Terry Robinson: Fake soldier who falsely passed himself off as war hero caught out at Remembrance Day event in Limavady

The 4ft 10in imposter, from a prominent Co Derry unionist family, was rumbled when pictures of him wearing medals were published on social media

Terry Robinson wearing a bonnet and medals which aren't his at the Remembrance Day event in Limavady

Robinson tells the Sunday World he has left the Royal Artillery Association

Terry Robinson admits what he did to our reporter Hugh Jordan

A fake soldier who falsely passed himself off as a war hero has been booted out of a prestigious military organisation.

British Army top brass moved to oust Terry Robinson from the Royal Artillery Association after learning the pint-sized pensioner publicly pretended he’d won a chest-full of military honours.

The 4ft 10in imposter — who is from a prominent unionist family in Co Derry — was rumbled when a picture of him wearing medals he never won was published on social media after Remembrance Sunday.

Last November — as chairman of the local Royal Artillery Association — Robinson laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in Limavady town centre.

The 72-year-old father of two was also snapped saluting Ulster's fallen from both world wars.

And as he did so, a cluster of four miniature military medals could clearly be seen pinned on the pretend soldier's left breast.

These included:

The Northern Ireland Medal — awarded for service during Operation Banner during the Troubles;

The UN Medal — awarded for peacekeeping duties around the world;

The Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

A fourth medal in the group has yet to be categorised.

And the tiny would-be squaddie was also spotted sporting a chequered Glengarry army bonnet and a blue serge blazer with an embroidered Royal Artillery badge and a regimental tie.

It was the photograph which sparked a high-level probe, led by a retired British Army officer who also heads up the highly respected Royal Artillery Association.

It was soon revealed that the Walter Mitty military man had NO previous connection to the Royal Artillery or any other regiment in the British Army.

In fact, the nearest diminutive Robinson got to any military service was a self-proclaimed short stint in the Coleraine Battery of the TA — and even that has still to be confirmed!

Terry Robinson admits what he did to our reporter Hugh Jordan

Alarm bells began ringing when army veterans attending last year's Remembrance Sunday event in Limavady questioned Robinson's publicly-displayed military credentials.

They suspected — correctly as it turned out — Robinson hadn't won ANY of the medals on his chest.

The veterans asked the army to investigate the matter and their false valour fears were proved to be well-founded.

As a result, Robinson was asked to step down immediately as chairman of the Limavady Branch of the prestigious Royal Artillery Association.

Also at the army's request, he disassociated himself from any further connection to the Royal Artillery Association.

When we caught up with the shamed wannabe squaddie this week, Robinson said he readily accepted he was guilty on all charges of misrepresenting a military past.

He asked to be allowed to publicly apologise to the British Army for what he claimed was simply a medal ‘mix-up’.

Red-faced Robinson also blamed Covid confusion for his behaviour on the day he pretended to be a soldier as he paid tribute to Ulster's war heroes while wearing medals he never earned.

He said: "I want to apologise from the bottom of my heart. And I want to say sorry also to the veterans associations. I don't know why I did it. It was very wrong and I will never do anything like that again.

"You see, I had Covid around that time and I wasn't myself," he insisted.

When asked to give a fuller explanation about why he publicly displayed medals he never earned, Robinson said: "I found them in the roof space of the house.

"Perhaps they belonged to my wife's family? I just don't know. And I don't know why I put them on that day.

"The army asked me to resign from the Royal Artillery Association and I have done that. I will never do anything like that ever again," he insisted.

The Sunday World has been told that it was Robinson's public portrayal of past valour which raised eyebrows among army veterans attending last year's busy Remembrance Sunday Ceremony in Limavady.

The British Army was forced to act after receiving complaints from concerned army veterans living in the area.

Major Richard Davies (Rtd), Secretary to the Royal Artillery Association who oversaw the investigation into Robinson, said the army likes to act swiftly to stamp out this kind of behaviour.

"Essentially this is Walter Mitty-type activity. And it usually starts with people wearing badges they are not entitled to wear and then it escalates," he said.

"But unfortunately — as in this case — it can move into complete false representation from people who may never even have served in the army at all, but they may have a little bit of knowledge which they then use to pass themselves off.

"It is always most noticeable when the public focus is on the military — and more specifically the veterans — on Remembrance Sunday.

"In this incident you are talking about, an individual was displaying insignia which wasn't representational of actual military honours and he was also displaying medallic recognition of tours he hadn't engaged in.

Robinson tells the Sunday World he has left the Royal Artillery Association

"To outsiders, it might seem like a small issue, but to those who have earned it legitimately, it's a big issue.

"As Head of the Royal Artillery Association, I ask members of the public to look out for and send me details of anything that gives concern in this regard.

"I prefer it to be backed up by photographic evidence.

"It is then easy for me to check service records and I always call out individuals and I ask them to stop and desist.

"Usually that is all that is every required, because the embarrassment of being caught is usually enough for them to crawl back under the stone from where they came.

"In this case, I got in touch with the regional representative. I presented the evidence and I asked our representative to make direct contact with the individual.

"He was asked to confirm what we said he had been doing and he did. He gave an immediate assurance that it wouldn't happen again and as far as I’m concerned, that's the end of it.

"You appear to be well informed about this particular case and one of the things that stood out, was he was wearing Glengarry headgear which had with all sorts of wrong insignia and medals. It stood out as false," said Major Davies.

He added: "I must emphasise though how angry this makes some veterans, who have genuinely received the correct honours and awards, to see someone blatantly taking the adoration, thanks, community wellbeing and kind thoughts for actions they haven't undertaken."

Terry Robinson is from a prominent unionist family in Limavady with long-established links to the British Army.

His father Joe served as a British soldier in both World Wars.

Robinson's brother George served in the Assembly at Stormont as DUP member for Limavady.

He had previously represented the party on the local council and had served as mayor.

During his time as mayor, George Robinson welcomed Queen Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, to Limavady.