Camp X

When I was a kid, I thought the coolest job ever was a spy. I still think the idea of it is cool but it is totally not the job for me. I am absolutely horrible under pressure and do not have any sort of poker face, whatsoever. I cannot lie. I cannot learn another language (I am not 100%, but I feel like that would also be important).

If you are into podcasts, or learning, check out the podcast "Stuff You Should Know." They did an episode on a secret spy training program called "Camp X."

I cannot find a solid answer as to if it was a brainchild of British and Canadian intelligence and FDR simply sent men to be trained, or if America was in on it from the beginning. I also cannot get a definite answer as to if it started in 1940 or 1941. I do know that England, Canada, and America teamed up somehow. The camp was located in Ontario, Canada and created before America entered the war.

Camp X was so secretive the Prime Minister of Canada had no idea it even existed.

Famous people

Roald Dahl trained at Camp X. Yes THAT Roald Dahl

He had a very outgoing personality and was used to make several "social calls" with American women. Somehow, he got a lot of useful information out of people this way.

Screenwriter Paul Dehn also attended Camp X. He later, unsurprisingly, wrote a number of spy films, including Goldfinger.

This one if often disputed- but Ian Fleming, writer of the James Bond novels, was said to have been trained there as well.

Training

Camp X was like a "spy camp for beginners." After ten weeks of training, recruits were evaluated on their specialties and sent to other countries for more training. The regular regimen for trainees included:

• recruitment methods
•  silent killing 
• unarmed combat
•  sabotage
• Partisan work
• demolition
• map reading
• Morse code
• shooting impossible targets

Recruits would be expected to come back to their rooms and notice if anything was missing or out of place. They were even trained to drink alcohol excessively without giving information away.

Live ammunition was used in training. Often, guns would be pointed at their heads. My guess is so the agents would become numb to the pressure that would bring.

The spies in training were regularly sent on local missions outside of camp. They knew that whatever happened (as long as it wasn't too catastrophic) the camp directors would cover for them. Should the local police ever arrest the trainees in one of these missions, they were to tell the police to contact RCMP (mounties... I think) and tell them S25-1-1. Mounties would show up and the recruit would find himself back at camp with no consequences.

There are several books written about Camp X. I am sure I didn't do it justice, but this is a blog. It is meant to be short and sweet.

My goal is to make a post every Monday about things I find interesting. If you have any suggestions, don't be afraid to comment!

Don't plagiarize me, bro!

http://www.camp-x.com/historyofcampx.html  (this has a cool testimony on it)
http://www.camp-x.com/
http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/search.php?terms=camp+x (podcast)