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Readers of a certain vintage will no doubt remember the infamous Portland Russian Spy Ring caught in 1961. It was recalled by speaker and Probus Club member David Stiles, who considers that he had a personal involvement before the spies were unmasked.

Following service in the RAF he continued as a contractor on RAF bases. While based at RAF Tangmere near Chichester he was tasked to prepare a civilian Vickers Varsity aircraft to be held under guard to be instantly ready for some secret operation.

There were covert trips over three weeks when six men would arrive for night flights. He later concluded that these passengers were members of MI5, the section of the Secret Intelligence Service who are responsible for domestic security.

This period in history is known as ‘The Cold War’ with the Russians dividing Germany into East and West there was much spying activity by both sides. Honourably discharged from the Royal navy after the war, Harry Houghton had worked at HMS Osprey on Portland in Dorset. In 1952, he transferred to the British embassy in Warsaw, Poland.

He liked a drink and became involved with a woman who turned out to be a member of the Polish Intelligence Service. She encouraged him to import coffee from Britain to sell at inflated prices. When his side hustle was discovered and being short of money, he was encouraged to approach the Polish authorities to sell them secret information. Drinking concerns by superiors led him returning to England. He was posted to the Portland naval base in Dorset and more specifically in the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment.

The AUWE was the centre of research into underwater weaponry and the first British nuclear submarine, HMS Dreadnought, had been launched in October 1960. Perhaps having been passed his details by Polish intelligence he was groomed by Gordon Lonsdale to develop an interest in Ethel Gee a filing clerk in AUWE. A spinster in her mid-forties she lived on Portland with her widowed mother and other family members.

Gordon Lonsdale was the cover name of Konon Molody, who had arrived in England under a Canadian passport and had been part of the Russian Spy Ring that had been operating in England since 1953.  He provided the income needed by Harry Houghton that enabled a relationship to develop with Ethel Gee. Using a camera disguised as a cigarette lighter, Ethel would get copies of plans and information that he passed on to Lonsdale.

How would Lonsdale get this information to his masters in Moscow? Enter Helen and Peter Kroger. Their real names were Lona and Morris Cohen, American communists who used New Zealand passports. Lona Cohen had couriered classified documents about the “Manhattan Project” the US atom bomb development, to the Russian consulate in New York. The Americans considered they were ten years ahead of the Russians in nuclear development. Four years after the first atomic test, the Russians conducted their own nuclear bomb test, using specifications similar to those of the US device.

Peter and Helen Kroger rented a dormer bungalow in Ruislip in west London. Peter opened an antique book shop in London with customers across Europe including Russia. Gordon Lonsdale helped the Krogers dig out a cellar under their kitchen to house transmitting equipment while an  aerial went in the roof.

Helen Kroger could transmit information in a couple of seconds. It was these transmissions that speaker David Stiles believes is what the mysterious flights with the MI5 personnel were tracking, eventually locating the bungalow in Ruislip.

Much of the information provided by Ethel Gee was reduced to microdots by Lonsdale and placed within the text in the antique books by Peter Kroger. The radio signals gave the destination address; the books were intercepted recovering the microdots.

In January 1961, MI5, which did not have power of arrest, arranged that the police detain all five people involved. This was followed by a trial at the Old Bailey in March 1961, held in camera. Certain information was released to the press, but much remains secret.

Gordon Londale was gaoled for 25 years but was involved in a spy swap after a four years. Helen and Peter Kroger received 20 years and were swapped for a British businessman. All three were received as Heroes of the Soviet Union.  Harry Houghton and Ethel Gee received 15 years and were married in prison.

Over 2,000 documents had been photographed and David Stiles wondered if they really were not that important at all.

President of the Probus Club of Basingstoke 2010/11

The funeral took place today of Richard Stettner at St Bede’s Catholic Church in Popley.

There were around 100 people in attendance.

Supporting the family were members of his old employer, Wiggins Teape, where Richard had been in export sales working for the special products paper mill at Stonehouse near Aberdeen using his language skills in the Eastern Bloc.

Test Valley Golf Club where Richard was a member and we learned at the funeral that he played regularly with his son Damon.

