A total disregard for his own personal safety,
an indomitable fighting spirit, reckless courage, ⊠and the gift of being nearly indestructible. This soldier survived five wars, including
World War I and World War II becoming one of the most decorated British officers of
all time and sustaining countless injuries. Was he the unluckiest soldier of all time
or the quintessential British war hero? Make up your mind as you hear the story of
todayâs protagonist: Adrian Carton de Wiart, the unbreakable soldier. Typical Toff? Adrian Carton de Wiart was born into an aristocratic
family in Brussels, Belgium on 5 May 1880. The father of this quintessential British
war hero was actually Belgian, and a lawyer. The mother of this quintessential British
war hero, was actually Irish. Adrian was so Belgian in fact that throughout
his life he was amused by the rumour that he was an illegitimate child of King Leopold
II, he who owned the Congo. Adrianâs mother sadly passed away when he
was just six and his father LĂ©on moved the family to Cairo, Egypt. During this period LĂ©on married again and
Adrianâs stepmother thought it good for the boyâs education to spend some time in
a British boarding school. As the family was Catholic, he was sent to
a Catholic school, The Oratory, near Birmingham. The founder of the school, Cardinal John Henry
Newman, once wrote âFear not that thy life shall come to an
end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginningâ[TA2]
Adrianâs life would be on the brink of coming to an end countless times, but he never showed
fear. And for sure his life did have one hell of
a beginning. By 1899 Adrian was 19 and attending Balliol
College at Oxford. At this stage in his life â as per his fatherâs
desire â he could have easily settled for a law degree and the pleasant existence of
a typical âtoffâ, enjoying his familyâs wealth. Except he didnât. âWar was in my bloodâ
On the 11th of October 1899 the 2nd Boer War broke out, pitting the British Empire against
the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic in South Africa [TA3]
This was a revelation for Adrian. In his autobiography âHappy Odysseyâ,
he wrote âAt that moment, I knew once and for all
that war was in my blood. If the British didnât fancy me, I would
offer myself to the Boers.â It turns out, the Brits, they did fancy him. Adrian enrolled as a volunteer faking his
identity as well as his age. He was soon dispatched to South Africa, while
his father still believed him to be studying law at Oxford. This was the start of his real life, a soldierâs
life. Very early on, straight after training in
South Africa, De Wiart and his unit were crossing a river in full view of some Boer Kommandos
when he was shot twice, in the stomach and groin. [Editing note: two âtalliesâ appear with
a ping at the bottom of the screen] We are going to help you out here and keep
count of how many times De Wiart was shot, âshrapnell-edâ or otherwise injured. After being shot, a superior bluntly asked
if there were many Boers about, to which he coolly replied
âNo, but the few were very good shotsâ. At the military hospital his true identity
was discovered and so he wasforced to return to England to recover - and to face his fatherâs
wrath, who by now had discovered what his son was up to. Luckily, LĂ©on consented that his son pursued
a military career and after Adrian recovered, he decided to quit Oxford for good and to
return to South Africa in 1901 for another round of fighting. This time he did it in style, booking himself
in 1st Class and handing generous tips to the bar staff, so that he landed in Cape Town
âwith exactly one pound in my pocketâ After joining a cavalry regiment De Wiart
was promoted to corporal. This promotion lasted exactly 24 hours, after
which was demoted again to simple trooper for threatening to hit a sergeant. But it was clear that De Wiart was destined
to greater things and after a few months he had earned â or more probably, bought â a
commission as a 2nd lieutenant. During the rest of 1901 and until the end
of the 2nd Boer War in 1902, De Wiart greatly suffered for the lack of action: his only
opportunity to do anything of military value was to cut some barbed wire in a Boer camp,
but even then he was ordered not to do it. Fretting for action, at the end of the war
he applied to be sent to the British Somaliland to join the hunt for Mohammed bin Adbullah,
also known as the âMad Mullahâ. Bin Abdullah had started a guerrilla campaign
against the British East African colony, he was fighting for independence and was considered
by his followers a Sunni holy man, almost a messiah.[TA4] But to colonial authorities,
he wasnât the messiah â he was just a naughty boy[TA5] .
