Fleming's special military unit 'T-Force' honored for their World War II efforts

An elite fighting force from the Second World War which inspired James Bond author Ian Fleming has been officially recognised for bravery against the Nazis, 65 years after they were last in action, says The Daily Mail.

T-Force captured German scientific and technical know-how and brought it to the Allies.

The special unit was lightly armed, highly mobile and, following the D-Day landings, tasked with seizing anything of military value.

Bond creator Fleming, served in T-Force and his time with the squadron is thought to have inspired parts of Moonraker, which was written ten years after the war.
ts fearless members have long been credited with playing a major role in bringing down the heart of the Nazi regime.

They have now been officially thanked for their efforts in a letter of appreciation from army chief, Sir David Richards.

Fred Tapper, 91, was a bomb disposal expert in the squadron, and later returned to his home town of Bridgwater, Somerset, to become a painter and decorator.
The great-grandfather said: 'I feel honoured and proud to receive the certificate but my mates should be here getting them as well - they did all the work.

'I was just a batman; I didn't do what they did.'
Mr Tapper was a member of the Territorial Army and toured Tunisia, Sicily and Egypt with the 7th Field Squadron at the outbreak of war.
He later joined the 5th Battalion, the Kings' newly designated T-Force, which played a key role securing the German port of Kiel - a major naval base and shipbuilding centre.

Recalling the capture of Kiel in 1945, Mr Tapper said: 'Our colonel and a company went to went to the garrison while they were still shooting at us and we had to make our way to the docks to all the underground submarines.

'There were two German battleships in flames and several had sunk.

'We found out afterwards nearly 40,000 armed German troops surrendered to our colonel who had about 50 troops with him - they had had enough.

'Just before Kiel we had a bit of a set-to with hand-to-hand fighting.

‘We had to use the rifle and bayonet, but we got over that.'

Last year, research by military historian Sean Longden revealed many resemblances between Fleming's work and the plot of Moonraker, in which evil villain Sir Hugo Drax tries to destroy London.

Although Fred never met author Fleming, they both worked in T-Force, which brought Nazi rocket scientists to Britain before they were captured by the advancing Russians.

Mr Tapper, who with his wife Beatrice, said: 'He got the inspiration for James Bond when we stormed a chateau in search of military secrets before the Russians got there.

'All my old mates have passed on now and I had to deal with some of them dying in service but I had no regrets.

'I would not change anything - I hated some of it but it was a great bunch and we kept together.'

He added: 'I suppose I was a bit like James Bond. I can see that's where he got his ideas from.'

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