And the Probus Club of Basingstoke where the following members represented our club:
President Stephen Thair, Tony & Lesley Atchison, John Bristow, Paul Flint & Janet Fagg, Jeff Grover, Rob Hopkins, Dave Kitson, Michael Luck, Alan & Liliane May, Paul Miller, John Terry and Nick Waring.

There was a subsequent cremation for close family only followed by a celebration of Richard’s life held at the Test Valley Golf Club to which several Probus members also attended.

With the usual meeting in August being replaced with the Summer Pub lunch which itself was pushed back until the end of August meant that there was nothing to report to the local magazines in time to meet their copy dates for their September editions.

Consequently the only publications that carried anything about our Probus Club were the Kempshott Kourier and the CommunityAd magazine for Overton. Oakley & Kempshott with their Summer/Autumn Issue 44. Both these publications carried our earlier report about the visit of the mayor to our July meeting.

Barton’s Mill in Old Basing was the picturesque venue this year for the Probus Club Summer Pub Lunch that has been an annual event since its inception in 1996.

A party of twenty eight consisting of members and wives/lady friends was hosted by President Stephen and Margaret Thair. Dining almost al fresco, guests were seated under a large tent like structure no doubt to keep diners cool in this summer’s heat but on our visit proved to be a good shelter against the intermittent but desperately need rain.

Weather concerns aside, our dining steward, Paul Klinger, had worked closely with the pub’s management which ensured everyone received the meal selection of their choice.

August means only two magazines were available for our publicity notice which were the Kempshott Kourier and the Link magazine covering Oakley and surrounding villages. The Mayor’s Facebook page featured his visit to our July meeting, the Basinga Extra ran a previous report about our new Executive Committee and a rare appearance in the Basingstoke Gazette completed this quiet month.

Double Chains of Office with Mayoral Visit to Probus Club

The Worshipful, The Mayor of Basingstoke & Deane, Cllr Colin Phillimore, was the guest of honour at the first meeting of the new season of the Probus Club of Basingstoke, which is entering its 46^th year of activity.

Before lunch the mayor outlined his background, growing up in Whitchurch and attending Basingstoke’s Queen Mary’s grammar school, his first job at aged 16 at the Basingstoke headquarters of AA on £7 per week and then forty years in accountancy in the motor trade.

Cllr Phillimore has been the ward councillor for Whitchurch for ten years and has nominated the Whitchurch Community swimming pool as one of his mayoral charities, even though a non-swimmer, and St Michael’s Hospice, that needs £15,000 a day to cover its costs.

The Probus Club was pleased to make a donation towards the mayor’s charity appeal.

The other guest at this meeting was speaker Jackie Dimmock who reminisced about her lengthy career as a WPC in the Hampshire Police Force. She gave many examples of her experiences, some serious, others amusing, in a varying service in Scenes of Crime, working with Children’s Services and for many years as a Schools’ Liaison officer.

The Probus Club of Basingstoke is a club for retired men who had some management experience in the professions or business, hence the acronym Probus. Interested? Then see www.probusbasingstoke.club for more information or phone their secretary Andrew Barton for an informal chat on 07814 937202.

The appointment of the new committee of the Probus Club of Basingstoke was covered by the usual supporting magazines around Basingstoke. The exception was the Loddon Valley Link in Sherfield on Loddon and I failed to see if the Basingstoke Gazette carried our report.

The Bramley magazine also carried a separate report about the funeral of Fred Locke and used part of our photograph when Fred was installed as President in 2016.

This took place at the Church of St James, Bramley from 1.45 pm following on from a family only cremation. This was a service of remembrance that was attended by 101 people that illustrated how well Fred was known and liked in the village.

Mention was made about Fred’s involvement in the Probus Club and how proud he was to be the president in 2016/17.

Probus members attending were Stephen Thair, Paul Flint & Janet Fagg, Michael & Pam Luck, Alex & Sarah Marianos, Ian & Sandra Nicholson, Chris Perkins, Geoff & Elizabeth Twine, Nick Waring, and Richard Wood.