Sir William Stephenson, "The man called Intrepid" was a Canadian soldier in WWI who later became the British spymaster for the western hemisphere during WWII. He is said to be the real-life inspiration for Ian Fleming's fictional super-spy James Bond. After the war he became a billionaire industrialist. He was a favorite of Winston Churchill.
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"Sir William Samuel Stephenson, KBE, CC, MC, DFC (23 January 1897 – 31 January 1989) was a Canadian soldier, airman, businessman, inventor, spymaster, and the senior representative of British intelligence for the entire western hemisphere during World War II. He is best known by his wartime intelligence codename Intrepid. Many people consider him to be one of the real-life inspirations for James Bond.[2] Ian Fleming himself once wrote, "James Bond is a highly romanticized version of a true spy. The real thing is ... William Stephenson."
As head of the British Security Coordination, Stephenson handed over British scientific secrets to Franklin D. Roosevelt and relayed American secrets to Winston Churchill.[4] In addition, Stephenson has been credited with changing American public opinion from an isolationist stance to a supportive tendency regarding America's entry into World War II."
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The statue is made of bronze and stands in a granite pedestal. It appears to be about life size to Blasterz.
Sir Stephenson looks ahead resolutely. He is dressed as a WWI-era airman, in a one-piece flight jumpsuit. He wears the standard aviator's hat (with fleece) and heavy elbow-length aviator's, because there were no climate controls in the planes. His silk aviator's scarf is blowing slightly to the left in the breeze. Like very squared-away pilot, Sir Stephenson's flight suit is tucked neatly into his standard Army-issue flight boots. In his right hand he holds his flight book (holding maps, checklists, and other information). His left arm is at his side, fist clenched. This looks like a man ready to go to war.
It does not take much imagination to visualize a WWI biplane behind him. Sir Stephenson looks as if he is wither having his picture made by his plane or has been stopped for a second coming out of a flight briefing on his next mission.
The pedestal is made of pink granite and is inscribed:
"Sir William S. Stephenson
1897-1989
The man called INTREPID"