Gibraltar-based Tale was sette be 1st Bend Film

Thunderball was the fourth James Bond film based on books by Ian Fleming but recent developments have revealed that it was actually the first screenplay written and that Fleming wasn't the only writer.

Last Month author Robert Sachs had to sit back and watch helplessly as his book about Thunderball, The Battle for Bond, was pulped. He had been accused of breaching copyright by publishing legal documents from an old plagiarism case against Fleming. It seems a poor reason for pulping the interesting book but a spokesman for the publisher,Tomahawk, explained that they were a small company and couldn't afford a legal battle.

The Battlefor Bond tells the story of the mak ing of Thunderball and how the Bond character was refined and moderated in order to appeal to a wider public. But it also relates the circum stances of a 1963 court battle. As a result he was forced to pay screenwriter Kevin McClory £50,000 and friends said his health suffered due to the stress caused by the accusations. Fleming died nine months later aged just 56, Although McClory and Fleming did work together on the original screenplay of what would become Thunderball there can be little doubt that the key themes and prop ideas of the book and movie came from Fleming. What sets Thunderball apart from other films of the genre is that the bad guys use an underwater door in the hull of a yacht, the Disco Volante to commit their crimes.

It is well known that Fleming got the idea for this storyline while working for Naval lntelligence.at Gibraltar in 1941. At the time Italian divers were causing havoc in Gibraltar harbour, blowing up a dozen merchant ships by planting limpet mines on their hulls. Initially it was believed the divers were operating from submarines but it turned out they were actually exiting through a trapdoor cut into the bottom of the Italian tanker Olterra, which was docked at Algeciras.

The opening scenes of Thunderball are also undoubtedly Fleming creations. Early in 1956 Fleming spent some time in a health clinic known as Enton Hall. It was while in residence there that he started writing the book and got the idea to have'M'send Bond to a clinic called 'Shrublands' in order to cleanse his body pol luted by his playboy lifestyle.

Fleming did, however, collaborate with Mc Clory and another writer Jack Whittingham on a screenplay for what would have been the first Bond film. He met McClory in 1959 while working as an unofficial adviser on the film The Boy and the Bridge. McClory was producing the picture with backing from Ivar Bryce a friend of Flemings.Before the film was finished McClory suggested the he and Fleming work together on a Bond film with Bryce as backer. A partnership, Xanadu, was formed and it included the writer Ernesto Cuneo who wrote a short story that the film was to be based on.

Fleming began working on a script and was later joined (at the suggestion of McClory) by Whittingham.The film was initially titled James Bond Secret Agent. But the main financier MCA fell out with McClory and the project collapsed. Fleming purchased the rights to the story from Cuneo for one dollar and began writing Thun derball, the novel. It would be the ninth of his 14 Bond books Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia uhth Love, Dr. No, Goldfinger, For Your Eyes Only, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me,On Her Maj esty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice,The Man with the Golden Gun,and Octopussy and The Liv ing Daylights are the others. Initially Fleming's Bond novels were not tremendous sellers but when President John F. Kennedy included From Russia With Love on a list of his favourite books, sales quickly jumped.They soared following the release of the first film. Dr. No,in 1962.

Thunderball was published in March 1961 and was serialised in Life magazine. McClory cried plagiarism and 'false attribution' and sought an injunction against publication, which was denied. He then took the case to London's High Court where the trial began in November 1963. The trial lasted ten days but Fleming settled out of court on the advice of Bryce who was concerned about his close friend's failing health. Besides paying the £50,000 Fleming gave McClory the film rights. He retained the publishing rights, but agreed that in all further publications the credits under the title would read, 'based on a screen treatment by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham and Ian Fleming. Perhaps he should have included the Olterra and those Italian divers for neither the book nor the film would have had the same success without that Gibraltar- based storyline.

