David Smiley Colonel David de Crespigny Smiley , LVO , OBE , MC & Bar ( 11 April 1916 – 9 January 2009 ) was a British special forces and intelligence officer . He fought in the Second World War in Palestine , Iraq , Persia , Syria , Western Desert and with Special Operations Executive ( SOE ) in Albania and Thailand . Background . Smiley was the 4th and youngest son of Sir John Smiley , 2nd Baronet and Valerie Champion de Crespigny , youngest daughter of Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny , who was a noted jockey , balloonist , sportsman and adventurer . His father fought in the Second Boer War between 1899 and 1900 with 4th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and before joining the North of Ireland Imperial Yeomanry ( redesignated North Irish Horse in 1908 ) . He gained the rank of Major in the service of the Carabiniers ( 6th Dragoon Guards ) and fought in World War I . David Smiley was educated at the Nautical College , Pangbourne , Berkshire , England , where he was a noted sportsman . Some have suggested that John le Carré unconsciously took David Smiley ' s surname for that of his hero George Smiley . Military service . Smiley attended Royal Military College , Sandhurst in 1934 , and was commissioned in the Royal Horse Guards in 1936 . Whilst based in Windsor , Berkshire with the Blues , he was seen as a " man - about - town " , owning a Bentley car and a Miles Whitney Straight aircraft . He was also an amateur jockey and won seven races under National Hunt rules . After the outbreak of World War II , his regiment sailed for Palestine , where one of Smiley ' s first jobs was to shoot his troop of 40 horses when it became clear they were of no use in modern combat . In 1940 Smiley joined the Somaliland Camel Corps , but was to arrive at Berbera the same day it was decided to evacuate British Somaliland . He returned frustrated to Egypt where he persuaded family friend General Wavell to recommend him for the newly formed commandos . Smiley was appointed a company commander ( with the rank of captain ) with 52 Commando and his first mission was sneaking from Sudan into Abyssinia . He fought against Vichy French forces in Syria . For his reconnaissance work in ruins near Palmyra he was mentioned in despatches ( Middle - East , 1941 ) . Smiley was recruited by the Special Operations Executive ( SOE ) 1943 and undertook his first operation with them in Palestine in the same year . Later in the year he parachuted into Greece for another operation . In April 1944 Smiley and Lieutenant Colonel Neil " Billy " McLean started an operation in Albania , for which Smiley was awarded the Military Cross . He was awarded a second Military Cross for SOE Operations in 1944 . He was invested as an Officer , Order of the British Empire ( O . B . E . ) in 1946 ( SOE , Thailand ) . He was Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards between December 1951 to December 1954 . He rode behind The Queen in the Gold State Coach in the Coronation Procession on 2 June 1953 . He was invested as a Lieutenant , Royal Victorian Order ( L . V . O . ) in 1952 and received the Coronation Medal . He was British Military Attaché to Stockholm between 1955 and 1958 . After the war , he held the record for the most falls in one season on the Cresta Run in St Moritz ; bizarrely , he represented Kenya ( where he owned a farm ) in the Commonwealth Winter Games of 1960 . He was Commander of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman ' s Armed Forces between 1958 and 1961 . He was Military Advisor to Yemen between 1962 and 1967 . Later work . Smiley was the author of three books based on his experiences , " Arabian Assignment " , " Albanian Assignment " and " Irregular Regular " . Smiley died on 9 January 2009 , survived by his second wife , Moyra ( daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Lord Sir Francis George Montagu Douglas Scott KCMG DSO , the 6th Duke of Buccleuch ' s youngest son , and Lady Eileen Nina Evelyn Sibell Elliot - Murray - Kynynmound - married 28 April 1947 ) two sons , Xan de Crespigny Smiley ( born 1 May 1949 ) and Philip David Smiley ( born 26 Aug 1951 ) , a stepson and a stepdaughter .