Tom Skeyhill found fame and fortune as a “blind soldier poet”, but none of his story was true

Tom Skeyhill found fame as a war hero blinded by an explosion, but he was simply a fraud who faked it to escape the trenches.

Fraudulent World War I soldier Tom Skeyhill.

Tom Skeyhill found fame and fortune as the “blind soldier poet” on the US chat circuit – a war hero from country Victoria rendered sightless by an exploding Turkish shell.

At Carnegie Hall in New York, ex-president Theodore Roosevelt praised him as ‘the finest soldier speaker in the world’.

When Skeyhill “recovered” his sight in 1918, the miraculous feat only enhanced his celebrity profile.

The only trouble was none of Skeyhill’s story was true.

He was never blinded in World War I or anywhere else, and his captivating stories of war heroism ranged from wild exaggerations to pure fantasy.

Skeyhill is the subject of today’s new episode of the free In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters, with historian Jim Haynes:

The story of “the fake hero” appears in Haynes’ new book, Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags.

“Although this bloke was never charged with a crime, I think he certainly rates as one of the worst criminal types of people that I’ve ever had the displeasure of researching and writing about,” Haynes says.

Tom Skeyhill.

A poster advertising Skeyhill’s appearance in Colac.

Skeyhill, who grew up around Terang and Hamilton, was sent to Gallipoli as a signaller in 1915, then was supposedly blinded and sent back to Melbourne.

While Skeyhill did well for himself, he also turned out to be an accomplished fundraiser.

In Australia, he raised an estimated $10,000 – equivalent to more than $1m today – for the War Chest, Red Cross Society and other patriotic organisations.

In 1917, he took his lecturing tour to the US, where he became a celebrity sensation.

“He was able to concoct a whole publicity campaign around himself,” Haynes says.

Skeyhill’s US tour.

A book of soldier songs written by Skeyhill.

“And realising he was in America, where they knew nothing about what was going on in Europe or in Australia, he told some whopping lies.”

Skeyhill was credited with raising $100m on behalf of US war funds, including $25m from one 25-minute talk in New York in 1918.

“He became famous as the blind soldier poet hero, when he was probably actually a coward and a malingerer,” Haynes says.

“He made outrageous claims. He claimed that the famous poet Rupert Brooke died in his arms, and, of course they were miles apart when Rupert Brooke died.

“He invented things, like a trip to Russia, where he went across the frozen sea to Finland and infiltrated the Communist Party and talked to Lenin.”

Skeyhill’s concocted story was torn to shreds in the 2010 book Anzac Cove to Hollywood: The Story of Tom Skeyhill, Master of Deception, by Professor Jeff Brownrigg.

Yet many accounts of Skeyhill’s life still give the fictionalised version to this day.

To learn more, listen to the interview in the In Black and White podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or web.

See In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper Monday to Friday for more stories and photos from Victoria’s past.