What to do with a Walt?
 

I was at a dinner on 11 Nov and a new member of the particular Society turned up sporting an impressive string of gongs including an MBE, an Iraq Medal and 2 GSMs (no less)!

A bit of digging later and he turns out to have been the only SSgt to have served as a member of a Scottish Infantry Regt and with an officer's Army number to boot.

Black-balling, though inevitable, seems too good for him. Any (legal) suggestions for appropriately disposing of the case?

Just ask lots of leading questions. People like this always show themselves up without needing any further help from one in the know. Ask him what exactly he did, then do a bit of research, then ask him some more.

The 2 GSM's give the game away straight off the bat. The GSM has clasps awarded for further and / or other tours, it's never awarded twice.

By the way, is this the first time a "Walt" has been mentioned on PPRuNe? It's normally a favourite subject of those wags on "ARRSe"! :ooh:

Have the local rag's reporter to hand next he's at the bar, and hold a well briefed interview.

Oh and I have to add that my own dear Father-in-Law is a bit of a waltish character. He did serve in the RAF, but not for an awfully long time, during the Aden conflict.
Now he has the (proper) medal to show for this. However I was visiting the old soak with Mrs QFI the other week, and he was off to a British legion do. Being a true Scot, he had all his highland finery on, but what's this? FOUR medals on his right breast, and his one genuine one on the left. It turned out that he had bought four more (An unofficial QGJ with a YELLOW ribbon, an unofficial "For General Service" one (With a red white and blue ribbon) along with a couple more for reasons undisclosed.

I asked about his QGJ one, (seeing as he retired some 20 odd years back) and he had the gall to tell me that his is a genuine one. He forgets that perhaps I got a genuine one too, and it looks nothing like his!

So your friend may be a genuine ex forces type, and he could be "spicing up" his bland career, like my dear Dad in law. I still think he may be a total Walter Mitty though by the sounds of it.

Easy fix, get him to ring the bell above the bar! Anybody in the know would run a mile :p :ok:

QFIhawkman - although I've never stumbled across such a case, my understanding of the GSM is that once 7 bars for individual actions have been awarded then a new one is issued. As I said, I've never seen anyone with anything approaching 7 bars but there again this is probably the preserve of the enthusiastic fantacist?

Slightly of topic but one of the lads on the sqn was very good friends with a medic who apparently had 13 medals!!! I imagine there is SOMEONE out there with 2 GSMs.

Heights good

How did SSgt Walt get into said society? Did someone sponsor him? If they did, then ask them if they are aware of his double life.

If it was dinner then he'd have been wearing miniatures I imagine. See if you can force a pretext to look at his full-sized medals, as they will be engraved!

AA, his alleged Military past was unknown until the fateful dinner. His status as a Walt is indisputable. Tarring and feathering is, I believe, unlawful nowadays. Part of me thinks we should just tell him never to darken our door again. Another part of me craves a public 'outing', prefererrably preceded by seeing him dig deeper and deeper.

The wicked side of me is toying with asking a guest speaker to turn up late, and getting Walter Mitty MBE to fill-in on spec, perhaps to regale us with his sandpit experiences?

There have been several general service medals, one 1918-1962 and one post 1962. Although I believe that they have slightly different ribbon design but both use the same colours. If he had served over this transistion period would he be entitled to wear two?

Cheers, PTC Remf, but our hero probably had @ 10 years wait to be born in 1962. The officer's No and SSgt rank are the killers for him.

Its possible to have two GSM's, I have, you dont need to collect the whole set of bars. Once one ribbon is full of campaign bars another is issued in a slightly different design. :cool:

They've got the right idea here.

http://www.anzmi.net/report.html

You would be right there. I stand corrected. I've just never seen it done.

Incidentally I was recently at a dinner where a few of the invited guests were EOD chaps, NCOs mainly. (On average about ten years younger than myself).
The medal count per person was astounding. One of the Corporals had no fewer than nine. I did have to ask what a couple of them were, but there's no doubting they were all genuine and well earned.
I guess that what I'm trying to say is that medals tend to come in batches, so for example if a person has the GSM twice, he'd probably have the LS+GC medal at least. They tend to "group" if you know what I mean. If you have a particular one, you're likely to have one more, and unlikely to have certain others. For example, you'll very rarely if ever see a Falklands medal plus the QGJ, but you WOULD be expected to see a QGJ alongside the OSM(A) or the LS+GC, or the Iraq medal.
Two GSM, plus a GW1, plus an MBE (If I remember your post) without a LS+GC plus a NATO (Bosnia or that theatre) would smell fishy for a supposed SSgt.

An Teallach: I suppose that in your original post you were already aware that he was a "Walt" but was in particular looking for a way of getting rid of him from the society. As someone before me said, check his medals for engraved details.
Other than that, as I say, get some research done. Then get him to do a little talk on his time in the forces. You can then all laugh at him as his world crumbles. This may lead to suicide. This is in no way my fault.

These people need a life after all!

QFI hawkman, You're right. Of course, this all assumes he remains alive after the Secretary of the Regimental Association, from whom I've asked for written confirmation of his (lack of) service in the Regiment, receives my letter.

Having been trained by a Black Watch RSM Castle as a young Rupert before my RAF days, I think I would have picked a different Regiment if I was to go a-walting!

Is it not a case of feeling very sorry for this fellow. As QFI alluded perhaps a "public" outing may have disastrous effects for which you may not be prepared. Of course he must be stopped from impersonation but please have a care as you know not what started it. We on here do not have the first hand knowledge that you have AT so it is difficult to be specific, but I am sure you get the gist of it.

This chap definitely ticks many of the 'Walt' boxes but are you sure he isn't dangling a GSM and and an ACSM (Accumulated Campaign Service Medal)?

The ACSM ribbon is near identical to the GSM post-'62 one except it has a thin yellow stripe running down the middle.

I was once accused of being incorrectly dressed by some dripping for the ears Cranwell brat because he thought I was wearing two GSM's rather than the GSM and ACSM medals that I've been 'lucky' enough to spend enough time away to gain.

Further more he could serve on an infantry battalion and be a S/Sgt if he were from one of the corps on attachment. If he were REME for instance that could also explain his youth yet relatively high rank (for his age) attained.

Of course if he is pretending to be an MBE for personnel gain then that is a criminal offence and one that is easy enough to discover by searching for his name in the London Gazette.

I also met a guy at RAF Gütersloh who earned a GSM for service in Vietnam with the Australian Forces, and a separate GSM for service in Northern Ireland with the British forces.

In fact you would never see a Falklands Medal, as such a thing does not exist. But you might see the South Atlantic Medal, with or without the rosette (rosette awarded if you were in the combat zone).
Yes I have the SAM with rosette AND the the QGJ, as do some of my peers.

It is, of course, possible to have a number of decorations, and even honours, and no LS&GCM - it all depends on the timing of your worthy deeds and indiscretions :O