4 ms·

Wait what - seriously the head of equipment is named Q ... after the Bond Character! I mean that's either the greatest bit of journalist pranking I have read a

Wait what - seriously the head of equipment is named Q ... after the Bond Character! I mean that's either the greatest bit of journalist pranking I have read all year or it's true and, well, a bit naff.

j-bos 4y ago
Wasn't the Bond Q named after the real Q?
- LilBytes 4y ago
  Based on this article, Bond Q came first.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    Interesting. Fleming actually worked for Naval Intelligence, I always thought he took those terms from there. The 'M' allegedly came from his mom.
    - chimprich 4y ago
      According to my fallible memory and the probably more reliable wiki article [0] Q was based on Charles Fraser Smith, who came up with "Q devices". So this might be a feedback loop between art and life. Assuming that "Q" really is called "Q" internally, and that's not just publicity / misdirection... I can recommend CFS's book "The Secret War of Charles Fraser-Smith" about his wartime experiences in sourcing and creating items for clandestine operations. Likely of interest to many HN readers. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(James_Bond) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(James_Bond)
    - arethuza 4y ago
      His elder brother Peter's ideas around "irregular warfare" influenced Colin Gubbins who led SOE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Fleming_(writer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Fleming_(writer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Gubbins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Gubbins
    - swores 4y ago
      Presumably the M name was inspired by C, the nickname given to the mi6 chief in real life. The C comes from that being what the first chief of mi6 used to sign, his surname was Smith-Cumming. Interestingly, he also famously said, after it was discovered that human semen works well as invisible ink, that "Every man his own stylo" - rather appropriate for a man named Cumming. edit: wiki says that staff under him used that phrase, I'm not 100% sure he coined it or not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield_Smith-Cumming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield_Smith-Cumming
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_St._Croix_Fleming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_St._Croix_Fleming "Eve Fleming's nickname from her son Ian was M and Ian may have used his relationship with her as model for M, fictional head of Head of the Secret Intelligence Service and James Bond's boss." That doesn't make it true, but it does seem to have some evidence.
HPsquared 4y ago
See also Q-ships, Q-cars, etc. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship
largbae 4y ago
I think it was just short for Quartermaster so it might make sense aside from the Bond reference.
- closewith 4y ago
  Yeah, has to be the abbreviation for Quartermaster. Even the exasperation of the character in the movies is obviously based on the demeanour of every ageing CQMS in the British Army (he doesn't appear in the Fleming books, where there's only the Q Branch responsible for supply).
  - PuffinBlue 4y ago
    There is a little more nuance to it than you've stated here. A Quartermaster in the British Army is generally a commissioned officer, usually nowadays a Late Entry Officer (a soldier who has achieved the rank of at least Staff Sergeant I think, and then received a commission). Quartermasters are most often the rank of Major, but sometimes I've known them to be Lt Col (Pirbright Army Training Centre has a Lt Col for Quartermaster when I was there). A Quartermaster is generally in charge of G4 (or J4 in the modern parlance) which is the Logistics staff branch[0]. CQMS (Company Quartermaster Sergeant) is universally a Non-commissioned Officer role. I have only ever seen CQMS of Warrant Officer Class 2 rank. CQMS are responsible for the G4 branch in a company or squadron sized unit. At a Regimental level you'll often also have an RQMS, universally Warrant Officer Class 1 in my experience but sometimes filled temporarily by a senior WO2. That role was always a bit of a mystery to me, but generally seemed to keep the CQMS's in check and filter a lot of the faff from the QM. Getting to the point - names... You'd never call the Quartermaster Q. I'm not sure what would have happened if you did, but I imagine it wouldn't have been pleasant. You'd always call the CQMS Q, especially if you were Commissioned or SSgt or above. A bold Sgt would get away with it if followed up with a swift sir/ma'am. The RQMS was RQ, or sir/ma'am to anyone junior. Add to the mix is the tradition of using "Salutation Surname" (i.e. Mr Brown, Mrs Red) to all Warrant Officers and you have a heady mix of options. Edging closer to the point - the moniker Q in the books/movie would likely have come about from the abbreviation of CQMS. Which makes sense as Bond, as a 'front line' individual, would almost never actually see the actual Quartermaster, but would interact with his unit's CQMS who would be the one dealing with issuing and accounting for kit. I believe Bond also had the rank of Commander. It would be customary for that rank to address a CQMS as Q, but never a Quartermaster with that letter. [0]http://www.armedforces.co.uk/army/listings/l0005.html http://www.armedforces.co.uk/army/listings/l0005.html

j-bos 4y ago

Wasn't the Bond Q named after the real Q?

