Background
Bassett was born in London to George William Bassett, a bank clerk, and Louisa (Vine) Bassett.
Bassett was born in London to George William Bassett, a bank clerk, and Louisa (Vine) Bassett.
He attended high school in London, and while in the military married Ivy Owens on 21 November 1944.
He wrote numerous works of historical fiction, sometimes under the pseudonym of "William Clive". Bassett joined the King"s Royal Rifle Corps as a rifleman in 1938 and then transferred to the Royal Artillery as a gunner. In 1940 he transferred to the Royal Navy, where he worked in the communications branch.
He served as a radio operator on the heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk during the Bismarck action and during the North African landings.
Bassett was a radio operator on a landing craft during the Normandy invasion. He remained in the navy after the war, and served on an aircraft carrier in the Korean war zone.
He retired from the navy in 1954 as commander. In 1956, Bassett went to work for Smith, Kline & French Laboratories Limited. as a public relations officer, and remained with them until 1966.