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Odd this should get bumped as this story cropped up:
www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,1751969,00.html
The Wikipedia entry was here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Mcilwraith
See some background on the Talk page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Alan_Mcilwraith
Seems he was rapidly spotted on there and removed. Of course now he is famous for using Wikipedia to fake his background meaning the entry will probably have to go back up.
Captain Sir Alan KBE - call-centre worker
· Fake war hero fools charity with tales of grandeur
· Army, palace and MoD deny far-fetched claims
Gerard Seenan
Wednesday April 12, 2006
The Guardian
When Alan McIlwraith told charity workers he was an ennobled and decorated war hero, they were more than happy to invite him to their awards ceremony.
If, that night, the former servicemen's uniform looked a little too big and his medals a bit askew, no one thought it proper to comment. After all, Captain Sir Alan McIlwraith, KBE DSO MC, said he had seen active service in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Kosovo and Northern Ireland. Indeed, his entry in the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia made his international standing clear.
"Capt McIlwraith is known throughout the military world as a man that can get things done and is thought of as a hero that the UN and Nato can look to in times of trouble," it read.
Except that when Mr McIlwraith was not sipping champagne at charity galas, he had a more mundane occupation - as a call centre worker. Even at work, Mr McIlwraith kept up the pretence: his nametag read Sir Alan. Yet the closest he had been to active service was getting the drinks from the coffee machine.
Yesterday, the army was among a number of institutions lining up to say it had never heard of the Walter Mitty character who had, in full although ill-fitting military regalia, managed to con his way on to the pages of No 1 magazine (where he was pictured with partner, "Lady Shona").
"We couldn't quite believe that someone would be that stupid. He has never been a soldier or officer," an army spokesman said. "He's never even been in the TA, he's never even been in the army cadets. It doesn't sound like he's the full shilling."
Mr McIlwraith duped the National Children's Homes charity into inviting him to their recent Women of Influence Awards in Glasgow. The charity was under the impression that in addition to his heroic service, which included rescuing a young woman from an angry mob while unarmed, he had acted as an adviser to former Nato commander Wesley Clark.
Colleagues were also regaled with details of Mr McIlwraith's colourful, if fabricated, career. Last month, on the day of the merger of Scottish regiments, Mr McIlwraith arrived a little late wearing a long coat and army boots. His tardiness, he said, was due to a meeting at Edinburgh castle to mark the event. All officers had been given a box of chocolates - and he proudly showed off his Quality Street.
Yet Sandhurst has no record of the man who claimed to finish top in his year; Buckingham Palace said yesterday it had no record of his being knighted; and the Ministry of Defence's army gallantry section said no Alan McIlwraith had received a Military Cross.
Some of Mr McIlwraith's colleagues were a little suspicious as to why he was answering phones in Glasgow's east end for £16,000 a year, so they checked his story on the internet. He explained his absence from the honours list by saying he did not like the publicity. His Wikipedia entry underlined this modesty. General Sir Mike Jackson, head of the army, was quoted as saying: "Very few photographs of Capt McIlwraith are in circulation as he is camera shy but a splendid soldier."
Yesterday, National Children's Homes said it was "looking into the circumstances" surrounding Mr McIlwraith's invitation to the awards ceremony. His entry has been removed from Wikipedia.
www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,,1751969,00.html
The Wikipedia entry was here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Mcilwraith
See some background on the Talk page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Alan_Mcilwraith
Seems he was rapidly spotted on there and removed. Of course now he is famous for using Wikipedia to fake his background meaning the entry will probably have to go back up.