Mariola Stagnetto,as she was before her mar riage, was brought up in a traditional late-1920s Gibraltar home where she was taught good manners and the need to help others. Now she fully appreciates the benefits of the strict dis cipline imposed by her parents although at the time she was not so well disposed towards the regime. She had two brothers, Louis the eldest and Johnnie the baby of the family.

Before the 2nd World War Mariola was a semi-boarder at Loreto Convent. In those days the convent accepted Spanish girls from Algeciras, Seville, Ronda and elsewhere in Andalucia — the nuns enjoyed a glowing reputation. They encouraged the girls to take singing and dancing lessons and taught them how to walk and sit and gave elocution lessons, hence their reputation for providing an all round education.

Mariola lived in a house in Main Street and at 8.30 was driven to school where she remained until the driver collected her at 6.30.She stayed on to play nctball and tennis,do her homework and practise piano,cello and even the harp. As she had taken supper at school all she did on her return home was go to bed, but unlike the boarders who stayed during the weekends she was able to enjoy her family life for two days a week.

Alas, all good things come to an end and the 2nd World War intervened to spoil this idyllic existence. The family was first evacuated to Casablanca. Just before re-embarking on the cargo boat to be brought back to the Rock her mother received a cable from her father instruct- ing the family not to board but to take the train to Tangier where they were to remain until the end of the war.They were followed by sufficient families to enable six Christian Brothers to set up a school to teach Gibraltarian boys in Tangier which was then an international zone filled with spies and intrigue.

Mariola's first impression of Tangier was of many small boys selling food from trays strapped to their bodies. These were not lo cal boys but refugees from Eastern Europe struggling to survive. They had an important subconscious effect on her which would come to the fore years later back in Gibraltar.

Mariola was looked after by a governess and educated by a variety of tutors enabling her to take the school certificate and to speak French and Spanish.These lessons took place from 9-1 on weekdays, with examinations held at the Christian Brothers school.

Her parents had put her name down, virtu ally at birth,for Woldingham School run by the Sacred Heart nuns, however Hitler intervened to prevent the place from being taken up. It is her opinion she had a better all round educa tion and learned more from her tutors than she would have at boarding school.

Along with other Gibraltarian girls she took part in many concerts, pantomines, bazaars and even knitted scarves and balaclavas to raise money for the Red Cross. This was her first ex perience of working to help others; a valuable lesson she was to remember.

In 1944 her father called the family back to Gibraltar and Mariola found the garrison swarming with Royal Naval and Army sub alterns. She was fortunate that the Governor General Sir Thomas Eastwood had a young son,Tom, who was smitten with her and so she found herself spending her days at the Convent. There were the traditional picnics in Spain and most weekends the Governor and his guests would be driven to Buller's Beach. Relations with Spain were excellent which was reflected in the courtesies extended to the Governor. The party would be driven in an open Humber,with the Governor's flag flying. In those days most of the coast was classified as military and the beaches patrolled by pairs of Guardia Civil. The Governor had acquired a wooden beach hut which was looked after by the two guards who patrolled that part of the beach. Upon his arrival they would appear out of nowhere, sa lute and say'Mi General todo esta perfecto,todo esta limpio'. Hands would be shaken, packets of cigarettes slipped into their hands and they would be invited inside for a "copita de jerez", after which they continued their walk along the shoreline.

The party, which often included the daughter of Sir Stafford Cripps whose boyfriend was an army officer, would sit down to listen to the wind-up gramophone and eat the picnic sup plied by the Convent cooks. Mariola also used to go up to the Mount where Admiral Burrows dispensed generous hospitality and took his guests out fishing in his cabin cruiser.

After the war a contingent of former Italian prisoners-of-war arrived on the Rock,awaiting repatriation to Italy. The Italians lived in tents and if work was found they were allowed out of camp. One of these PoWs, Antonio Vitale, a graduate from the University of Foggia, used to visit Main Street to teach her his native language. It was not long before Adolfo Russo decided he would join the lessons but alas he had no ear for languages and would not learn his grammar.Soon he confessed he came to the lessons just to sit with her.

