To feel sorry for the fake admiral

Fergie here.

Run him down ???

Ok . I see what this is and who you are

Do you really not understand the point re Andrew Windsor ?

He was using sex trafficked girls , pledging allegiance to Epstein and god knows what else.
THAT is hurt and abuse . The Windsors knew about this and still made him an honorary Vice Admiral. That act alone was deeply disrespectful to the country.
Much more so than someone wearing bought medals .

My DB is very good at letting people think he went to private school and that he was an officer in the army. In fact he went to the same boring comp as me. His military service extends to a couple of years in the territorials.

He does it because he wishes he was posher than he actually is. It's long standing insecurity.

We dont yet know if the remembrance day man is just sad and pathetic or if this is part of a broader fraud.

@madaboutpurple

I know someone who pretends to be a pilot

Oh heck there are a few of those around and they often find it hard to stop digging when they are caught out, which aviation being a small world they often are, it's really quite bizarre.

I know of an incident at a dinner table many years back where one individual started to claim to have been a Red Arrows pilot...all got messy very quickly when the real, genuine, ex-Reds pilot sat the same table spoke up.

I like the notion of stolen valour; it feels like a very apt description of what has occurred. The thing which gets me is that the medals were earnt by real servicemen or women who, for reasons unknown, had to part with them, and I imagine each parting tells a story -I can't imagine medals are passed on lightly, as anybody's first choice.

While nobody is directly harmed by his actions, as proponents of the idea of the 'victimless crime' suggest, I think the 'crime' lies in the amount of offense it's caused, and that is considerable and entirely valid.

YABU. He's either a delusional fantasist or a total charlatan. It is not ok to dress up and pretend to be a decorated war hero, particularly not on Remembrance Sunday! It takes the absolute piss and is an insult to those who served.

Just because more serious crimes take place, it doesn’t mean we don’t punish other incidents. Hopefully he’ll think twice before doing it again.

Remembrance Sunday is not an opportunity for cosplay.

He obviously bought the medals online. He could have got away with it if he only had a few medals. I know someone who pretends to be a pilot and he actually told me his company once gave him a medal for landing a plane on a breezy day in America. I just keep remembering the plotline of Deirdre in Coronation street years ago. Totally deluded as I know a pilot who has landed planes in all sorts of weather and not even got a thank you from the company. He keeps the neighbours amused as he tells us we would be lucky to be flown by him as he is a top pilot.

He does deserve to be charged because he is wilfully taking prominence and stealing the significance of the ceremonies from those who have put themselves in danger and do deserve the thanks. Also, where will it end if we are OK with people impersonating others? It’s not just a one off either, apparently he’s been doing this for years so he obviously won’t stop unless there is some kind of intervention.

Untreated syphilis can cause delusions of grandeur.

Thank you. People can run him down if they want but I'd like them to stick to the facts.

He did, during the campaign itself.

Nothing honorary about his South Atlantic medal, it is completely legit (and FWIW I think he also got a Mention in Despatches).

He served in the Falklands I think

It's stolen valour. My husband served in the military for nearly 30 years, been on many operations and earned his medals. Walter mitties like this guy deserve punishment

Those who know, know, don't they 💕 Let's hope a particular poster has a shred of common sense left and stops now.

I totally agree. I have memories of the CO and Padre coming onto our street when the men were in in the Falklands. The kids all stopped and watched to see which house, praying it wasn't yours, whilst simultaneously knowing it would be a friends parent not coming home.

Hijacking a thread to push another agenda is awful and I wholeheartedly agree with your last sentence.

I feel sorry for the victims of actual crime

Sounds like a MH problem surely?

I mean no one normal could stand their knowing they were a fraud?

"He didn't hurt anyone as far as I can see"
Because you know that. For sure. Don't you? And it suits you. And have totally ignored people telling you that what he did IS hurtful to the AF community and their families, including the bereaved. But still you persist. YOU are disrespectful. Despicable. Arrogant.

It's a slipperly slope and can start at a very young age...

I don’t think his offence is wearing fake medals, I’m not aware that’s even an offence?

I’m sure if you are a royalist you very much do hope I’d stop posting

The OP stated that she thought the arrest of the man wearing the bought medals was an overreaction . I agree with her although all I know is that he was wearing medals that he hadn’t earned . He didn’t hurt anyone as far as I can see .

Andrew was known to be using and abusing trafficked women while being festooned with ‘honours’ and medals . That was the point I was making and it very much IS relevant to the thread.

The posters above are concerned at ‘disrespect’
What was more disrespectful than Elizabeth Windsor making Andrew a Vice Admiral while his links to Epstein were we known to them ?
It took over 150 veterans to write an open letter to force the Windsors to act .

They are already on plenty of threads about the subject which is why I am even more appalled they have decided this is also somewhere they need to be.

I just want to say to anyone using this thread for their own ends. We have just marked Armistice Day and Remembrance. As someone very closely connected to the armed forces community I want to express my despair that some people cannot appreciate just how insulting firstly, pretending to be a veteran is, and secondly, how utterly distasteful it is to hijack a thread for a subject that in itself takes away from the genuine upset this fakery causes to those actually affected. When those who feel justified in this have spent years caring for an affected veteran, they can bang on at me about whatever they like. But until then I will forever reserve the right to call out anyone who shows any disrespect whatsoever to the AF community and their families.

You are totally missing the point.

Whether we agree or disagree with you on if he shouldn't have received honorary titles isn't an issue for this thread. Continually forcing your agenda at an inappropriate time and place is the issue with how you re posting.

Perhaps think bout this from the point of view of those closer to the issue.

Go start a thread about your issue in good faith, with genuine engagement instead repeating the same stuff parrotlike, and people will debate you there.

This thread is not the place.