Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.12.2019, Page 1

Stefan Jonasson
“As a child, I remember hearing about
the man who saved my father’s life,”
writes Henry Hemming in the preface
to his latest book, Agents of Influence.
Henry’s grandparents were friends of Sir
William Stephenson – Bill Stephenson
to them – and they were having lunch
with him on “an ordinary summer’s
day” before the Second World War when
Henry’s father went missing. William
Stephenson rushed around to the other
side of the house and snatched the three-
year-old boy from the water, where he was
wading, drowning, or beneath the water
lilies, depending on who was recalling the
story. The hero of the tale dashed into the
pond in his clothes to retrieve the lad.
Agents of Influence is “the story of
the largest state-sponsored influence
campaign ever run on American soil.
… It has been linked to the birth of not
only the CIA but the modern conservative
movement in America. The figure running
it, Sir William Stephenson, ‘Bill’ to his
friends, the man who saved my father’s
life, later became known to the world
as the ‘man called Intrepid’. He was
also hailed by Ian Fleming as one of the
inspirations for James Bond.”
Henry Hemming was in Winnipeg on
November 12 for a public conversation with
former CBC radio anchor Terry MacLeod
at McNally Robinson Booksellers. Noting
that “Winnipeggers feel a special claim
to William Stephenson,” Terry engaged
the author in a fascinating exploration of
Sir William’s influence campaign in the
United States and its significance to world
history, armed with his own well-marked
copy of the book.
Henry drew a parallel between the
state-sponsored influence campaign of
the British during World War II and the
Russian influence campaign during the
2016 U.S. presidential election, but he
concluded that Sir William was “more
effective as an agent of influence.” He had
been recruited by “C” of MI6 (revealed
to be Sir Hugh Sinclair) for a mission to
counter U.S. isolationism at a time when
fewer than ten percent of Americans
supported the country’s entry into the
war. The German influence campaign in
the U.S. was already well underway and
thriving by the time Sir William arrived
on the scene and the German campaign
included such luminaries as the famous
aviator Charles A. Lindbergh. Sir William
had a steep hill to climb.
Henry regaled us the story of how
Sir William orchestrated the creation
of a forged map that purported to show
Nazi designs on South America, which
President Franklin D. Roosevelt alluded to
as proof during a national radio broadcast
on October 27, 1941. This map was
created by Eric Maschwitz at Casa Loma
in Toronto and it remains unclear whether
or not President Roosevelt knew it was a
forgery, although Henry believes there is
strong circumstantial evidence to show
that he did.
Henry also described how Sir William
was influential in the establishment of the
Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor
of the Central Intelligence Agency, and
how he manoeuvred to ensure that William
Donovan (Wild Bill) was named to lead
it. “Our man is in position,” he advised
his British superiors when the president
named Bill Donovan as coordinator of
information.
Along the way, Henry mentioned
that Sir William likely met Ian Fleming
sometime in the 1930s, certainly by the
summer of 1941, and that the author
liked how he made martinis – “shaken,
not stirred,” which became the famous
catchphrase of his fictional spy James
Bond. Henry also revealed that the reason
defeated presidential candidate Wendell
Willkie did not attend the inauguration of
President Roosevelt to his third term in
1941 was because he was meeting with Sir
William. Willkie emerged as an important
advocate of America’s war effort and an
important wartime ally of Roosevelt.
Following the formal conversation,
Terry MacLeod invited audience members
to share stories about Sir William and a few
did so. A couple of the audience responses
were quite heated as one individual sought
to criticize British ethics during World War
II and another challenged some of Henry
Hemming’s conclusions about previous
scholarship regarding Sir William,
reminding us that living history can be
controversial as well as informative.
People of Icelandic heritage in North
America are familiar with the story of
Sir William Stephenson, since his birth
mother was an immigrant from Iceland
and his adoptive parents were both
Icelandic. Sir William’s birth father,
William Stanger, was an Orkneyman, so it
was especially fitting that the current Earl
of Orkney, Peter St. John, was present in
the audience – and serendipitous that, as a
political scientist, he specializes in foreign
policy and security issues.
LÖGBERG
HEIMSKRINGLA
The Icelandic Community Newspaper • 1 December 2019 • Number 23 / Númer 23 • 1. desember 2019
Publication Mail Agreement No. 40012014 ISSN: 0047-4967
VISIT OUR WEBSITE LH-INC.CA
Modern merchandise and old-
time charm / page 7
A young boy’s overactive
imagination / page 11
PHOTO: CREATIVE COMMONS CC0
Johanna Wilson’s 100th
birthday / pages 8-9
Pyjamas and
night travels
H.P. Tergesen
& Sons
PHOTO: STEFAN JONASSON
Party of a
lifetime
INSIDE
Gleðileg jól
PHOTO: STEFAN JONASSON
Henry Hemming, author of Agents of Influence, with host Terry MacLeod.
Terry MacLeod’s well-marked copy of Agents of Influence.
PHOTO: TERRY MACLEOD
A master of influence: Henry Hemming explores
the work of spymaster William Stephenson