Historian discovers Arthur Crane is no war hero (Australia)
WHEN Australian PoWs gathered for their annual memorial service in Ballarat last February none suspected that there was a traitor among them – their newly-elected national association president.
Although aged 82, Queenslander Arthur Rex Crane was considered young for a World War II prisoner of war...
... Crane appeared to be beyond reproach, however, because he had worked with the ex-PoW Association in Brisbane for years, helping others get the service and disability pensions they deserved. He had earned hundreds of thousands in pension payments himself.
But when Crane rose to thank the guest speaker at that February service, military historian Lynette Silver, her blood ran cold as she listened to him recount his wartime "experiences". She immediately realised he was a fraud...
... Then along came Lynette Silver. She wrote to Crane, asking if he would tell her his story. He refused.
She enlisted two assistants, Jenny Sandercock and Di Elliott, both of whom had family PoW connections.
Within a month, they tracked down Crane's "dead" brother, who was still alive in Salt Lake City.
He told them Rex had never been to war. Soon after, Sandercock found school records that proved Crane had not been in Malaya.
"We knew he'd been lying and now we had proof of it."
Crane confessed immediately when confronted with the evidence.
"We informed the Veterans Affairs Minister (Alan Griffin) the next day and told him the story was going to break. Rex confessed to the DVA in Brisbane that day," she said.
Read entire article at couriermail.com.au
Although aged 82, Queenslander Arthur Rex Crane was considered young for a World War II prisoner of war...
... Crane appeared to be beyond reproach, however, because he had worked with the ex-PoW Association in Brisbane for years, helping others get the service and disability pensions they deserved. He had earned hundreds of thousands in pension payments himself.
But when Crane rose to thank the guest speaker at that February service, military historian Lynette Silver, her blood ran cold as she listened to him recount his wartime "experiences". She immediately realised he was a fraud...
... Then along came Lynette Silver. She wrote to Crane, asking if he would tell her his story. He refused.
She enlisted two assistants, Jenny Sandercock and Di Elliott, both of whom had family PoW connections.
Within a month, they tracked down Crane's "dead" brother, who was still alive in Salt Lake City.
He told them Rex had never been to war. Soon after, Sandercock found school records that proved Crane had not been in Malaya.
"We knew he'd been lying and now we had proof of it."
Crane confessed immediately when confronted with the evidence.
"We informed the Veterans Affairs Minister (Alan Griffin) the next day and told him the story was going to break. Rex confessed to the DVA in Brisbane that day," she said.