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 during the Bismarck action and during the North African landings. Bassett was a radio operator on a landing craft during the Normandy invasion. As a non-commissioned officer during the Second World War 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.