Antonio,one day when Adolfo was not pres ent, arrived with a bound book which he said he had made himself and gave it to her. It was a book of poems mostly about herself.She made the mistake of confiding in her mother, who immediately told her father, who demanded the book and threw it into the fire. She never forgave her mother for betraying her confidence but with hindsight she saw they had her best interests at heart.

She was 18 when Adolfo Russo, who was ten years her senior, started to court her and aged 19 and 11 months when they married. They honeymooned for a month in Mallorca and on their return to the Rock moved in to the house in Cumberland Road in which she still lives.

Four children arrived in quick succession — three daughters and a son.Then followed an 11 year gap at which time all the children were away at boarding school and she felt something was missing in her life. The result was the ar rival of another daughter who was brought up virtually as a single child. Mariola now has 11 grandchildren.

Due to lack of housing many Gibraltarian families returning from evacuation lived in nissen huts in various parts of the Rock; the discomfort of these families was worsened by there being little work for the breadwinners. At the time there were no Government welfare payments and so these families lived on the breadline. The arrival of a child meantincreased hardship (in those days the average couple tended to have eight or nine children rather than the two or three of today.)

Mariola is known as the de facto founder of Gibraltar's social services and this came about as a result of Lady MacMllIan's decision that, as there were no social services on the Rock,societ ies should be started to fill the gaps.

After the birth of her fourth child Mariola was ready to help form the Gibraltar Children's Wel fare Guild. At the time, incredible as it sounds today,some mothers-to-be went to St Bernard's hospital to give birth with no clothes or nap pies for their babies. SAFFA only looked after Service families but it gave the nascent Guild considerable practical help and advice. Mariola recruited a wonderful team of Gibraltarian la dies who could knit and sew. They compiled baby bundles which were given to the hospital for mothers in need.Each baby bundle included

Mariola with her lateTiu^an^^dolfo and their five children 12 towelling and muslin nappies, flannelette nighties, coats and booties. The matron would send names of mothers who required help, and theirchildren were entitled, every three months, to a new pair of shoes and clothes until they reached school ageand some until they were 15. Vast bales of wool and fabric were ordered from the Crown Agents and converted into skirts, trousers and pullovers. Mothers and children came to Mariola's house in Cumberland Road to queue for replacement clothing. By this time there was a sort of Social Welfare and mothers were given a chit to hand to her; this was a form of record keeping for family names and ages of children.

Mariola also turned herhand to fund-raising. She persuaded many companies to contribute a fixed sum each year and then she recruited associate members whose membership fees meant an invitation to tea at the Convent once a year. She also organised charity concerts under the title 'Children entertain - for the Children'. She invited each nursery school to provide two acts — ideally one singing, one dancing — and shows were performed at the John Mackintosh Hall to full houses.

After the departure of Lady MacMillan, the wives of successive Governors became the Guild's Presidents. Eventually the need for the

Vast bales of wool and fabric were ordered from tbe Crown Agents and converted into skirts, tronsers and pullovers

Guild no longer existed and it was closed in 1983.

During that time Mariola was a member of the Social Welfare Committee and chairman of the Social Welfare Advisory Committee.

Mariola started her work for the Blind in the '60s. TheSociety forthe Prevention ofBlindness was founded on the Rock in 1930 (it stopped work during the war but resumed in 1945). The powerhouse was Dorothy Ellicott as secretary, with the Catholic Bishop as the chairman. It was Dorothy in 1962 who persuaded Mariola to take an active role.

Mariola became Honorary Secretary and then, when Bishop Devlin's health caused him to re tireaschairman, shebecamethe first non-Bishop chairman. She remained in theposition for nine years and when she decided to step down she suggested the chair should revert to the Bishop and so Bishop CharlesCaruana is presentchair man with herselfas vice chairman. Three years ago it became the GibraltarSociety for the Visu ally Impaired which embraces the spectrum of eyediseases. The presentGovernor, General Sir Robert Fulton, is the Patron, there is a strong committee and donations are excellent.

