Ronald Bassett

Ronald Leslie Bassett DSM (1924-1996) was a British writer and novelist who wrote numerous works of historical fiction, sometimes under the pseudonym of "William Clive". He received many awards for his medical and pharmaceutical writing.

Bassett was born in London where he attended school. He 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. He was a radio operator on a landing craft during the Normandy invasion. As a non-commissioned officer during World War II he received the Distinguished Service Medal for bravery and resourcefulness. 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 Ltd. as a public relations officer, and remained with them until 1966. After devoting himself solely to writing for three years, in 1969 he returned to the pharmaceutical corporate world going to work as a public relations officer for E. R. Squibb & Sons, a post he held until 1975 when he and his wife retired to Surrey.