Editing Trevor Howard (section)

==Military service==
Around 1945, journalists began to circulate stories stating that Howard had a courageous [[World War II|wartime service]] in the British Army's [[Royal Corps of Signals]], which earned him much respect among fellow actors and fans. The police visited Howard, warning him that it was a crime to claim a medal under the Army Act, but Howard assured them he was not the source of the stories.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-06-24 |title=Howard's widow hits out at madness claim |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1312568/Howards-widow-hits-out-at-madness-claim.html |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}</ref> In fact, he "did his best to dodge the call-up",<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-08-04 |title=A rake in tweed clothing |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4724872/A-rake-in-tweed-clothing.html |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}</ref> and journalist Terrence Pettigrew, in his 2001 [[biography]] of Howard,{{Sfn|Pettigrew|2001|p=154}} recounted that files held in the [[Public Record Office]] revealed he was actually discharged from the British Army in 1943 for mental instability and having a "[[psychopathic]] personality", on account of having "lied about his background, from his schooldays onward ... determinedly".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/mar/03/television.usa|title=Trevor Howard details|work=The Guardian |date=3 March 2008}}</ref> Initially Howard's widow, actress [[Helen Cherry]], denied this, but after being confronted with the official records, she said that Howard's mother had claimed he was a holder of the [[Military Cross]], adding that her late husband had an honourable military record with "nothing to be ashamed of".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1358169/Helen-Cherry.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1358169/Helen-Cherry.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=    Obituaries: Helen Cherry|date=2 October 2001}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Per ''[[The London Gazette]]'', Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (247202) was commissioned into the [[South Staffordshire Regiment]] as a [[Second lieutenant]] effective 3 October 1942,<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35767/supplement/4749/data.pdf |title=Supplement to the London Gazette |date=3 November 1942 |journal=Supplement to the London Gazette |page=4749}} (prev. page states "The undermentioned Cadets to be 2nd Lts., 3rd Oct. 1942:")</ref> relinquishing his commission on 2 October 1943 "on account of "ill-health", still a [[Second_lieutenant#United_Kingdom_and_other_Commonwealth_countries|Second Lieutenant]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36194/supplement/4398/data.pdf |title=Supplement to the London Gazette, 5 October, 1943 |date=5 October 1943 |journal=Supplement to the London Gazette |page=4398}}</ref> This contradicted the post-war stories that he had won the Military Cross and high promotion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/record?catid=4450635&catln=6|title=Trevor Howard (actor) erroneously reported in newspapers as having been awarded the Military Cross|website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk|accessdate=18 March 2023}}</ref>