Camp X was the unofficial name of a Second World War paramilitary and commando training installation, on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario between Whitby and Oshawa in Ontario, Canada. The area is known today as Intrepid Park, after the code name for Sir William Stephenson of the British Security Coordination.
Camp X was established December 6, 1941 by the chief of British Security Coordination (BSC), Sir William Stephenson, a Canadian from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and a close confidant of Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The camp was originally designed to link Britain and the US at a time when the US was forbidden by the Neutrality Act to be directly involved in World War II.
Before the attack on Pearl Harbor and America's entry into the war, Camp X opened for the purpose of training Allied agents from the Special Operations Executive, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) intended to be dropped behind enemy lines as saboteurs and spies. However, even before the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941, agents from America's intelligence services expressed an interest in sending personnel for training at the soon to be opened Camp X. Agents from the FBI and the Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of the CIA) secretly attended Camp X. Most notable was Colonel William "Wild Bill" Donovan, war-time head of the OSS, who credited Sir William Stephenson with teaching Americans about foreign intelligence gathering. The CIA even named their recruit training facility "The Farm", a nod to the original farm that existed at the Camp X site.
Camp X is a children's spy novel written by Canadian author Eric Walters. Set in World War II, the novel is about brothers Jack and George, trying to save a top secret Canadian military base called Camp X, which they accidentally discovered after playing a fake game of war.
Camp X was first published in 2002 and was followed by several sequels such as Camp 30, Fool's Gold, Shell Shocked and Trouble in Paradise. The book is dedicated to the memory of William Stephenson, who established the spy camp. He appears in the novel as Little Bill.
It is wartime, and 11-year-old George and his 14-year-old brother Jack had moved with their mother to Whitby, Ontario from their farm in the summer of 1945. Their father was off fighting Germany in Africa and Jack and George's mom works for a munitions factory. Their summer was plain. But then, one day, after playing Make-believe-war they stumbled into a military base. There, their curiosity lead them to the discovery of Canada's Top Secret Military Base for training spies, Camp X. After sneaking around, they are caught by the guards and were forced to sign the Official Secrets Act. They learn much about the camp and are sent off with tasks improving the security. When delivering newspapers one day for Mr. Krum, Mr.Krum kidnaps the brothers for information about the camp. Jack and George are tortured and almost killed, but they learn about the plan to invade Camp X. They get away and warn the Camp X of the attacks that are planned. They risk their lives to warn Camp X.