Western Australia’s Anzac Day commemorations were cancelled due to the city’s snap three-day lockdown, with people encouraged to mark the event in their driveways instead.
However, Mr Darby was dubbed a mystery “hero” by local media after being seen walking though the city on crutches, with medals on his chest and a banner saying “honour the fallen” around his neck.
The West Australian newspaper reported he was given an “impromptu guard of honour” after police allowed him to finish his walk.
Mr Darby is in fact a long time political protester and campaigns against COVID-19 restrictions.
“Someone looked at CCTV footage and saw this old fella standing wearing a couple of medals and wrongly assumed that those medals referred to combat,” he told 9News.
He did National Service and said he was a signals officer in 1974, but doesn’t normally march on Anzac Day.
“I’m not a veteran, I’m an admirer of veterans,” he said.
Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said officers escorted him off the road on Sunday, but they didn’t know his background.
Premier Mark McGowan was asked about Mr Darby.
From Antarctica, driveways to marches, young and old commemorate Anzac Day
He said: “If those are the things he is saying, obviously I don’t agree with them.”
This content first appear on 9news