Manitoba History
A man called Intrepid
Stephenson with the wireless tranmitter he invented in 1922.
P
oint Douglas is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Winnipeg, the home to many an immigrant arriving via the CPR Station at its gateway. It was here that a Man Called Intrepid, Sir William Stephenson, was born January 23, 1897, to an Icelandic mother, Sarah Johnston (Gudfinna Jonsdottir), and a Scots father from the Orkney Isles, William Hunter Stanger, who worked in a flour mill. When William Stanger died in 1901, Sarah with three children and no support gave William to Bina and Kristin Stephenson to raise. Such were the humble beginnings of a man who, at only five-feet two-inches tall, became a war hero, a giant of industry in Britain, an early developer of television, a movie studio mogul, and, the virtual father of the most sophisticated spy network in the western hemisphere. Intrepid was his Second World War
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codename. As a kid, Sir William loved to box despite his small size but was still considered a bookworm. He left school early, as they did in those days, and got a job delivering telegrams. As soon as he could, he enlisted in the war effort being recorded as a bugler because he was considered too small to be a soldier. He quickly rose in the ranks, however, and by February 1918 was sent to France to become a flyer. Legends abound about his prowess in the Sopworth Camel he flew, claiming he had shot downs as many as 18 aircraft and 2 kite balloons, although it is known that he had at least 12 “victories”. During the war, Stephenson met Gene Tunney, who would hold two world boxing championships and who married the granddaughter of a billionaire. This was just one of the network of luminaries Stephenson would add
to the network that would help him in his future career as uber spy. Along the way, our Intrepid would win the featherweight championship of the Inter Allied Games at Amiens. "Everybody admired him,” said Tunney of his boxing prowess. “He was quick as a dash of lightning. He was a fast, clever featherweight... he was a fearless and quick thinker." A twice-decorated war hero, Stephenson returned to Winnipeg determined to make a fortune with a German can opener he had found, but although he and his partner, Charles Russell, had some early success, the company failed in the 1922 recession and Stephenson went back to England. He immediately went back into business, this time joining up with a fellow, T. Thorne Baker, who was into phototelegraphy. They filed the first patent in the field of what wold become teleThe Hub
