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Adrian Carton de Wiart

Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton

Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart
de Wiart,[1] VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (/də ˈwaɪ.ərt/;[2] 5
May 1880 – 5 June 1963) was a British Army officer born
of Belgian and Irish parents. He was awarded the Victoria
Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valour
"in the face of the enemy" in various Commonwealth
countries.[3] He served in the Boer War, First World War,
and Second World War. He was shot in the face, head,
stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; was blinded in his left
eye; survived two plane crashes; tunnelled out of a
prisoner-of-war camp; and tore off his own fingers when
a doctor declined to amputate them. Describing his
experiences in the First World War, he wrote, "Frankly, I
had enjoyed the war."[4]

After returning home from service (including a period as

a prisoner-of-war) in the Second World War, he was sent
to China as Winston Churchill's personal representative. Lieutenant Colonel Carton de Wiart
While en route he attended the Cairo Conference. during the First World War
Birth name Adrian Paul Ghislain
In his memoirs, Carton de Wiart wrote, "Governments
may think and say as they like, but force cannot be Carton de Wiart
eliminated, and it is the only real and unanswerable Born 5 May 1880
power. We are told that the pen is mightier than the Brussels, Belgium
sword, but I know which of these weapons I would Died 5 June 1963 (aged 83)
choose."[5] Carton de Wiart was thought to be a model for
Aghinagh House,
the character of Brigadier Ben Ritchie-Hook in Evelyn
Killinardrish, County
Waugh's trilogy Sword of Honour.[6] The Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography described him thus: Cork, Ireland
"With his black eyepatch and empty sleeve, Carton de Buried Killinardish Churchyard,
Wiart looked like an elegant pirate, and became a figure County Cork, Ireland
of legend."[7] Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/ British Army
Early life branch
Years of 1899–1923
Background service 1939–1947
Rank Lieutenant-general
Carton de Wiart was born into an aristocratic family in
Service 836
Brussels, on 5 May 1880, eldest son of Léon Constant
number
Ghislain Carton de Wiart (1854–1915) and Ernestine
Wenzig (1860–1886). By his contemporaries, he was Commands 61st Infantry Division
widely believed to be an illegitimate son of King Leopold held 134th Brigade
II of the Belgians.[8] He spent his early days in Belgium 12th Brigade
and in England.[9] The 'loss of his mother' when he was 8th (Service) Battalion,
six prompted his father to move the family to Cairo so his
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father could practise at Egypt's mixed courts. It was Gloucestershire

widely assumed by biographers that his mother had died Regiment
in 1886; however, his parents had in fact divorced in that
Battles/wars Second Boer War
year and his mother remarried Demosthenes Gregory
First World War
Cuppa later in 1886.[10] His father was a lawyer and
magistrate, as well as a director of the Cairo Electric Somaliland
Railways and Heliopolis Oases Company and was well Campaign
connected in Egyptian governmental circles. Adrian
Battle of the Somme
Carton de Wiart learned to speak Arabic.[11]
Battle of
Carton de Wiart was a Roman Catholic. In 1891, his Passchendaele
English stepmother sent him to a boarding school in Battle of Cambrai
England, the Roman Catholic Oratory School, founded by
John Henry Newman. From there, he went to Balliol Battle of Arras (1918)
College, Oxford, but left to join the British Army at the
time of the Second Boer War around 1899, where he Polish-Soviet War
entered under the false name of "Trooper Carton", Polish-Ukrainian War
claiming to be 25 years old. His real age was no more than Polish-Lithuanian War
20.[12] Second World War