Again, De Wiartâs superiors curbed his fighting enthusiasm and he was gazetted to a cavalry
regiment in Muttra, India. The Indian stay was peaceful and largely uneventful,
except for De Wiart finding a great passion for âpig-stckingâ- which basically consists
in chasing wild boar on horseback through the forest to pierce them with a long spear. I call this âpork skewersâ and I can get
them from my butcherâs without the faff, but I guess itâs only half the fun. Anyhow, when chasing one of these pigs in
the jungle, De Wiart fell off the horse. And the horse fell on him. He cracked several ribs and one ankle. [injury tally increases by one]
During his convalescence he had an argument with a local servant and pelted him with stones. When the servant got out of range, De Wiart
shot him - on the butt. Seriously, this guy was in dire need of a
battle. His superiors were not amused by his attack
on the servant and jailed him for a time, but he managed to avoid demotion. War on the horizon
In 1904 De Wiart was transferred back to South Africa. In his memoirs he wrote that he was happy
not to see India again. I guess the feeling was mutual. The ensuing years were blissful: De Wiart
spent his time gambling, socialising, racing horses and shooting wildlife. He enjoyed several âLiquid mealsâ as he
called them, but also cultivated his physical fitness. At one point he was so strong that he could
rip in half a pack of cards. In 1907 De Wiart swore his oath of Allegiance
to the King, formally becoming a British Citizen within the British Army. In 1908 De Wiart returned to England, where
his few regimental duties gave him time to play polo and travel the continent and especially
Austria-Hungary to shoot at grouse, pheasants and other game. In the same year his connection to that Empire
was strengthened by his marriage to Friederike Maria Karoline Henriette Rosa Sabina Franziska
Fugger von Babenhausen[TA6] . And no, he had not become a Mormon and married seven different
women, this was the full name of the bride, an Austrian Countess. They went on to have two daughters. In his memoirs De Wiart recalls the atmosphere
of mistrust at German border posts whenever he entered the country from France, and how
his French sounding surname attracted suspicion: a clear sign that tension was mounting, and
war was on the horizon. When WWI broke out, De Wiart was on his way
to British Somaliland to take part in what is now mostly a forgotten conflict, the colonial
war against the âMad Mullahâ, whom we have introduced earlier. De Wiartâs desire to go and fight there
had been fulfilled, but upon learning that the UK had declared war on Germany De Wiart
felt like âplaying in a village cricket match instead
of in the Testâ. For our friend in the US: the Test is to cricket
what the World Series is to baseball. De Wiart was assigned to lead a squadron of
the Somaliland Camel Corps on the hunt for the Mad Mullahâs followers, the Dervishes. When tasked with storming an enemy fort, De
Wiart could not resist going on the attack head first. But the enemy position was well defended and
he was shot by the Dervishes. Three times. In the face. One bullet took away part of his left ear,
a second bullet got him in the left eye, a third bullet ricocheted and hit him across
the very same eye! [Injury tally increases by three]
Of course, De Wiart lost his eye. But his assessment of the battle? âIt had all been most exhilarating fun!â De Wiart took the occasion to return to England
where he hoped to be reassigned to service on the Western Front. The Army medical commission agreed to it,
provided that he use a glass eye. Which he hated. While riding a cab in London and finding the
glass eye too uncomfortable, he just yanked it off and threw it from the taxiâs window! Thatâs what I call Fl-eye tipping. [Subtitle on screen: Fl-eye tipping]
From then on, he would wear his distinctive eye-patch. The Western Front
In February 1915 Adrian Carton De Wiart was bound for the Western Front, to join a cavalry
regiment, the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards. His first major engagement was during the
Second Battle of Ypres, in April of that year. While on March to relieve an infantry unit,
his regiment came under fire from a German artillery position. A combination of shrapnel and splinters from
his own wristwatch mangled his left hand, leaving only part of the palm and two dangling
fingers. [injury tally +1]
When the field doctor hesitated to amputate them, De Wiart just tore off the two fingers. What remained of his hand would be amputated
later in the year. At this stage Adrian Carton De Wiart could
have easily asked to be repatriated and leave a quiet life behind a desk. Except he didnât. De Wiart could not give two hoots about his
injuries and he just got on with it, returning to battle undeterred and unimpaired. âTis but a scratch! [TA7] He probably said to himself before coming
back for more. He went on to fight in the Battle of the Somme,
during which his men recall him pulling pins from grenades with his teeth and then flinging
them with his one good hand into enemy territory. He distinguished himself during the assault
on the village of La Boisselle, France in 1916. Three unit commanders from the 8th Battalion
Gloucestershire Regiment had been killed. Carton de Wiart then took charge of all three
units. With no availability of field radios, field
