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This article is about Peter Fleming the writer.
For information on the tennis player of the same
name, see Peter Fleming (tennis player).


Peter Fleming (1907 – 1971) was a United
Kingdom|British adventurer and travel
author|writer.

==Biography==
His fame has now been almost completely eclipsed
by that of his younger brother, Ian Fleming,
author of the James Bond books, although during
his lifetime he was generally reputed to be the
more intelligent of the two.

The Fleming brothers were two of the four sons of
the barrister and MP Valentine Fleming who was
killed in action in 1917, having served as MP for
Henley from 1910.  His widow Eve later had a
daughter by the painter Augustus John; this child
was the cellist Amaryllis Fleming who died
unmarried.

Peter Fleming was educated at Eton College and
then at Christ Church, Oxford.  While at Eton, he
was the editor of the Eton College Chronicle, and
the Peter Fleming Owl is still awarded every year
to the best contributor to the Chronicle. 

In 1935, he married the actress Celia Johnson
(December 18, 1908- April 26, 1982), best known
for her role in the film Brief Encounter, opposite
Trevor Howard, for which she was nominated for a
Best Actress Academy Award. Celia Johnson was
later awarded a CBE and finally a DBE (1981) (thus
becoming known professionally as Dame Celia
Johnson), even though her theatrical roles and
interests had been severely limited by the birth
and raising of her three children and other
dependents. (see http://www.imdb.com)

During World War II he served with the Grenadier
Guards, later Peter and his brother Ian were
commissioned by Colin Gubbins to help establish
the Auxiliary Units. This was to be the "secret
army" of civilian volunteers that would fight on,
behind enemy lines, in the event of a German
invasion of Britain. He received an OBE in 1945
for his services.  

After the War, Peter Fleming retired to squiredom
at Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, and published the
occasional book, but his fame was rapidly
surpassed by his younger brother Ian Fleming
(1908-1964) who began publishing the James Bond
novels in the 1950s.  Today, Peter Fleming is
known more for the James Bond connection than for
his own work.

==Family==

Peter and Celia Fleming remained married until his
death in 1971, while on a shooting expedition in
Argyll, Scotland; he was survived by his wife and
their three children:

*Nicholas "Nichol" Fleming (1939-1996) deposited
Peter Fleming's papers for public access at the
University of Reading in 1975.  These include
several unpublished works, as well as the
manuscripts of several of his books that are now
out of print.  

*Kate Fleming (b. 1946) is now Kate Grimond, wife
of Hon.John Grimond, a son of the late British
Liberal Party leader Jo Grimond (later Lord
Grimond), grandson maternally of Violet, Baroness
Bonham-Carter, herself daughter of the British
Prime Minister, H.H. Asquith).  They have three
children.  John Grimond is foreign editor of the
British newsmagazine The Economist. Kate is
co-owner since the late 1990s of the Ian Fleming
estate, with her sister Lucy.

*Lucy Fleming (b. 1947), now Lucy Williams, is an
actress in her own right. In the 1970s she starred
as Jenny in the BBC's apocalyptic fiction series
Survivors. She was first married in 1971 to Joseph
"Joe" Laycock, the son of a family friend, by whom
she had several children. The marriage was
dissolved in the early 1980s, after a series of
family tragedies.  She then married the actor and
writer Simon Williams (actor)|Simon Williams (who
has two children, both actors, by a previous
marriage).

Peter's younger brother Ian Fleming died in 1964
of heart failure.  

Ian Fleming apparently appointed his elder brother
as a literary executor. His only son died
unmarried, and he was reportedly separated from
his wife at the time of his death.

==Other Connections==

Peter Fleming was the godfather of the United
Kingdom|British author and journalist Duff
Hart-Davis, who wrote up Fleming's life as Peter
Fleming: A Biography, published in 1974.

==Quotes==
"São Paulo is like Reading,
Berkshire|Reading, only much farther away" –
Brazilian Adventure

==Bibliography==
Peter was a special correspondent for The Times,
and also wrote a series of books on his travels
around the world. Titles include:

*Brazilian Adventure 1933 - Exploring the
Brazilian jungle in search of the lost Colonel
Percy Fawcett.
*One's Company 1934 - Travels through Manchuria
*News from Tartary 1936 - Journey from Peking to
Srinagar via Sinkiang. He was accompanied on this
journey by Ella Maillart (Kini).
*The Flying Visit 1941
*A Story To Tell 1942 - Collection of short
stories
*The Sixth Column 1952
*A Forgotten Journey 1952
*My Aunt's Rhinoceros 1956
*Invasion 1940 1957 -  an account of the
threatened German invasion of Britain in 1940.
*With The Guards To Mexico! 1957
*The Gower Street Poltergeist 1958
*The Siege at Peking 1959 - an account of the
Boxer Rebellion and the European-led siege of the
Imperial capital.
*Bayonets To Lhasa 1961
*Goodbye To The Bombay Bowler 1961
*The Fate of Admiral Kolchak 1963 - a study of the
White movement|White Army leader Admiral Kolchak
who attempted to save the Imperial Russian family
at Yekaterinburg|Ekaterinburg in 1918.

==Sources==
*http://www.library.rdg.ac.uk/colls/special/flemin
g.html A short biography provided by the
University of Reading
*http://www.retirement-matters.co.uk/celiaj.htm
Profile of Celia Johnson, DBE (1981), his wife of
36 years
*http://www.astro.phys.ethz.ch/staff/folini/privat
e/leisure/literature/pfleming.html A profile
stressing his travel writing
*http://www.007forever.com/books/faq009.html Peter
Fleming's daughters
*http://www.ianfleming.org/mkkbb/iff/iff_blue.shtm
l Source for the death date of his son Nicholas
Fleming
*http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0281727/ Source for
the second marriage of Lucy Fleming to a fellow
actor; her father, mother, sister, and uncle are
also listed in the IMDb database