A ‘war hero’ pictured at a veterans’ meeting with Rishi Sunak has been exposed as a fake. Chris Webber bragged about killing Argentinian soldiers on undercover ops behind enemy lines in the Falklands, the Mirror reports.
In reality, his career has included stints as a holiday rep and a pub singer in Spain under the stage name 'Cushty'.
Last month Webber, 64, was invited to a veterans’ summit at 10 Downing Street where he also spoke to ministers including Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen.
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They were unaware that the hoaxer had bought his green beret and medals from the internet, it's been reported.
A security probe is now under way after he was unmasked by a veterans’ group which exposes fake war heroes, called the Walter Mitty Hunters Club.
Members spotted that two of his medals were non-military and his cap badge was from the reign of George VI.
The group used a decoy to contact him on the internet. He claimed he was the PM’s veterans’ adviser and had nine years in the Army. Webber also boasted of being the first to land in the Falklands four days after Argentina’s invasion.
He said: “I was quickly seconded to the Intelligence Corps as I spoke fluent Spanish. I was a spook.
“On 5th April 1982, I landed as part of a four-man covert team to observe enemy movements. I was there 74 days and lost 255 colleagues to Argentinian hostilities. I once adopted the role of an enemy soldier… if I’d been sussed goodness knows what would have happened to me.
“Losing friends who were like brothers to me has been very difficult.”
Webber, from London, also claimed to have PTSD and convinced homeless veterans’ charity Stoll that he had spent three years living in his car in Sheffield. But his only Army service was a few months in the Territorials in his 20s. When veterans confronted him he apologised and admitted lying.
He told them: “My grandfather and father served in the Second World War and I wanted to be like them.” He added that he felt “absolutely dreadful”.
Ex-Marine Sergeant Major and Falklands veteran Jeff Williams told us: “I lost a lot of brothers in that war. The fact that this individual lied about his service makes my skin crawl. There should be a law against this.”
A spokesman for the Walter Mitty Hunters Club said: “The club solely exists to act as a deterrent to those who wish to masquerade as a veteran, a serving member of the armed forces and those who exaggerate their service.
“Such people undermine genuine time-served veterans and those still serving in the eyes of the public.”
When approached by the Sunday Mirror, Webber declined to comment.
A government spokesman said of his meeting with Sunak: “Due diligence checks are carried out for these events.”
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