Invasion of Poland
Second Boer War Norwegian campaign
Second Sino-
Carton de Wiart was wounded in the stomach and groin
Japanese War
in South Africa early in the Second Boer War and was
invalided home. His father was furious when he learned Awards Victoria Cross
his son had abandoned his studies, but allowed his son to Knight Commander of
remain in the army. After another brief period at Oxford, the Order of the British
where Aubrey Herbert was among his friends, he was Empire
given a commission in the Second Imperial Light Horse.
Companion of the Order
He saw action in South Africa again, and on 14 September
of the Bath
1901 was given a regular commission as a second
Companion of the Order
lieutenant in the 4th Dragoon Guards.[13] Carton de Wiart
was transferred to India in 1902. He enjoyed sports, of St Michael and St
especially shooting and pig sticking.[14] George
Distinguished Service
Order
Character, interests and life in Mentioned in Despatches
the Edwardian army Virtuti Militari (Poland)
Croix de guerre
Carton de Wiart's serious wound in the Boer War instilled (Belgium)
in him a strong desire for physical fitness and he ran, Legion of Honour
jogged, walked, and played sports on a regular basis. In (France)
male company he was "a delightful character and must Croix de Guerre (France)
hold the world record for bad language."[15]

After his regiment was transferred to South Africa he was promoted to supernumerary lieutenant
on 16 July 1904 and appointed an aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Henry Hildyard,
the following July.[16] He describes this period lasting up to 1914 as his "Heyday", the title of
Chapter 3 of his autobiography. His light duties as aide-de-camp gave him time for polo, another
of his interests.[14] By 1907, although Carton de Wiart had now served in the British Army for eight
years, he had remained a Belgian subject. On 13 September of that year, he took the oath of
allegiance to Edward VII and was formally naturalised as a British subject.[1]

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In 1908, he married Countess Friederike Maria Karoline

Henriette Rosa Sabina Franziska Fugger von Babenhausen
(1887 Klagenfurt – 1949 Vienna), eldest daughter of Karl, 5th
Fürst (Prince) von Fugger-Babenhausen and Princess Eleonora
zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein und Jagstberg of Klagenfurt,
Austria. They had two daughters, the elder of whom Anita
(born 1909, deceased) was the maternal grandmother of the
war correspondent Anthony Loyd (born 1966).[17][18]

Carton de Wiart was already well connected in European

circles, his two closest cousins being Count Henri Carton de
Wiart, Prime Minister of Belgium from 1920 to 1921, and Baron
Edmond Carton de Wiart, political secretary to the King of
Belgium and director of La Société Générale de Belgique. While
on leave, he travelled extensively throughout central Europe,
using his Catholic aristocratic connections to shoot at country
estates in Bohemia, Austria, Hungary, and Bavaria.[19]
Following his return to England, he rode with the famous Duke
Carton de Wiart as a lieutenant with
of Beaufort's Hunt where he met, among others, the future field
the 4th Dragoon Guards at Muttra in
marshal, Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, and the future air
September 1904
marshal, Sir Edward Ellington. He was promoted to captain on
26 February 1910.[20] The Duke of Beaufort was the honorary
colonel of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, and from 1 January 1912 until his departure for
Somaliland in 1914 Carton de Wiart served as the regiment's adjutant.[21]

First World War

Somaliland Campaign

When the First World War broke out, Carton de Wiart was en route to British Somaliland where a
low-level war was underway against the followers of Dervish leader Mohammed bin Abdullah,
called the "Mad Mullah" by the British. Carton de Wiart had been seconded to the Somaliland
Camel Corps. A staff officer with the corps was Hastings Ismay, later Lord Ismay, Churchill's
military advisor.[22] In an attack upon an enemy fort at Shimber Berris, Carton de Wiart was shot
twice in the face, losing his eye and also a portion of his ear. He was awarded the Distinguished
Service Order (DSO) on 15 May 1915.[23]

Western Front

In February 1915, he embarked on a steamer for France. Carton de Wiart took part in the fighting
on the Western Front, commanding successively three infantry battalions and a brigade. He was
wounded seven more times in the war, losing his left hand in 1915 and pulling off his fingers when
a doctor declined to remove them.[24] He was shot through the skull and ankle at the Battle of the
Somme, through the hip at the Battle of Passchendaele, through the leg at Cambrai, and through
the ear at Arras. He went to the Sir Douglas Shield's Nursing Home to recover from his injuries.[25]

Victoria Cross

Carton de Wiart received the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in combat that
can be awarded to British Empire forces, in 1916. He was 36 years old, and a temporary lieutenant-
colonel in the 4th Dragoon Guards (Royal Irish), British Army, attached to the Gloucestershire
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Regiment, commanding the 8th Battalion, when the following events took place on 2/3 July 1916
at La Boiselle, France, as recorded in the official citation:

Capt. (temp. Lt.-Col.) Adrian Carton de Wiart, D.S.O., Dn. Gds.

