Where do you begin when you are confronted with a thief a liar a fraud and a wannabe? Christopher John Dwyer of Cairns, Far North Queensland is just such a man. After a long run of luck Dwyer is now being brought to Veteran justice.

We present the make believe military history of Christopher Dwyer, and the real military history of Christopher Dwyer. Neither bears any resemblance to the other.  Dwyer likes to play” dress ups” and will wear anything to prove the outrageous stories of his life as a soldier.

Despite the above photographs, Dwyer was never a Commissioned Officer, or an officer of any kind, he was a Signalman (Private Soldier) fixing communications machines under supervision during his entire service. We hold a copy of a letter written by his Commanding Officer dated the 5th June 1974 which says in part:

“Since being posted to 5 Sig Regt in Dec 73. Sig Dwyer has proved himself to be inefficient, lazy and negligent in the performance of his duties.  He has also proved to be an administrative liability through continuous minor acts which require unit administrative attention”.

The final paragraph of the letter said.

“It is considered that the actions of Sig Dwyer since Dec 73 have not been the actions of a dedicated soldier and it is strongly recommended that action be taken to administratively discharge him in accordance with AMR 176 (1) (a) as soon as possible”

Dwyer was discharged on the 2nd August 1974 with the reason given as “Retention in the Military Forces not being in the interest of those forces”. A copy of the discharge certificate is shown below:

Dwyer served in South Vietnam, with 104 Signal Sqn from September 1970 to October 1971 and served in Singapore from February 1973 to December 1973.

This is the military history of Christopher Dwyer according to Christopher Dwyer.

Attended the Army Apprentices School where he qualified as an Electrical Engineer

Served in Vietnam with 3 Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), from 15th June 1966 to 18th Feb 1967 and again in 1971 – 1972.  He also served with 104 Signal Squadron in 1970 – 1971. For his claimed SASR service in 1966 – 1967 he has stolen the service and valour of a genuine and much admired SASR Sergeant, with the same surname and initials i.e. C J Dwyer, however the Christian names are different. 

Was a “Parachute Jump Instructor”. Note in the photo above he wears Parachute Wings

Was a helicopter and fixed wing pilot. He wears Pilot’s wings.

He was a qualified Sniper with twenty two confirmed kills. That role included “Black Ops” with assassinations of North Vietnam high ranking Officers and leaders. He also boasts to have shot and killed a Vietnamese mother and her baby with one shot.

Liaison Officer, and personal security officer to the Governor General in Canberra

Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, as senior adviser to the local Army Reserve unit.  

Provided security for Bill Clinton during his Cairns Visit,

Was wounded in action in Vietnam.

Worked with the CIA and Montagnards in Vietnam.

Is a firearms instructor.

Conducted a mercy killing of an Australian soldier who was strapped inside a burning helicopter.

Claims entitlement to medals and badges he has never earned. Notice in the first photo he is wearing the badges of a Pilot, a Parachutist, an Infantry Combat Badge, a Unit Citation that was issued to 2 Sqn RAAF, 8th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment and the elite Australian Army Training Team, and an Army Individual Readiness (AIRN) badge. He is wearing eight medals when his entitlement is four. 

Dwyer’s military history according to his Record of Service:

He was never at the Army Apprentices School, Balcombe, Victoria and in any case that institution did not train Electrical Engineers.

Served as a Private soldier in the Army Reserve from 20^th June 1967 to 27^th  Feb 1969.

Enlisted in Australian Regular Army (ARA)  on 23^rd Apr 1969 sacked on 2^nd Aug 1974.

Qualified as a Technician Signals on the 6^th Apr 1970.

Qualified as Telegraphic Technician on the 20^th Jun 1972.

Re-enlisted in Army Reserve on 28^th Jan 1975 after being sacked from ARA.

Sacked from Army Reserve on 14 Dec 1976 after being placed on non effective list.

