Harry Houghton

Harry Frederick Houghton (7 June 1905 – May 1985) was a spy for the People's Republic of Poland and the USSR during the Cold War. He was a member of the Portland Spy Ring.

Houghton was born in Lincoln, England. He left school at 14 to become an errand boy and later joined the Royal Navy. By the end of World War II, he was a master-at-arms, one of the highest ranks for non-commissioned officers.

After the war, he joined the civil service and in 1951 was attached to the staff of the naval attaché of the British Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. Houghton dabbled in the black market, starting with coffee and moving on to medical drugs. This made him money and acquaintances but also led him to heavy drinking and the attention of the Polish Secret Police.

Houghton's wife complained of domestic abuse and there were concerns that he was mixing with the wrong people. In 1952 he was ordered home.

Although some considered him a security risk, Houghton was appointed to the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment at Portland where the Royal Navy would test equipment for undersea warfare. Houghton and his wife separated in 1956 and later divorced. He then began a relationship with Ethel Gee, a filing clerk who also worked at the base.

His former wife warned that he was a security risk and had brought secrets home, but the claims were initially taken as resentment for the way he had treated her.

By 1956 it is believed that Houghton was passing secrets to Polish spies, who sent them to the Soviets. These included details on submarine warfare. Gee had access to secrets; she would pass them to Houghton and he would photograph them. On the first Saturday of each month Houghton would go to London, sometimes with Gee, and exchange packages with a contact.

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