Jack Livesey (impostor)

John "Jack" Livesey (born 15 May 1954) is a British military imposter who posed as a decorated war hero; in actuality he served in the army as a cook for three years. His fabricated military record included twenty years in the Parachute Regiment, fighting with the 2nd Battalion in the Falklands War, serving five tours of duty in Northern Ireland, receiving the Military Medal and reaching the rank of Colour Sergeant. He has worked as a historian, author, consultant, lecturer and tour guide on the basis of his alleged military experience.

Jack Livesey served as a chef in the Army Catering Corps from 1971 until 1974, when he was discharged following a mental breakdown. Livesey admitted that he created a 'fantasy world' to compensate for his early discharge from the army: 'I built this fictional guy up which was better than admitting the failure that was my military career […] It wasn’t the best way to end your military career. It was going to be my dream – the Army was a wonderful life and I screwed it up and created this fantasy'.

Livesey was featured as a military historian in the documentary Death and Destruction in the Falaise Gap and on the History Channel series Battlefield Detectives. He worked as a historical advisor on the 2005 BBC documentary series D-Day to Berlin and the 2006 movie Flyboys. He claimed to have also advised production crews on the miniseries Band of Brothers and the movie Saving Private Ryan; however, his name does not appear in the credits of either.

Livesey authored books of military non-fiction, three which were co-written by George Forty, a well-known author and a former curator of the Tank Museum.

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Wikipedia