A MASQUERADER

Otago Witness, Issue 3773, 6 July 1926, Page 31

A MASQUERADER

BOGUS RANK AND DECORATION. LONDON, July 3. Startling disclosures were made as a result of the suicide of General W. S. Turner, a well-known Boy Scout Commissioner ir. London and an active member of Toe H. He wore a brigadier-general’s uniform on ceremonial occasions and the D.S.O. decoration. The fact that the rank and decoration were bogus was only revealed wh*n Turner was found shot dead ai Bromley. It has since been disclosed that prior to his suicide Turner had been questioned regardin" financial irregularities at the Boy Scouts’ Club. Moreover, his colleagues became suspicious regarding his rank owing to Turner telling a manservant that he was expecting a telephone call from the W- r Office. Later a voice asked for Genera] Turner and the servant recognised it as Turner’s own voice. It appears that Turner was the son of a Peckham tailor. He was a gunner in the Royal Artillery and was wounded and gassed during the war and later promoted to the rank of lieutenant. His friends are still reluctant to believe that he was a fraud as his charitable activities were remarkable. “ A GREAT-HEARTED MAN.” LONDON, July 4 “His secrets and sufferings are over. Let us allow the many who mourn to hold his memory dear.” This is the last paragraph of a letter to the press by the Rev. P. T. B. Clayton, of Toe H, referring to General Turner. Mr Clayton adds: “We cannot ask for the suppression of essential facts, but much should be torgiven this strong, great-hearted man who hundreds of men and boys learned to regard as the best man they ever knew. Whatever his faults may have been, his influence was sincere and wholesome.”