Walter Seddon Clayton (24 March 1906 – 22 October 1997)[1] was a key organiser of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) in the 1930s and 1940s and suspected of being the Australian-based Soviet spymaster code-named 'KLOD', although the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and Britains' MI5 were not able to provide any conclusive evidence of this for fear of tipping off the Soviets that their cable traffic was being deciphered and read by Western intelligence agencies.[2]
Clayton migrated from New Zealand to Australia in 1930 and joined the Communist Party of Australia in 1933. He quickly moved up the ranks within the CPA, becoming responsible for the organisation and operation of the undercover and clandestine apparatus for the CPA while the party was outlawed. Clayton spent most of the 1940s and 1950s underground, playing a game of cat and mouse with the police and officers of the Australia's newly formed security service (ASIO).[2]