Operation Goldeneye

Operation Goldeneye was an Allied plan during World War II, which was to monitor Spain after a possible alliance between Francisco Franco and the Axis powers and to undertake sabotage operations. The plan was formed by Commander Ian Fleming of the Naval Intelligence Division (NID).

With no German takeover of Spain or invasion of Gibraltar, the plan was closed in 1943; Fleming later used the name for his Jamaican home where he wrote the James Bond stories.

The aim of the operation was to ensure that Britain could continue to communicate with Gibraltar if Spain joined, or was invaded by, the Axis powers, and to carry out limited sabotage. In August 1940, Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming of the NID was assigned the responsibility for drawing up the plan. Of particular concern to Fleming was the possible installation of Axis radar equipment and infrared cameras in the Straits of Gibraltar, which would have been a threat to the Navy's Mediterranean strategy and to Allied shipping interests in the Atlantic.

Under cover of a courier's passport Fleming travelled to Gibraltar on 16 February 1941. On his arrival, he liaised closely with Alan Hillgarth, the British naval attaché in Madrid. Hillgarth provided much of the background to the plan for the guerrilla campaign and sabotage that would follow German presence on the Iberian peninsula. Fleming's presence in Gibraltar was primarily to set up a secure cipher link between London and the Goldeneye liaison office, the latter under the control of H.L. Greensleeves, an NID agent. A Tangier office was also set up by Fleming to assume the activities of the Gibraltar office should the Germans occupy Gibraltar. During the course of his visit, Fleming also met with William J. Donovan from the American Office of Strategic Services, who was on a fact-finding tour. Fleming returned to London on 26 February 1941.

A precursor to visiting the US, Fleming discussed Goldeneye with the various intelligence organisations in Lisbon on 20 May 1941, to ensure their smooth coordinated operations. He also undertook an assessment of the facilities and equipment for Goldeneye. He suggested that an Anglo-American Intelligence Committee be set up to coordinate the gathering and evaluating of intelligence from North Africa and the Iberian peninsula.

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