Joan Bright Astley
Encyclopedia
Joan Bright Astley, OBE (27 September 1910 – 24 December 2008), born Penelope Joan McKerrow Bright, organized the Special Information Centre (SIC) for Winston Churchill
during World War II
. As a young woman, she dated Ian Fleming
and is believed to be one of the three or four women whose attributes were used by him for the character of Miss Moneypenny
.
Joan Bright Astley was born in Monte Caseros, Corrientes
, Argentina
. Her father was an English accountant; her mother a Scottish governess. Described as a difficult teenager, she attended a number of schools, learning shorthand and typing and working as a secretary at the British legation in Mexico. In the 1930s, she was offered a job, which she declined, in Nazi Germany
teaching English to the family of Rudolf Hess
.
In 1939, she was told by a friend that she might have a chance of work if she went to a certain London Underground
station one day, wearing a pink carnation. She did so, and was guided to an office in Whitehall where she was met by a colonel, who had her sign the Official Secrets Act
and warned her not to be seen by a certain person standing outside the building when she left. She was hired by D/MI(R), a section of the War Office concerned, among other things, with disrupting the flow of Romanian oil to the Third Reich. Later in the war, she was employed by the Joint Planning Committee and given the job of running the Secret Intelligence Centre, which was in fact a single room in the Cabinet War Rooms. She had custody of secret papers and reports, and, on instructions, would show a given report to a senior officer and allow him to read it in her office, under top secret conditions. By all accounts, she made the officers welcome with her informal manner. Subsequently, she became personal assistant to General Sir Hastings Ismay, a close associate of Winston Churchill
's.
During the war, she dated Ian Fleming, and said of him, "I thought he was awfully attractive and fun, but elusive. I think he was a ruthless man – he would drop somebody if he didn't want them any more. That would be it." She added, "No torrid love affair."
She served as an administrative officer at several wartime and postwar conferences. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1946 New Year Honours
, when she was described as "Principal, Offices of the Cabinet and Minister of Defence." She married Colonel Philip Astley (first husband of Madeleine Carroll
, whom he had divorced in 1940) in 1949. Colonel Astley died in 1958. In 1971, Joan Astley wrote of her wartime life in a memoir, The Inner Circle: a View of War at the Top, and in 1993 co-authored a book on Sir Colin Gubbins
. She died on Christmas Eve 2008.
According to Samantha Weinberg
, author of The Moneypenny Diaries
, which she published under the name Kate Westbrook
, Astley is one of three or four women used by Fleming as the basis of Miss Moneypenny.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. As a young woman, she dated Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
and is believed to be one of the three or four women whose attributes were used by him for the character of Miss Moneypenny
Miss Moneypenny
Jane Moneypenny, better known as Miss Moneypenny, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bond's boss and head of the British Secret Service...
.
Joan Bright Astley was born in Monte Caseros, Corrientes
Monte Caseros, Corrientes
Monte Caseros is a city in the south-east of the province of Corrientes in the Argentine Mesopotamia. It has about 25,000 inhabitants as of the...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Her father was an English accountant; her mother a Scottish governess. Described as a difficult teenager, she attended a number of schools, learning shorthand and typing and working as a secretary at the British legation in Mexico. In the 1930s, she was offered a job, which she declined, in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
teaching English to the family of Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s...
.
In 1939, she was told by a friend that she might have a chance of work if she went to a certain London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
station one day, wearing a pink carnation. She did so, and was guided to an office in Whitehall where she was met by a colonel, who had her sign the Official Secrets Act
Official Secrets Act
The Official Secrets Act is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India and Malaysia and formerly in New Zealand for legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security.-United Kingdom:*The Official Secrets...
and warned her not to be seen by a certain person standing outside the building when she left. She was hired by D/MI(R), a section of the War Office concerned, among other things, with disrupting the flow of Romanian oil to the Third Reich. Later in the war, she was employed by the Joint Planning Committee and given the job of running the Secret Intelligence Centre, which was in fact a single room in the Cabinet War Rooms. She had custody of secret papers and reports, and, on instructions, would show a given report to a senior officer and allow him to read it in her office, under top secret conditions. By all accounts, she made the officers welcome with her informal manner. Subsequently, she became personal assistant to General Sir Hastings Ismay, a close associate of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's.
During the war, she dated Ian Fleming, and said of him, "I thought he was awfully attractive and fun, but elusive. I think he was a ruthless man – he would drop somebody if he didn't want them any more. That would be it." She added, "No torrid love affair."
She served as an administrative officer at several wartime and postwar conferences. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1946 New Year Honours
New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the New Year annually in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II...
, when she was described as "Principal, Offices of the Cabinet and Minister of Defence." She married Colonel Philip Astley (first husband of Madeleine Carroll
Madeleine Carroll
Edith Madeleine Carroll was an English actress, popular in the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:Carroll was born at 32 Herbert Street in West Bromwich, England. She graduated from the University of Birmingham, England with a B.A. degree...
, whom he had divorced in 1940) in 1949. Colonel Astley died in 1958. In 1971, Joan Astley wrote of her wartime life in a memoir, The Inner Circle: a View of War at the Top, and in 1993 co-authored a book on Sir Colin Gubbins
Colin Gubbins
Major-General Sir Colin McVean Gubbins KCMG, DSO, MC was the prime mover of the Special Operations Executive in the Second World War....
. She died on Christmas Eve 2008.
According to Samantha Weinberg
Samantha Weinberg
Samantha Fletcher is a British Green politician, and under her maiden name of Samantha Weinberg, a novelist, journalist and travel writer. Educated at St Paul's Girls' School and Trinity College, Cambridge, she is the author of books such as A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth and...
, author of The Moneypenny Diaries
The Moneypenny Diaries
The Moneypenny Diaries is a series of novels and short stories chronicling the life of Miss Moneypenny, M's personal secretary in Ian Fleming's James Bond series; it is considered an official spin-off of the Bond books...
, which she published under the name Kate Westbrook
Samantha Weinberg
Samantha Fletcher is a British Green politician, and under her maiden name of Samantha Weinberg, a novelist, journalist and travel writer. Educated at St Paul's Girls' School and Trinity College, Cambridge, she is the author of books such as A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth and...
, Astley is one of three or four women used by Fleming as the basis of Miss Moneypenny.