Mariola Russo is full of memories of life on the Rock since the 2nd World War—lavish balls in full evening dress and white ties and fancy dress dances, not forgetting Scottish dancing. How life has changed in all spheres — though mostly for the better.

In the Queen's Birthday Honours for 2006 Mariola was awarded the MBE for services to the Gibraltarian Community — public recog nition of her 50 years' dedication to selflessly helping others.

by Sonia Golt

— the words of Maria Antonia Gomez, better known as Toni, who lost her hearing a few years ago. She is determined to bring deaf awareness to Gibraltar and to let people who suffer from deafness know there is equipment available to provide a better quality of life.

Indeed technology has evolved in this field as in others and there are lots of things that can now help the impaired of hearing. There are special telephones and mobile phones,flashing door bells and fire alarms,alarm clocks, hearing aids and very important,induction loop systems both for personal use and in public places.

A loop system has the means to convert the sounds it picks up into magnetic inductive sig nals.Thus when these signals reach the person's hearing aid they are converted back into sound with reduced background noise.The apparatus consists of a length of wire which has both ends attached to a small loop amplifier and is very easy to install.

Toni has been working at obtaining this system for Gibraltar and after several meetings with the Minister Fabian Vinet, who at the time was Minister of Culture; Toni managed get his committment to installing this induction loop system at Ince's Hall. She has also convinced management at Morrison'ssupermarket that the system would be most appreciated at checkout tills and they are in the process of making this possible.

Asfortunate people who do not have hearing problems it is sometimes not obvious to the rest us that others are not so lucky. Deafness is not obviousfrom just looking at a person as there are no physical signs. Toni wants the general public to become more aware and try to overcome the difficulties of communicating with people who have hearing impediments. To speak to people with impaired hearing you have to be looking at them, and them at you,to make lip reading possible.

Deafness is not just a problem of old age, there are many youngsters suffering from this too, and unfortunately many more will follow if loud music for played for long periods as that does in fact damage hearing. This is why it is so important to make people aware of the consequences of this so there are less cases of deafness in the future.

Deafness can occur at any moment in your life. For some it comes suddenly, even over night, for others over weeks or months, and whether it is one or the other sufferers tend to feel very isolated because what was once taken for granted is not there anymore — whether you like it or not your whole life changes! The effort to try to communicate takes a lot longer, can be tiring and it needs far more concentration to understand others. It has a great impact not only for the person concerned but also for other fam ily members,who at first might even address it lightly not realising the extreme difficulty of the problem. It takes time for others to understand that they may have to repeat things over, which takes a lot of patience on their part!

Another aspect of life that drastically changes is your social life, for in parties and crowded venues it is hard to understand what people are saying and it may be necessary for someone to keep close-by to explain, from time to time, the gist of the conversation.

The assumption that if the deaf person is wearing a hearing aid they can hear perfectly is not strictly true, even though hearing aids are smaller than before and more in tune in big noisy tsurroundings they do not pick up everything.

1 asked Toni if she knew how many deaf people there are in Gibraltar and she said the idea was to organise a deaf awareness day to find this out as well as to increase awareness on this matter. The day is now scheduled for Thursday 8th May at the Piazza and everyone is welcome to go along and getliterature as well as to join the support group Toni is considering setting up after the event takes place.

Parents should also look out for any hearing problems their children might have so they can deal with the issue as soon as possible.Schools can also help in this issue.

Anybody interested in finding out moreabout loss of hearing before the awareness day can contact Toni by phone or fax: 200 77290 and she will be more than welcome to deal with any queries.

Vic Punch of Gtec Marine Train ing was talking about one of their courses which he and his wife Lyn set up with the help and encour agement of the Gibraltar Maritime administration.

