George Smith
George Smith


George Gordon Smith was born in 1905 in the Bratton Council Houses (Now Redlands). He was educated at Bratton School and was awarded a Scholarship to Dauntsey’s School at Lavington.

Throughout his life, George always used his middle name Gordon. He moved to London following his education at Dauntsey’s and worked in service but soon joined the Metropolitan Police. He had obvious ability and rose to the rank of Detective Superintendent.

He is best known for his involvement in the investigation and arrest of members of the Portland Spy Ring who were passing to Russia valuable design information about HMS Dreadnought, Britain’s first nuclear powered submarine. Details of the Dreadnought design were stolen by a civil service clerk named Harry Houghton and his mistress Ethel Gee. This information was passed to a Gordon Lonsdale. The three were arrested by Smith on the 7th January 1961. Following these arrests, two other spies, Mr and Mrs Kroger, were arrested in their bungalow in Ruislip. Mrs Kroger asked if she could put more fuel onto the central heating boiler. This aroused Gordon’s suspicion and following her into the kitchen he discovered many microdots in her handbag which she was hoping to destroy in the boiler. With his involvement in this case he became known as Spy Catcher Smith and that is how many will remember him.

Following the Court case, members of the Portland Spy Ring received prison sentences.

When Gordon retired he returned to Wiltshire and lived in Edington.




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Bratton History Association.

The Bratton History Association aims to provide all those curious about local history with an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and discover more about the history of Bratton and Wiltshire. Activities include monthly meetings, talks by professional historians, visits to places of interest to historians, and our own local history project.

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