[3] In 1917, at the age of 14, he was working as a pantryman on the passenger liner Kenilworth Castle, which sailed between London and Cape Town.
On returning to England, he adopted the persona of Gerald Chilcott, a South African midshipman whom he had met on board Kenilworth Castle while being invalided home.
He bought the appropriate uniform, and presented himself at the King George and Queen Mary's Club, London, an institution dedicated to helping impoverished servicemen.
Lucas now became associated with "Evelyn Graham", author of fraudulent biographies of members of the British and other royal families, and the newly-established publisher and literary agent "Albert E. Marriott".
[4] Journalists uncovered eight names associated with Lucas, and he was arrested, convicted, and sentenced for attempting to sell a bogus manuscript.