For most conspicuous bravery, coolness and determination during severe operations of
a prolonged nature. It was owing in a great measure to his dauntless courage and
inspiring example that a serious reverse was averted. He displayed the utmost energy
and courage in forcing our attack home. After three other battalion Commanders had
become casualties, he controlled their commands, and ensured that the ground won
was maintained at all costs. He frequently exposed himself in the organisation of
positions and of supplies, passing unflinchingly through fire barrage of the most
intense nature. His gallantry was inspiring to all.

— London Gazette, 9 September 1916.[26]

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the National Army Museum, Chelsea.[27]

1916–1918

Carton de Wiart was promoted to temporary major in March 1916.[28] He subsequently attained
the rank of temporary lieutenant colonel on 18 July, was brevetted to major on 1 January 1917 and
was promoted to temporary brigadier general on 12 January 1917.[29][30][31] He was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the Crown of Belgium in April 1917.[32] On 3 June 1917, Carton de Wiart was
brevetted to lieutenant-colonel.[33] On 18 July, he was promoted to the substantive rank of major
in the Dragoon Guards.[34] He was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre in March 1918,[35] and
was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the King's Birthday
Honours List in June.[36]

Three days before the end of the war, on 8 November, Carton de Wiart was given command of a
brigade with the rank of temporary brigadier general.[37] A S Bullock gives a vivid first-hand
description of his arrival: 'Cold shivers went down the back of everyone in the brigade, for he had
an unsurpassed record as a fire eater, missing no chance of throwing the men under his command
into whatever fighting happened to be going.' Bullock recalls how the battalion looked 'very much
the worse for wear' when they paraded for the brigadier general's inspection. He arrived 'on a lively
cob with his cap tilted at a rakish angle, and a shade over the place where one of his eyes had been'.
He was also missing two limbs and had eleven wound stripes. Bullock, the first man in line for the
inspection, notes that Carton de Wiart, despite having only one eye, ordered him to get his
bootlace changed.[38]

Post First World War era and the Polish mission

At the end of the war Carton de Wiart was sent to Poland as second in command of the British-
Poland Military Mission under General Louis Botha. Carton de Wiart was appointed a Companion
of the Order of the Bath in the 1919 King's Birthday Honours List.[39] After a brief period, he
replaced General Botha in the mission to Poland.[40]

Poland desperately needed support, as it was engaged with Bolshevik Russia in the Polish-Soviet
War, the Ukrainians in the Polish-Ukrainian War, the Lithuanians in the Polish-Lithuanian War,
and the Czechs in the Czech-Polish border conflicts. There he met Ignacy Jan Paderewski, the
pianist and premier, Marshal Józef Piłsudski, the Chief of State and military commander, and
General Maxime Weygand, head of the French military mission in mid-1920.[41] One of his tasks
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soon after his arrival was to attempt to make peace

between the Poles and the Ukrainian nationalists under
Simon Petlyura. The Ukrainians were besieging the city of
Lwów (Lvov; Lemberg). The discussions were
unsuccessful.[42]

From there he went on to Paris to report on Polish

conditions to the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd
George and to General Sir Henry Wilson. Lloyd George was
not sympathetic to Poland and, much to Carton de Wiart's
annoyance, Britain sent next to no military supplies. Then
he went back to Poland and many more front line
adventures, this time in the Bolshevik zone, where the
situation was grave and Warsaw threatened. During this
time he had significant interaction with the nuntius (dean
of the Vatican diplomatic corps) Cardinal Achille Ratti,
later Pius XI, who wanted Carton de Wiart's advice as to
whether to evacuate the diplomatic corps from Warsaw.
Painting by Sir William Orpen, 1919
The diplomats moved to Poznań, but the Italians remained
(National Portrait Gallery, London)
in Warsaw along with Ratti.[43]

