FAKE WAR HEROES.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 August 1919, Page 9

FAKE WAR HEROES.

■ I— . .—4 AND THE GULLIBLE PUBLIC. SOME "HEROIC" STUNTS. The war revealed many heroes, and it also developed a few crooks. One class of the latter have been going round posing as great warriors wdio have gone through untold perils; or as military geniuses with plans for campaigns or j contrivances that were sure winners; or merely as stately and dignified officers, chiefly impressive for the beautiful lit of their uniforms (says the American Literary Digest). A number of these men were British ; hence the Government has stationed an officer in America,, known British Army Provost Marshal, whose duty it is to see that Americans are not imposed upon by criminals and fakers wearing the uniform of Britain. This officer is Lieut.-Colonel Norman G. Thwaitos. One of the officers under Colonel Thwaites recently related to a of the JVo'w York Times a number of interesting eases that had been brought to the attention of the 8.A.P.M., of which we quote the following : THE YOUNG AVIATOR. There was the young aviator whose Scotland Yard record was bad. He had done bis two years in the penitentiary for forgery. He came to America and joined the air force in Canada. A call was sent out as a measure of warning. The B.A.P.M. had a signature and a poor amateur snapshot, as the only clues. He bad changed his name and his appearance, lie was found, however, and brought" to the York office. He told his story, admitting his past oft'ences. He wanted anothor opportunity. His commanding officers gave him ail excellent character as a fearless pupil in aviation and an observer of military discipline. Presently he won his wing's. Not a word was said to anyone of his past career. In due time he went to France and became a scourge among the Hun airmen. He won a decoration and met a hero's death over the enemy's lines, In opposition to this case is one that deserves identifying, for tho rogue in quostion will probably remain a rogue no matter what tenderness is shown him. This person, an American, changed his name and his habits with great frequency. At one time ho was tho Hon. Westmoreland Davis, occasionally he was a peer of the realm.' Always he'had tho habits of a sultan, and in the course of his career in the United States he married five women, who "loved him for the dangers he had passed." There is no record of this cadet's ever haying seen service in the" field. A judicial court in Virginia gave this betrayer of women five years' penal servitude. It is regrettable to have to state that this man escaped from tho gaol in spite of the kindness received there, sympathy being felt for a man of his intelligence, which led to the superintendent placing him in the office instead of on the rock-pile. He is believed to have, returned to Texas. .In addition to this man's bigamies there was a long list of defalcations. He wooed a waitress at a New York restaurant and took 200 dollars of the girl's savings from her. He. masqueraded as a British officer, although he never attained any commissioned rank. His victims in fraudulent transactions were alwivys women. The curious thing was that it was impossible to get the defrauded women to prosecute. It is as well that his description is widely known. Beware, then,""of a man with' fair complexion, weighing about 130 pounds, of fivo feet nine inches in height who walks with a slight limp, and has on his right leg a scar as of a burn. Ho may call himself anything, but he was fond of "Kenneth" as a first name. THE "COLONEL." Then, there was a British "Tommy" who had an inventive turn of mind. Ho had one or two ideaSs about hand grenades and was so imprest with his genius that he promoted himself to lieutenant, then to captain. On leaving a London hospital, after serious shrapnel wounds in tho head, he took his inventions to the War Office. They were found to bo worthless. Presently he decided that the U.S.A. would bo more appreciative of his talents. By the time he had borrowed some hundreds of dollars he was convinced he eouhi win tho world, and when ho arrived in America his rank iiad mysteriously risen to that of colonel. He had: brought with tho necessary insignia- Ho mentioned 1 several name's of notables in England and found what appeared to be mutual friends. He was asked to dinners. Persons of note in New York society were asked to dine and meet the interesting "British colonel who had revolutionised trench warfare. His travels took him to Detroit, where ho was exposed by a young Irish officer in the British service. The. newspapers which had been full of his exploits were eager to publish the story of his confession of fraud, but tho'same papers presently published a cablegram purporting to have como from General Sir William Robertson, Chief of Staff, War Office, London, correcting the misapprehension and stating that a regrettable delay m gazetting the gallant "Colonel s ' promotion was the cause of the error. Again tho "Tommy" was raised to his pedestal of genius. But the cablegram spoke again, and the B.A.P.M. was able to Inform the public press and a too-hospitable, not to | say gullible, public that Jones was still lnvatc Jones, and that the charitable 1 view to tako of the case was that tho

