Who Was the Real "Q" ?

A vital ingredient of Bond films is 007's endless supply of life-saving gadget provided by "Q". Of all Ian Flemming's Bond characters, Q was the only one who actually existed. During World War II, Flemming worked in British Naval Intelligence and became fascinated by a series of ingenious devices that were helping save the lives of British secret agents, saboteurs and prisoners of war. These included shaving brush handles hollowed out to hide escape maps and a miniature telescope disguised as a cigarette holder.
They came from the Ministry of Supply's Clothing Department. There, working so deeply undercover that even his boss knew almost nothing of what he up to, was Charles Fraser-Smith. A man who described himself as having " an inquring mind and decidedly independent spirit," he had previously been a missionary and farmer in Marocco.
Like the fictional Q, Fraser-Smith could do all sort of unusual things with everyday objects. such as paper that left no ash when set alight. But his most bizzare assignment was to produce a 190 cm long watertight container with a dead weight of 90 kilos. This was used to transport "the man who never was." a corpse in a British uniform carrying bogus documents that was dropped into the sea off Spain in 1943 to put the Germans off the scent of the Allies invasion of Sicily.
Fraser-Smith who died 19 years ago, enjoyed being immortalized as Q but was critical of Flemming's Q balls, the golf balls used in Diamonds are Forever to hide diamonds. This was straight rip-off of Fraser-Smith's golf balls, which were sent to POW officers and contained compasses. "Flemming's contraceptions wouldn't have fooled an Irish farmhand, let alone lynx-eyed prison officers," said the real Q.
Many of Q's gizmos are currently faetured in "Bond,James Bond," a major exhibition at the Science Museum in London.