Rudyard Kipling once wrote a short story titled ‘.007: The Story of an American Locomotive’.

The 007 number assigned to James Bond may have been influenced by any number of sources. In the films and novels, the 00 prefix indicates Bond’s discretionary ‘licence to kill‘, in executing his duties.

• Rudyard Kipling wrote a short story titled .007: The Story of an American Locomotive, in which anthropomorphised train locomotives talk about their work and problems; the story has nothing to do with espionage, but Kipling’s work would have been very popular during Fleming’s youth and he could well have been familiar with the title.
• Another version of the origins of the number 007 is that it was the number of the coach service from Dover to London, in Kent, England, passing by Higham Park, where Ian Fleming spent much time, and where he was inspired to write his children’s novel, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
• It is also said that Bond borrowed his 007 title from Dr John Dee. The 16th century English secret agent used the code for his messages to Queen Elizabeth I. The two zeros meant “for your eyes only”.
• It has been alleged that there was a Soviet assassination unit known as “double zero” or “double oh”.

See also:

• Bond, James: Inspirations