Camp X?

[Ricardo]

A few years ago I read a book called Camp X.

It told of a facility during WWII that was located just east of Toronto where espionage training was conducted. I found it quite interesting at the time, and I wonder how accurate it was.

Is anyone here familiar with this book, or the camp?

[Jim]

Hello Ricardo, i am not in the know about the book but i recall reading some time ago about Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels being trained there..

[Ricardo]

Hey Jim, that does ring a bell.

I can't seem to put my hands on my copy right now, but when I did an online search, there seems to be a book called Camp X that's more of a story as opposed to the non-fiction account that I read.

[brandon05]

This is the first time I have heard of this Camp X. I would love to hear from someone that does know about it. There are such informative posts on here that I am sure that someone knows more about this.

[Ricardo]

I remember some details, like they'd go to great lengths to equip the spies with clothing and items like stationery and pencils that were identical to those of the area where they'd be spying, so they wouldn't arouse suspicion.

[Ricardo]

If you'll excuse me following my own post, I can now give more information because I've found the book.

It's by David Stafford, entitled Camp X - Canada's School for Secret Agents 1941-1945.

The ISBN number is 0-88619-126-2.

[M.L.Malcolm]

I read "Inside Camp X" while doing research for my latest novel, Deceptive Intentions, which deals with the early days of the O.S.S. Ian Fleming was not trained there, although he allegedly visited the place in his capacity as a journalist. By far the most interesting personality associated with the camp was Lt. Col. William Fairbairn, who had been the chief instructor of the Shanghai municipal police and has a dandy knife named after him and his cohort, Eric Sykes (the "Fairbairn-Sykes," a double-edged stiletto with a foil grip). Anyone looking for interesting cocktail party conversation about how to kill someone needs to read his book, "Get Tough, How to Win in Hand-to-Hand Fighting," published in 1942 and reissued in 1979. "Inside Camp X" is a real labor of love by the author, Lynn Philip Hodgson, and a good read for anyone interested in anecdotal spy history.

[Dave]

Well Malcolm that is a timely post as I have been meaning to improve my fighting skills for a while now and never gotten around to it. So I have tracked down this free version of the book in PDF format which can be found HERE. For me section 24 was particularly useful, entitled: "The Art of Getting Up from the Ground".
Welcome to the forums by the way !