telephones, nor even pigeons to communicate orders, he decided to be his own messenger
and ran back and forth among the three units to relay his orders, defying the hail of bullets
and artillery shells raining onto no manâs land. He and his men managed to hold back the advancing
Germans. After this action, De Wiart received the Victoria
Cross âFor most conspicuous bravery, coolness,
and determination during severe operations of prolonged natureâ
After La Boisselle, De Wiart continue to lead from the front battle after battle, exposing
himself to further injuries. For example, in the trenches of Delville Wood,
nicknamed The Devilâs Wood he was shot in the head. [tally up one. I lost count]
A clean, straight shot through his skull, at the back of the head. If he had to die, this was the right occasion
to do so. Except he didnât. Because De Wiart could not give a damn about
being dead, so he just survived and got on with it. During the three subsequent battles, he was
shot in the ankle, hip, leg and ear! [ping ping ping ping â up 4!] But after every stay in hospital he regained
full mobility and returned to the front, time after time. De Wiartâs assessment of this gruelling
experience, of the meat grinder of the Western front was
âFrankly, I enjoyed the war!â The Polish Gentleman
The years between the end of WWI and the start of WWII are wrongly labelled âinter-warâ
years, while this period also saw plenty of conflicts taking place in Europe. And where there was conflict, youâd be sure
to find Adrian Carton de Wiart having the time of his life. In 1919 De Wiart was assigned to Poland as
a military advisor to the newly independent Country, which over a period of two years
found itself at war with Soviet Russia, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine and Lithuania. De Wiart made himself indispensable to Field
Marshall Josef Pilsudski and as usual got involved in all types of risky situations. On the same year, 1919, he survived not one,
but two plane crashes [two plane icons ping on screen. We will need to keep count also of these]
The second of which resulting in a brief period of captivity with the Lithuanians. After his release he increased his efforts
to support the Polish military, even organising a gun smuggling operation via Hungary. In 1920 he got closer to the front as the
war with Russia intensified. One day his observation train was attacked
by a charge of Cossack cavalry, with the intent of hijacking it. He confronted the attackers single-handedly
â quite literally â with his revolver. At one point he even fell off the moving train,
but quickly leapt back on it and continued the firefight until the train escaped from
the Cossacks. When the Polish wars finally ended in victory
in 1921, De Wiart decided to stay in Poland, as he had grown fond of its people and its
wildlife â which he proceeded to shoot at for the next 18 years. The wildlife that is, not the people. In 1923 he finally decided to retire, having
now achieved the rank of Major General. After a life of adventures, this gentleman
would go on to enjoy a quiet and wealthy life in his adopted country. Except he didnât
We all know what happened on the 1st of September 1939. In a matter of three weeks Germany invaded
from the West, the Soviet Union from the East and the UK and France declared war on the
Axis. De Wiartâs quiet life in Poland was no more. As a former British military adviser the best
course of action was to flee immediately. He abandoned his estate, acquired a fake passport
and crossed the border with Romania. Upon returning to the UK De Wiart re-enlisted
in the military. In April 1940 De Wiart was recalled into active
service, despite - I should stress again - in case you have forgotten - being sixty, one-eyed,
and an amputee. He was given the rank of acting Lieutenant-General
and tasked with leading an Anglo-French landing force in Norway to halt the German invasion. This operation was a complete disaster from
the start. While arriving in Norway via seaplane, De
Wiartâs aircraft was forced to crash land [third airplane icon appears]
on a fjord, when it was attacked by a German fighter plane. Rather than boarding a rubber dinghy to reach
shore and become a sitting duck, he calmly waited in the wreckage until the enemy plane
ran out of ammo and left. After reaching his forces by the Trondheim
Fjord De Wiart realised that they were undersupplied, undergunned, and soon to be encircled by the
Germans. But De Wiart could not give a heck about the
odds stacked against him and he just got on with it! His troops managed to break the encirclement
by traversing over the mountains and back to the coast, under a constant barrage of
artillery strikes and Luftwaffe attacks. Finally the Royal Navy came to the rescue
and managed to ferry De Wiart and his band of brothers out of Norway, landing in Great
Britain on his 60th birthday. In April 1941, Carton de Wiart was appointed
by Winston Churchill to lead a British secret mission in Yugoslavia. The objective was to make contact with Titoâs
partisans and offer them Allied support. But he never got there. After a refuelling stop in Malta, the Wellington
bomber in which the mission was travelling went into nosedive, straight into the Mediterranean. [fourth plane pings on screen]
Luckily a coastline was on sight. As the fuselage sank, De Wiart â 61, one-handed,
one-eyed â swam to shore, while carrying an injured comrade (!!!!!!!)
