Did Higgins make stuff up just to see if anyone noticed?

[Algernon Farnsworth]

In the two years between 1945 and 1947, he was apparently stationed in Italy, Lebanon, Palestine, and South Korea in the same year, then to Egypt, Germany, Austria, and China the next, then finally finishing up that Doctor of Mathematics at Cambridge (distance education, no doubt), then straight to Pakistan. (https://magnum-mania.com/Articles/Higgins_History.html)

It must have been clear after a while that all the stories couldn't add up; in "Compulsion" it mentioned that Higgins had stretched the truth with some of his friends overseas, do you think Higgins slipped in some tall tales in person along with the real ones to see if Magnum was paying attention?

[K Hale]

In the two years between 1945 and 1947, he was apparently stationed in Italy, Lebanon, Palestine, and South Korea in the same year, then to Egypt, Germany, Austria, and China the next, then finally finishing up that Doctor of Mathematics at Cambridge (distance education, no doubt), then straight to Pakistan. (https://magnum-mania.com/Articles/Higgins_History.html)

It must have been clear after a while that all the stories couldn't add up; in "Compulsion" it mentioned that Higgins had stretched the truth with some of his friends overseas, do you think Higgins slipped in some tall tales in person along with the real ones to see if Magnum was paying attention?

I researched Higgins' ribbon bar and came up with the following info: http://magnum-mania.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3560

He has ribbons for Africa, Italy, France and Germany, and Burma. This means he served in those theaters. The others are the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, the Military Cross, and the Victoria Cross. That's not someone who needs to lie about anything.

It stands to reason he would have to attain a doctorate at some point because you cannot be in MI6 without an advanced degree, and he had no degree from Sandhurst. We know he was an MI6 agent because he was called back into it in Mad Dogs and Englishmen. He also is verified in Palestine because his rabbi friend saw him there on patrol. And we know he was stationed in Hong Kong because Brigadier Ffolkes served with him.

All that said -- I think it is clear that some of Higgins' musings serve a different purpose. Sometimes he does it to tease (Woman on the Beach where he's taunting Magnum to make a trade for information); sometimes it is to impart a lesson (surfing on airplane wings in Morocco); sometimes he clearly will make something up because he doesn't know how else to express something (the story he tells at Agatha's house in Echoes of the Mind). I also don't believe in the village girl who dragged him into her hut to teach him about art, haha. But all of these things are little dribs and drabs of funny or interesting stories told to serve a purpose in one way or another. He never tells us, for example, what he did to receive the CGM, MC, or VC. He doesn't suffer from any false modesty, but he isn't the self-aggrandizing type either. I don't find his history at all unbelievable for an ambitious young man with a great deal to prove, serving at a time of worldwide political and social upheaval.

So in sum, a few of his stories are made up, but not the ones that matter.

[Algernon Farnsworth]

It looks like Magnum himself suspected this as well -- it was a major subplot in Season 7's "Paper War".

Magnum: "...not your entire past; nobody's that creative."

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

In the two years between 1945 and 1947, he was apparently stationed in Italy, Lebanon, Palestine, and South Korea in the same year, then to Egypt, Germany, Austria, and China the next, then finally finishing up that Doctor of Mathematics at Cambridge (distance education, no doubt), then straight to Pakistan. (https://magnum-mania.com/Articles/Higgins_History.html)
It must have been clear after a while that all the stories couldn't add up; in "Compulsion" it mentioned that Higgins had stretched the truth with some of his friends overseas, do you think Higgins slipped in some tall tales in person along with the real ones to see if Magnum was paying attention?

I researched Higgins' ribbon bar and came up with the following info: http://magnum-mania.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3560
He has ribbons for Africa, Italy, France and Germany, and Burma. This means he served in those theaters. The others are the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, the Military Cross, and the Victoria Cross. That's not someone who needs to lie about anything.
.

Hi KHale,
Probably a lot of Higgin's "history" being seemingly unlikely is a result of the producers not accurately keeping up the character bible detailing his history. Some newer writers are hired, they do a little research about various British campaigns or events and put Higgins there for the benefit of doing one of Higgin's patented "war stories" in a newly penned episode by them. Those writers and very few people today would have the remotest knowledge of any of it, heck we have congressmen shamelessly admitting they have no idea which nations fought in the war and why, which means they have no idea how the modern world was forged.
On a practical basis there is no way a infantry NCO in his early 20's, marked for being chucked out of Sandhurst, would possibly be shuttled back and forth around the world, even if he was seconded to other commands. The Empires resources were stretched thin,
Higgins is just not that important, so it's the fault of the writers. But it doesn't matter, like they said at the end of Liberty Valance, "print the legend" and enjoy.
I have always wondered, do we know how Higgins won his Victoria Cross? Also, Higgins, as a VC winner, to the various Brits who appeared over the years(and all the serving US military like Buck) and even Magnum, would have been a figure given undying respect no matter his quirks.
Here is some Victoria Cross info from online:
The highest award for valor of the United Kingdom, the Victoria Cross is always the first award to be presented at an investiture, even before knighthoods There is a widespread though erroneous belief that it is statutory for "all ranks to salute a bearer of the Victoria Cross".
There is no official requirement but inviolate tradition dictates that this occurs and as such senior officers will salute a private awarded a VC.
Today holders of the Victoria Cross are entitled to an annuity,  £10,000 per year tax free. Over 300 VC's have been sold at auction since 1879. In November 2009,  almost £1.5 million was paid to St Peter's College, Oxford by Lord Ashcroft for a VC and bar.
The American version of the VC is the Medal of Honor.   According to WW 2 cartoonist Bill Mauldin, Audie Murphy, in dress uniform and wearing his Medal of Honor, was at a function honoring the release of the war film To Hell and Back, which detailed the heroics resulting in him being the most decorated soldier in American history.
When approached by General Mark Clark who expected a salute, Audie coldly and with utter contempt looked the foot taller general up and down and waited. The penny dropped and a fuming Clark raised his hand in salute, Audie oh so slowly returning it, then walking away. 
Audie and many fellow Texans despised Clark for his blundering actions in the Italian campaign which resulted in a battle that left a largely Texan division butchered.