From all these affairs, Carton de Wiart developed a

sympathy with the Poles and supported their claims to eastern Galicia. This caused disagreement
with Lloyd George at their next meeting, but was appreciated by the Poles. At one time during his
Warsaw stay he was a second in a duel between Polish members of the Mysliwski Club, the other
second being Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, later commander-in-chief of Finnish armies in
World War II and President of Finland. Norman Davies reports that he was "compromised in a
gun-running operation from Budapest using stolen wagon-lits".[44]

He became close to the Polish leader, Marshal Piłsudski. After an aircraft crash occasioning a brief
period in Lithuanian captivity, he went back to England to report, this time to the Secretary of
State for War, Winston Churchill. He passed on to Churchill Piłsudski's prediction that the White
Russian offensive under General Anton Denikin directed at Moscow would fail. It did shortly
thereafter. Churchill was more sympathetic to Polish needs than Lloyd George and succeeded, over
Lloyd George's objections, in sending some materiel to Poland.[45]

On 27 July 1920, Carton de Wiart was appointed an aide-de-camp to the king, and brevetted to
colonel.[46] He was active in August 1920, when the Red Army were at the gates of Warsaw. While
out on his observation train, he was attacked by a group of Red cavalry, and fought them off with
his revolver from the footplate of his train, at one point falling on the track and re-boarding
quickly.[47]

When the Poles won the war, the British Military Mission was wound up. Carton de Wiart was
promoted to temporary brigadier general and also appointed to the local rank of major general on
1 January.[48] He was promoted to the substantive rank of colonel on 21 June 1922, with seniority
from 27 July 1920 and relinquished his local rank of major general on 1 April 1923, going on half-
pay as a colonel at the same time.[49][50] Carton de Wiart officially retired from the army on 19
December, with the honorary rank of major general.[51]

Polish gentleman (1924–1939)

His last Polish aide de camp was Prince Karol Mikołaj Radziwiłł, member of the Radziwiłł family
who inherited a large 500,000-acre (200,000 ha) estate in eastern Poland when the communists
killed his uncle. They became friends and Carton de Wiart was given the use of a large estate called
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Prostyń, in the Pripet Marshes, a wetland area larger than Ireland and surrounded by water and
forests.[47] In this location Carton de Wiart spent the rest of the interwar years. In his memoirs he
said "In my fifteen years in the marshes I did not waste one day without hunting".[47]

After 15 years, Carton de Wiart's peaceful Polish life was interrupted by the looming war, when he
was recalled in July 1939 and appointed to his old job, as head of the British Military Mission to
Poland. Poland was attacked by Nazi Germany on 1 September and on 17 September the Soviets
allied with Germany attacked Poland from the east. Soon Soviet forces overran Prostyń and Carton
de Wiart lost all his guns, fishing rods, clothing, and furniture. They were packed up by the Soviets
and stored in the Minsk Museum, but destroyed by the Germans in later fighting. He never saw the
area again, but as he said "they did not manage to take my memories".[47]

Second World War

Polish campaign (1939)

Carton de Wiart met with the Polish commander-in-chief,

Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły, in late August
1939 and formed a rather low opinion of his capabilities.
He strongly urged Rydz-Śmigły to pull Polish forces back
beyond the Vistula River, but was unsuccessful.[52] The
other advice he offered, to have the seagoing units of the
Polish fleet leave the Baltic Sea, was, after much argument,
finally adopted. This fleet made a significant contribution
to the Allied cause, especially the several modern
destroyers and submarines.[53]

