje de saga James Bond {{{image}}} Jane Moneypenny Sexo Femenino Afiliación MI6 Estado actual Desconocido Representado por Lois Maxwell, Caroline Bliss y Samantha Bond Jane Moneypenny …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”