William John Christopher Vassal – The Forgotten Soviet Spy
David Leitch
Obituary: John Vassal
Obituary: John Vassal
William John Vassall, spy: born London 20 September 1924, died London 18 November 1996
John Vassall's homosexuality led to his being blackmailed by the KGB. He was forced to spy for them for seven years, beginning in the mid-1950s, while holding a relatively low-ranking position in the Admiralty (until 1964, the British Navy Ministry – P.G.).
His modest rank didn't mean he was denied access to numerous classified documents. In Moscow, where he was sent at the age of 29 and easily ensnared by the KGB after just a few months, he made an excellent impression on his superiors. Reports praised the young man's "first-class appearance and manners," his composure, willingness to please, and exemplary moral principles.
Following the scandal involving notorious Foreign Office spies Burgess and Maclean (Soviet spies known as the "Cambridge Five" - P.G.), who defected to Moscow in 1951, vetting procedures became even more stringent, intended to quell American anger over the weakness of British security services. Homosexuality remained a criminal offense in both Britain and the USSR.
After Vassall's arrest in 1962, it became clear once again that the KGB was far more adept at identifying vulnerable individuals than the Foreign Office's personnel department. It also emerged that Vassall's choice of Moscow was partly motivated by economic considerations. His job was usually filled by a married man, but to avoid paying couples' allowances, a bachelor was assigned instead.
His betrayal was rewarded with a substantial cash payment after initially threatening to send his mother photographs of his son enjoying a homosexual orgy. Vassal spent lavishly on clothing and frequent vacations at a time when only the wealthy could afford beach holidays. Rent alone from his Dolphin Square apartment accounted for almost his entire after-tax income.
These facts proved disastrous for the Macmillan government (British Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963 – P.G.), which was already under pressure after another naval specialist, George Blake, was sentenced to a record 42 years for espionage. Vassall's trial, presided over by Lord Parker, the Chief Justice, was held almost entirely behind closed doors, but the press, despite furious denials from official sources, uncovered the ill-fated history incompetence, wastefulness, reckless avarice, and sexual corruption. After the Vassall affair, and even more so after the Profumo-Keeler scandal of 1963, Macmillan's premiership was marred by other dirty dealings.
The political resonance has given significance to this essentially sad story. Born at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, where his father served for many years as chaplain, Vassall developed a childhood passion for religious spectacles performed at the twin churches of St. Bartholomew's in West Smithfield. At school in Monmouth, he discovered his homosexuality and became disillusioned with his plans to attend Keble College, Oxford.
Instead, he joined the Royal Air Force, where, ironically, he received the photography training that made him such a skilled spy. [As a further development,] a well-hidden, state-of-the-art document-copying camera was discovered at 807 Hood House, where he lived in Dolphin Square, when the Secret Service's Intelligence Branch searched the house.
After serving in the Royal Air Force during the war, Vassall joined the Admiralty in 1948. In Moscow, he printed a special card labeled "Junior Military Attaché" and even faced criticism for attending social events considered too high for his rank. Returning to London in 1957, he used his intelligence chief's money to dabble in the underground world of homosexuality. His sartorial role model was the Hon. Thomas Galbraith, an Admiralty official whose private secretary he had served as before joining military intelligence. On his desk, he kept a silver-framed photograph of his superior in naval uniform.
After retiring, Vassal's father became vicar of St. James's Church, Piccadilly, and his son made a point of emphasizing his connection with that then-fashionable establishment.
He loved to impress his friends with his connections in high places and often quoted Lord Foppington, a character in Vanbrugh's play "The Relapse," as saying that it was the only church in London whose congregation consisted exclusively of gentlemen. He also frequently repeated the compliments he claimed he received for his "bedroom eyes."
The significance of his espionage revelations was never made public. A tribunal established under Lord Radcliffe found no impropriety in his (Vassal's – P.G.) relationship with Galbraith, and although he felt obliged to resign, Galbraith later received a higher government position. Radcliffe's main victims were members of the press, two of whom served prison terms for refusing to disclose their sources.
After converting to Catholicism, Vassall became a model and more religious prisoner, whose spiritual life was enriched by visits from Lord Longford. Released after ten years, he claimed in his autobiography that he was a "pygmy among spies" compared to the atomic physicist Klaus Fuchs (a Soviet atomic spy – P.G.). However, Fuchs's sentence – 14 years – was four years shorter than his own (18 years – P.G.).
Vassal, undoubtedly, was insignificant as a spy compared to those known as the "Cambridge Five": Burgess, Maclean, Philby, Blunt, and Cairncross. Unlike them, he had no ideological sympathies for communism. He acted solely under the threat of blackmail and for self-interest.
A victim of historical circumstances, he might have found a calling as a gay priest in another era. Instead, he changed his name to John Phillips and spent the last years of his life in complete obscurity in St. John's Wood, north London.
The IndependentDecember 9, 1996
See article: Alan Nunn May – Forgotten Soviet Spy.
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