Historical Dictionary of British Intelligence

VASSALL, JOHN• 557

Czechs would be no match for the Nazi armored divisions he had

seen.

Vansittart also encouragedWolfgang zu Putlitzin his belief that

he was directly influencing British foreign policy to take a hard line

against the Nazis. He was a committed opponent of appeasement and

regularly briefedWinston Churchillon German rearmament. His

two stepsons, Cecil andColville Barclay, joined theSecret Intelli-

gence Serviceduring World War II. Vansittart died in 1957.

VASSALL, JOHN.The son of a Church of England clergyman, John
Vassall served in the Royal Air Force during the latter part of World
War II and trained as a photographer. In 1954 he applied for a clerk’s
post in the Admiralty and was sent to the British embassy in Moscow
as secretary to the naval attache ́. In Moscow he was befriended by a
Pole named Mikhailski, who worked at the embassy as an interpreter.
Mikhailski drew the hapless Vassall into a homosexualhoneytrap,
where he was photographed in bed with a young man. Hopelessly
compromised, Vassall succumbed to theKGB’s blackmail and, in an
attempt to prevent circulation of pictures of his indiscretion, started
supplying classified material to his Russian contact.
In June 1956 Vassall’s tour of duty ended and he was posted back
to the Admiralty, where he worked in the secretariat to the Naval
Staff. His rendezvous with his KGB handlers continued until the ar-
rest ofHarry Houghtonin January 1961, when he was told to tem-
porarily discontinue his meetings. Despite being the victim of
coercion, Vassall had developed a reliance and even friendship with
his Soviet contacts, both of whom were later identified as skilled pro-
fessionals masquerading as diplomats. Once the public furor about
the Portland spy ring subsided, Vassall was activated again, and he
held regular meetings with his KGB case officer until his arrest in
September 1962.
After a lengthyMI5investigation, initiated the previous April
after theCentral Intelligence Agencypassed on information from a
defector, Vassall was charged with offenses under theOfficial Se-
crets Actand sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment. In October 1972,
he was released from Maidstone Prison, which had also accommo-
dated Houghton. After staying in a Catholic monastery, he wrote his
autobiography,Vassall: The Autobiography of a Spy.