"Every single member of the merchant navy throughout the world has to undergo STCW95 basic training, no matter what their job." The initials stand for Standards of Training, Certifica tion and Watch keeping, and the courses cover Personal Safety and Social Responsibility; Elementary First Aid; Personal Survival Tech niques; and Fire Fighting and Fire Prevention.

The Gibraltar Maritime admin istration approached all of the schools in Gibraltar including Gtec, (at that time Yachting (Gibraltar) Ltd), asking if any were interested in running STCW 95 courses. Gtec took up the challenge because they could see Gibraltar as an ideal location for those courses as the other nearest training centres are in Barcelona,the UK and South Africa, Vic explained as we sat in one of the two classrooms at Gtec, close to Bianca's and The Ship pub at Ocean Village."They gave us every encouragement and so we invested £25,000 in establishing the courses to international standards." This included £8,000 just for the initial inspection by the MCA.

The City Fire Brigade is going to provide the fire fighting and fire prevention part of the training, us ing a simulator which is a mock-up of a ship's interior. Gtec will be the certificating authority for that part of the course running and certifying the three other parts in house.

"The catchment for these courses is truly enormous," Vic continued, "and we will be making arrange ments with local hotels to ac commodate the constant flow of merchant navy trainees."

This significant piece of news apart,Gtec also provides courses in just about every aspect of boatmanship, under sail or motor,including use of VHF radio/radar and sea survival. One course in boatmanship and navigation is designed especially for local port workers.

Qualifications that can be at tained go right up to RYA Yachtmaster Ocean and Cruising Instructor both on motor and sailing yachts, and the classrooms are backed up by two Jeanneau boats — a 36-foot motor yacht and a 40-foot sailing yacht. Jeanneau is a French boat builder whose name is known to anyone interested in sailing. These boats take up to five students but larger craft are hired in locally as required.Students go to Spain and Morocco in these vessels, which are also available for charter by the day or half day -these have proved popular with corporate clients

An indication of the potential popularity of the STCW 95 courses is reflected in the fact that Gtec is receiving daily enquiries from its website before they have even done any advertising—people are obvi ously doing an internet search for someone to train them.

And, as Vic says, two enquiries a day adds up to a whole class each week.

Taught by highly qualified in structors (with the priceless as sistance of Clare in the office) most courses can be completed and certified with an examina tion by Gtec here in Ocean Village (formerly Marina Bay). Customers come from all over the world, with a large percentage from Gibraltar and Britain.

Vic and Lyn's story of how they came to be here is interesting: like so many others, they weren't planning on staying in Gibraltar, although Vic liked the Rock from his time here working as a civilian for the Royal Navy in 1968, when he was 20 years old. His claim to local historical fame is that he came over on the very last ferry from Algeciras just before the frontier was shut by Spain.

Then eight years ago, Lyn and Vic, highly qualified sailors from Chester, set off on a round-theworld trip, with Gibraltar as a port of call. But their brand new boat turned out to be nothing but trou ble, so they stopped in Gibraltar for repairs. And — like so many who intended to just pass through — they stayed and became part of local sailing life, first lending their skills to a local sailing school; then, five years ago, buying Yachting (Gibraltar) Ltd, the yacht brokers, and more recently transforming it into Gtec.

Top quality courses probably cost less than you think - the prices did surprise me — so you can complete an ICC three day motor cruising course for £750, a five-day sailing course for just £475 — including accommodation — or undertake a fourteen-week fast link to a com mercial qualification and a good livelihood for only £7,500 for sail, £9,950 for motor cruising or £12,500 for both including full board.

If it's in any way to do with sea manship, Gtec are likely to have a professionally recognised course to cover it, They are open seven days a week from 9 to 5 and they can be contacted by phone on + 350 200 51675;email info@gtec.gi;or havea look at their website: www.gtec.gi

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