Alas, the coast they had reached, was the coast of Libya, Axis territory, and Wiart
and his friends were immediately seized by the Italians. Our hero was flown by the Italian Military
to the high security POW camp established within the castle of Vincigliata [Veen-chee-llya-tah],
near Florence. This prison was specifically dedicated to
guarding senior British officers captured in the North Africa campaign[TA8] . The average
age of the prisoners was 52, but these indomitable officers had the energy of young soldiers
when it came to be breaking out. De Wiart was part of at least five escape
attempts, one of which involved digging a 60-foot tunnel under the castle walls. A complicated endeavour for an amputee. But De Wiart could not give a damn and he
just got on with it! After seven months the tunnel was complete. De Wiart and five other prisoners succeeded
in their Great Escape in March 1943 and hid for some days in the countryside. Their cunning plan was to make themselves
inconspicuous by dressing like Italian peasants. Yeah, about that: considering that
one of them was a one-handed 63 year old gentleman with an eye patch, covered in scars, and
none of them could speak Italian ⊠it was a miracle that they escaped capture
for eight days. De Wiart was soon back in captivity at Vincigliata. Fun fact: this castle nowadays can be hired
for weddings! [Subtitle on screen: Escape tunnel available
for grooms with cold feet] But freedom was on the horizon. On the 25th of July 1943 Benito Mussolini
was ousted by a monarchist coup. King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Field Marshal
Badoglio as his successor, and the two conspirators continued honouring the alliance with Germany
â but only on the surface. Behind the scenes, they were looking to negotiate
an armistice with the Allies. They needed an intermediary and De Wiart seemed
to be the perfect choice, as he was due for release from the Castle anyways because of
his disability. De Wiart was taken to a tailor in Rome so
that he could get some civilian clothes. As a loyal customer of Savile Row he did not
trust Italian tailors and he protested that he didnât want to âlook like a gigoloâ. But in the end, he was happy with the suit
they fashioned for him and on the 16th of August 1943 he was flown in secret to Lisbon
alongside General Castellano, the Kingâs chief negotiator. [TA9] After an agreement was reached, De Wiart
returned to the UK on the 28th of August. But he only had the chance to rest for one
month before Churchill personally appointed him as his special representative to the Chinese
Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek. Rest at last
Compared to the swash and buckle of the previous years, De Wiartâs stay in China was relatively
calm, as his was more of diplomatic mission, rather than a military one. During this time, while advising Chiang on
his strategies against the Japanese, he befriended him and his wife, but when he got to meet
Mao, well, he simply could not stand him. The Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao
Tse Tung were uneasy allies in the war against Japan, but De Wiart was a staunch anti-communist
and did not trust the future leader of China. During a formal dinner, Mao delivered a lengthy
speech on the qualities of his faction. When he mentioned how hard they were fighting
the Japanese, De Wiart cut him short. âHe tried my credulity a little too far
⊠I told him that what they were doing was to keep looking over their shoulder to see
what the Generalissimo was doing first!â To his surprise, Mao took no offence and simply
laughed. Another leader asked him why he hadnât gone
to Yenan to see their operations. âI answered quite frankly that I hated Communism.â De Wiart stayed in China until 1947, surviving
yet another plane crash along the way. [plane nr 5!] And letâs add another notch, shall we? On the way back to Britain De Wiart paid visit
at a friendâs house in Rangoon, Burma. While walking down a flight of stairs he was
ambushed by an unpredictable foe. A coconut mat. He slipped on it and went flying down the
stairs, breaking a couple of vertebrae along the way. [Injury tally pings for the last time]
The good thing is that the doctors treating his back took the occasion to remove quite
a bit of old shrapnel from his body. It was now about time to retire for good from
active duty. General Carton De Wiart moved to a family
estate in Killinardrish, Ireland and spent the next years writing his memoirs, hunting,
fishing and polishing his collection of more than 30 military medals. Eventually even such a legend had to die. After the last few peaceful years Adrian Carton
de Wiartâs life came to an end on the 5th of June 1963, in his Irish home. While in recent years his achievements have
been rediscovered and celebrated by major media outlets, this inspiring character is
still little known, surprisingly. I hope we at Biographics did our bit to perpetuate
his memory and we hope you could do the same and share this video. Frankly, I have enjoyed the story of this
gentleman and I hope you did, too. Before leaving, please answer this question
in the comments: if you were to shoot a movie about Carton De Wiart, who would you like
to see in the lead role?
People survive bullet shots to the stomach back then?