wounds in his head had caused 1 mental aberration. But even after all tins some good-hearted citizen lent the humbug oOOOdol. to "continue his inventive experiments. " THE GLAMOUR OF RANK. Among the persons who were able to fool the public to their profit, some of the most .successful were preachers. Others wore doctors. All of thein obtain-' ed money by their representations, usually by posing as officers of high rank. A typical case is the following: A youth of eighteen, cf good family in England, and of excellent education, arrived in New York upon a French steamer recently. He wore the uniform of a lieutenant-colonel of the Royal Air Force, correct in every particular and with a chestful of decorations. He had the order of St. Anno of Russia, tlio Croix de Guerre uf France, the military Cross of England, and the J lons Star. lie told a story of having flown from England to France and to have shipped from Marseilles to Oran and thenco to America. Asked for his papers, he produced a certificate stating that his papers were by accident on another ship and that this document would serve as identification. On the way to America, lie borrowed 200dol. from a magnani- : motis American to pay for his ticket. He. had managed to get on hoard without one. The American called at the Proj vest Marshal's office a for," days after landing to inquire as to the whereabouts lof the goodlooking your officer. Unhap- [ pily for the "Colonel," there is on the I staff of the British Provost Marshal a ', young flying officer who also is a student | at Columbia, and whose wits amount to ! genius in the apprehension and the diagnosis of frauds. I By some sleuthing the "Colonel" was i traced to Philadelphia, where ho was j staying with one of his fellow passenJ gei's. I He was handed over to the immigraj lion authorities on a charge of illegal entry into the United States, aftpr lie I had broken down in boyish fashion and : revealed bis true name, bis entire lack i of military service, and other facts. A NOTEWORTHY "STUNT." A few of these fake heroes proved I themselves truly heroic by the really noteworthy "stunts'' they pulled off, not in the lino of military duty, but in connection with their faking. Such was the leading figure in the following story: A deserter from the Canadian Army I came to the United States at the timo of one of the Liberty Loan drives, and by his eloquence succeeded in obtaining subscriptions of fifty thousand dollars in one evening. While he made his speech officers of the Provost Marshal's office patiently waited, feeling that such good work should not be interrupted. At the conclusion he was firmly led away. In the course of bis speech he had held up his left hand, showing, so he said, ho had lost two fingers in a desperate hand-to-hand fight with a German. Investigation showed, however, that he had never fought in France, and that thn ■fingers were lost when ho was a youth during his apprenticeship as n. printer's assistant. In the course of his career in America, he bought 60-.000 dollars worth of Liberty bonds, although nt that timo he had but four dollars in his clothes. Ho entertained friends in New York to the tuno of 18!) dollars, and when the bill was presented issued a check which, of course, was returned with the comment, "No funds." Ho was a member of one of America's most famous universities and established a reputation there as a remarkable boxer. When first locked up as a deserter from the Canadian Forces he made a brilliant escape, although handcuffed. He first knocked out his keeper, stripped him, and locked the officer in the cell which ho had been occupying; then, wearing his victim's uniform;' ho went to the prison gate, walked down a. dark passage right into the arms of tho guaiH. Tho four keepers were armed with bayonets, and in the battle which enI sued the darkness undoubtedly was of assistance to the offender, as ho managed to escape after piloting tho four guards out of business, somo of them being badly wounded; by their own bayonets. Tho prisoner himself did not escape scot-free, as a trail of blood was discovered. Ho was not picked up again until sergeants of the British Guard captured him as related. PERCY PLANTAGENET WILLOUGHBY. From a party named Percy Plantagenet Willoughby one would naturally expect something, and as a matter of fact Percy cut quite a swath for a while:— The name belonged to a private of tho British Forces who deserted from one regiment to another, according to his tasto in uniforms. His hair was curly and his voice was smooth, and his success with ladies in New York was immense. As a. captain of a Highland regiment wearing staff badges he made a sonsation on Fifth Avenue when he rodo in the preparedness parade on a "charger" hired from a livery stable. File Provost Marshal was severely berated by more than one charming girl when Master Percy was arrested. A New York newspaper took up the young man's cause, and talked of persojYition, publishing a long interview with dio young man, intending to show that ! an ungrateful Government was careless | of tho welfare of a gallant officer who fad shed Jus blood for civilisation. The fact, however, remained that a jury cound Percy Plantagenet was a petty pilferer, a forger of cheques, and an impostor.