1. William Stephenson is best known by his wartime intelligence code name, Intrepid.
24 Facts About William Stephenson
1. 2.
William Stephenson's mother was Icelandic, and his father was Scottish from the Orkney Islands.
3.
William Stephenson was adopted early by an Icelandic family after his parents could no longer care for him, and given his foster parents' name, Stephenson.
4.
William Stephenson left school at a young age and worked as a telegrapher.
5.
William Stephenson left for England on RMS Olympic on 29 June 1916, arriving on 6 July 1916.
6.
William Stephenson was attached to the Sub Staff, Canadian Training Depot Headquarters, in Shorncliffe, and was promoted to Sergeant in May 1917.
7.
On 15 August 1917, William Stephenson was officially struck off the strength of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and granted a commission in the Royal Flying Corps.
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Winston Churchill 8.
William Stephenson's work has been of the highest order, and he has shown the greatest courage and energy in engaging every kind of target.
9.
William Stephenson has further proved himself a keen antagonist in the air, having, during recent operations, accounted for six enemy aeroplanes.
10.
In England, William Stephenson soon became wealthy, with business contacts in many countries.
11.
William Stephenson had a broad base of industrial contacts in Europe, Britain and North America, as well as a large group of contacts in the international film industry.
12.
William Stephenson was trusted by Churchill to decide what Ultra information to pass along to various branches of the US and Canadian governments.
13.
William Stephenson hired hundreds of people, mostly Canadian women, to staff his organization and covered much of the expense out of his own pocket.
14.
William Stephenson's employees included secretive communications genius Benjamin deForest "Pat" Bayly and future advertising wizard David Ogilvy.
15.
William Stephenson employed Amy Elizabeth Thorpe, codenamed CYNTHIA, to seduce Vichy French officials into giving up Enigma ciphers and secrets from their Washington embassy.
16.
In November 1946 Stephenson received the Medal for Merit from President Harry S Truman, at that time the highest US civilian award.
17.
William Stephenson was the first non-American to be so honoured.
18.
Sir William Stephenson played a key role in the creation of the CIA.
19.
William Stephenson realized early on that America needed a strong intelligence organization and lobbied contacts close to President Roosevelt to appoint a US "coordinator" to oversee FBI and military intelligence.
20.
William Stephenson urged that the job be given to William J "Wild Bill" Donovan, who had recently toured British defences and gained the confidence of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
21.
On 8 August 2008, Stephenson was recognized for his work by Major General John M Custer, Commandant of the US Army Intelligence Corps.
22.
In 1976 British-born Canadian author William Stevenson published a biography of Stephenson, A Man Called Intrepid.
23.
Stevenson was a frequent visitor to Bermuda, where William Stephenson had taken up residence during after the war.
24.
William Stephenson was an ex-naval officer, having served in the Fleet Air Arm during the war with prominent Bermudian lawyer William Kempe, a prominent Bermudian law firm.