The post-war Naval General Service medal awarded to Lieutenant D. J. Bingham, Royal Navy, a...

The post-war Naval General Service medal awarded to Lieutenant D. J. Bingham, Royal Navy, a torpedo expert who ‘in an amazing act of treachery’ sold ‘red hot secrets’ to the Soviets Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Near East (P/J.965927 D. J. Bingham, J. Smn. R.N.) mounted as worn, a few edge bruises, otherwise good very fine £500-£700 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Jeffrey Hoare Auctions, April 2000. The sorry saga of David Bingham and his wife is neatly summarised in one of several accompanying newspaper reports: ‘A Royal Navy officer was jailed for 21 years at Winchester Crown Court for spying for the Russians in the most damaging leak of military secrets since the notorious Portland spy ring of a decade ago. Lieutenant David Bingham, a 31-year-old torpedo expert, pleaded guilty to 12 charges of passing vital secrets, including details of the West’s tactics for the defence against Soviet submarines. His wife Maureen admitted to encouraging Bingham to take up spying two years earlier as a way out of their financial problems. The couple, who had four children and lived near Portsmouth, had found it difficult to manage on his salary of £1,843 a year. Their debts included a £2,000 overdraft. The Russians paid her husband more than £5,000 for his services. Mrs. Bingham was jailed for two-and-a-half years for making the initial approach to the Soviet Embassy. The previous August, Bingham had confessed to his treachery in a bid to turn double-agent for the British, after his Russian masters tipped him off that a K.G.B. officer had defected and was about to unmask him. The plan failed. The case caused grave embarrassment. An inquiry was called to discover how, despite changes made after earlier spy scandals, Bingham slipped through the net. He was never put through the ‘positive vetting’ process used to assess weaknesses such as heavy drinking, sexual affairs or financial problems. Bingham was released in 1981 after serving nine years. He adopted a new identity, using the name David Brough, and became Vice-President of Bournemouth Conservative Club. When he was recognised by a former colleague, he fled to a new home in Stratford-on-Avon with his second wife, May, where he worked as manager of an alternative therapy centre. He died last month [February 1997], aged 56.’ The Daily Mail’s ‘25 Years Ago’ feature, 13 March 1997, refers.