 Ian Fleming , born in 1908 , was a son of Valentine Fleming , a wealthy banker and MP who died in action on the Western Front in May 1917 . Educated at Eton , Sandhurst and , briefly , the universities of Munich and Geneva , Fleming moved through several jobs before he was recruited by Rear Admiral John Godfrey , the Director of Naval Intelligence , to become his personal assistant . Fleming joined the organisation full @-@ time in August 1939 , with the codename " 17F " , and worked for them throughout the war . Early in 1939 he began an affair with Ann O 'Neill ( née Charteris ) , who was married to the 3rd Baron O 'Neill . 