LilBytes 4y ago
Based on this article, Bond Q came first.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  Interesting. Fleming actually worked for Naval Intelligence, I always thought he took those terms from there. The 'M' allegedly came from his mom.
  - chimprich 4y ago
    According to my fallible memory and the probably more reliable wiki article [0] Q was based on Charles Fraser Smith, who came up with "Q devices". So this might be a feedback loop between art and life. Assuming that "Q" really is called "Q" internally, and that's not just publicity / misdirection... I can recommend CFS's book "The Secret War of Charles Fraser-Smith" about his wartime experiences in sourcing and creating items for clandestine operations. Likely of interest to many HN readers. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(James_Bond) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(James_Bond)
  - arethuza 4y ago
    His elder brother Peter's ideas around "irregular warfare" influenced Colin Gubbins who led SOE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Fleming_(writer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Fleming_(writer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Gubbins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Gubbins
  - swores 4y ago
    Presumably the M name was inspired by C, the nickname given to the mi6 chief in real life. The C comes from that being what the first chief of mi6 used to sign, his surname was Smith-Cumming. Interestingly, he also famously said, after it was discovered that human semen works well as invisible ink, that "Every man his own stylo" - rather appropriate for a man named Cumming. edit: wiki says that staff under him used that phrase, I'm not 100% sure he coined it or not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield_Smith-Cumming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansfield_Smith-Cumming
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_St._Croix_Fleming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_St._Croix_Fleming "Eve Fleming's nickname from her son Ian was M and Ian may have used his relationship with her as model for M, fictional head of Head of the Secret Intelligence Service and James Bond's boss." That doesn't make it true, but it does seem to have some evidence.

HPsquared 4y ago

See also Q-ships, Q-cars, etc. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship

largbae 4y ago

I think it was just short for Quartermaster so it might make sense aside from the Bond reference.

closewith 4y ago
Yeah, has to be the abbreviation for Quartermaster. Even the exasperation of the character in the movies is obviously based on the demeanour of every ageing CQMS in the British Army (he doesn't appear in the Fleming books, where there's only the Q Branch responsible for supply).
- PuffinBlue 4y ago
  There is a little more nuance to it than you've stated here. A Quartermaster in the British Army is generally a commissioned officer, usually nowadays a Late Entry Officer (a soldier who has achieved the rank of at least Staff Sergeant I think, and then received a commission). Quartermasters are most often the rank of Major, but sometimes I've known them to be Lt Col (Pirbright Army Training Centre has a Lt Col for Quartermaster when I was there). A Quartermaster is generally in charge of G4 (or J4 in the modern parlance) which is the Logistics staff branch[0]. CQMS (Company Quartermaster Sergeant) is universally a Non-commissioned Officer role. I have only ever seen CQMS of Warrant Officer Class 2 rank. CQMS are responsible for the G4 branch in a company or squadron sized unit. At a Regimental level you'll often also have an RQMS, universally Warrant Officer Class 1 in my experience but sometimes filled temporarily by a senior WO2. That role was always a bit of a mystery to me, but generally seemed to keep the CQMS's in check and filter a lot of the faff from the QM. Getting to the point - names... You'd never call the Quartermaster Q. I'm not sure what would have happened if you did, but I imagine it wouldn't have been pleasant. You'd always call the CQMS Q, especially if you were Commissioned or SSgt or above. A bold Sgt would get away with it if followed up with a swift sir/ma'am. The RQMS was RQ, or sir/ma'am to anyone junior. Add to the mix is the tradition of using "Salutation Surname" (i.e. Mr Brown, Mrs Red) to all Warrant Officers and you have a heady mix of options. Edging closer to the point - the moniker Q in the books/movie would likely have come about from the abbreviation of CQMS. Which makes sense as Bond, as a 'front line' individual, would almost never actually see the actual Quartermaster, but would interact with his unit's CQMS who would be the one dealing with issuing and accounting for kit. I believe Bond also had the rank of Commander. It would be customary for that rank to address a CQMS as Q, but never a Quartermaster with that letter. [0]http://www.armedforces.co.uk/army/listings/l0005.html http://www.armedforces.co.uk/army/listings/l0005.html