All of Dwyer’s Army trade training was completed at the School of Signals which was co-located at Balcombe in Victoria with the Army Apprentices School until 1970. They were entirely different units.

Dwyer may have been at the School of  Signals at Balcombe during 1969 1970 but was never at the Army Apprentices School Balcombe at any time. The Army School of Signals moved progressively from Balcombe Victoria, to Watsonia Victoria, during 1969 - 1970

Dwyer has spread his lies all around the Far North Queensland region. One of his favourite haunts was the Mount Carbine Hotel, North between Cairns and Cooktown. He would camp in the area and frequent the Hotel wearing camouflage military clothing and sporting lethal weapons. On one occasion he pulled and displayed a silenced .25 Beretta pistol whilst in the bar. The photo below shows Dwyer at a camp site in the Mt Carbine area and he is displaying his silenced pistol and a rifle. Notice also the bottle of Rum on the table, it is well known that Rum and firearms are a lethal combination, but of course this "Black Ops" high ranking killing machine, would thumb his nose at such wisdom.

Notice that Dwyer is in Camouflage military clothing and is wearing epaulets, which we are reliably advised showed the rank of Major.  He also donated “his” SAS beret and other items of military kit to the Mt Carbine Hotel, we assume to “prove” his false military history.  Here is a photo of the SAS Beret at the pub.  We imagine there are SASR blokes around that would not appreciate Dwyer fooling with their Beret.

Dwyer is now persona non grata at Mt Carbine, because he displayed his pistol in the bar and at another time shot and killed the dog of a resident who had been admitted to hospital. The dog needed someone to care for it during the absence of the owner, however Dwyer took it upon himself to go to man’s house and shoot his dog. On release from hospital the dog’s owner was barking mad.

As well as holding Statutory Declarations and photographs we have read Dwyer’s complete Service Record, and note as part of his persona as an "inefficient, lazy and negligent administrative liability" he was charged with twelve military offences during his short military career. The stories that Dwyer tells and the photographs he produces bear no resemblance to the real military history of Christopher John Dwyer which in the eyes of most veterans would be viewed as squalid.

Dwyer has committed criminal firearms offences as well as offences against the Defence Act 1903 because he is wearing medals and badges to which he is not entitled to wear.

Regarding Dwyer’s claim to have executed an Australian soldier who was strapped inside a burning helicopter we all know that he refers to Lance Corporal John Francis Gillespie whose remains were recently returned home. To understand the depth of depravity reached by Dwyer we close this exposure with details of this event as described by Dwyer and recorded on a Statutory Declaration.

The military history of Lance Corporal Gillespie is an emotional issue for Vietnam Veterans, to understand why, read this:  http://minister.dva.gov.au/speeches/docs/hanoi_address.pdf

It is unconscionable for Dwyer the liar, thief, fraud and wannabe to use Lance Corporal Gillespie’s military history to enhance his false military history, in the same way he has used the other CJ Dwyer to “prove” his service with 3 Sqn SASR in Vietnam

Dwyer offends all Veterans, he offends the memory of Lance Corporal John Francis Gillespie; he offends the ex SASR Sergeant who bears the same name and initials; he offends those units whose Citation he has stolen; he offends those who earned the right to wear the Infantry Combat Badge; he offends those who legitimately achieved high rank in the Defence Force; he offends those genuinely qualified to wear Parachute and Pilot wings and the AIRN Badge; and most of all he offends the honour of all those who did not return.

10th Jul 2010

Here is a copy of the newspaper report: 

Dwyer correctly claims that the medals he is holding in front of his face in the newspaper article are his, however, the medals he is shown to be wearing in our initial exposure are different and four of them are fake, along with the Parachute Wings, Pilots Wings, Infantry Combat Badge, AIRN Badge, Unit Citation Badge and the rank of Major.

This is published in the public interest, particularly that of the Vietnam Veteran Community. All information presented here is fact and the truth. Reports from private citizens are supported by statements of fact and statutory declarations.