As Polish resistance weakened, Carton de Wiart evacuated Adrian Carton de Wiart during World War
his mission from Warsaw along with the Polish II, photographed by Cecil Beaton
government. Together with the Polish commander Rydz-
Śmigły, Carton de Wiart made his way with the rest of the
British Mission to the Romanian border with both the Germans and the Soviets in pursuit. His car
convoy was attacked by the Luftwaffe on the road, and the wife of one of his aides was killed. He
was in danger of arrest in Romania and got out by aircraft on 21 September with a false passport,
just in time as the pro-Allied Romanian prime minister, Armand Calinescu, was assassinated that
day.[54]

Norwegian campaign (1940)

Recalled to a special appointment in the army in the autumn of 1939, Carton de Wiart reverted to
his former rank of colonel. He was granted the rank of acting major general on 28 November.[55]
After a brief stint in command of the 61st Division in the English Midlands, Carton de Wiart was
summoned in April 1940 to take charge of a hastily drawn together Anglo-French force to occupy
Namsos, a small town in middle Norway. His orders were to take the city of Trondheim, 125 miles
(200 km) to the south, in conjunction with a naval attack and an advance from the south by troops
landed at Åndalsnes.[56] He flew to Namsos to reconnoitre the location before the troops arrived.
When his Short Sunderland flying boat landed, it was attacked by a German fighter and his aide
was wounded and had to be evacuated. After the French Alpine troops landed[57] (without their
transport mules and missing straps for their skis), the Luftwaffe bombed and destroyed the town
of Namsos.[58]

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Despite these handicaps, Carton de Wiart managed to move his

forces over the mountains and down to Trondheimsfjord,
where they were shelled by German destroyers. They had no
artillery to challenge the German ships. It soon became
apparent that the whole Norwegian campaign was fast
becoming a failure. The naval attack on Trondheim, the reason
for the Namsos landing, did not happen and his troops were
exposed without guns, transport, air cover, or skis in a foot and
a half of snow. They were being attacked by German ski troops,
British soldiers on the quay at
machine gunned and bombed from the air, and the German
Namsos awaiting evacuation from
Navy was landing troops to his rear. He recommended
Norway. On the left is Major withdrawal but was asked to hold his position for political
General Carton de Wiart. reasons, which he did.[59]

After orders and counterorders from London, the decision to

evacuate was made. However, on the date set to evacuate the troops, the ships did not appear. The
next night a naval force finally arrived, led through the fog by Lord Louis Mountbatten. The
transports successfully evacuated the entire force amid heavy bombardment by the Germans,
resulting in the sinking of two destroyers: the French Bison and British HMS Afridi.[59] Carton de
Wiart arrived back at the British naval base of Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands on 5 May 1940,
his 60th birthday.[59]

Northern Ireland

Carton de Wiart was posted back to the command of the 61st Division, which was soon transferred
to Northern Ireland as a defence against invasion.[60] However, following the arrival of
Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pownall as Commander-in-Chief in Northern Ireland, Carton de
Wiart was told that he was too old to command a division on active duty.[61]

British military mission to Yugoslavia (1941)

Advanced to temporary major-general on 28 November 1940,[62] he remained inactive very briefly,

as he was appointed as head of the British-Yugoslavian Military Mission on 5 April 1941. Hitler was
preparing to invade the country and the Yugoslavs asked for British help. Carton de Wiart travelled
in a Vickers Wellington bomber to Belgrade, Serbia to negotiate with the Yugoslavian government.
After refuelling in Malta,[63] the aircraft left for Cairo with enemy territory to the north and south.
Both engines failed off the coast of Italian-controlled Libya, and the plane crash-landed in the sea
about a mile from land. Carton de Wiart was knocked unconscious, but the cold water made him
regain consciousness. When the plane broke up and sank, he and the rest aboard were forced to
swim to shore.[64] They were captured by the Italian authorities.[65]

Prisoner of war in Italy (1941–1943)

Carton de Wiart was a high-profile prisoner. After four months at the Villa Orsini at Sulmona, he
was transferred to a special prison for senior officers at Castello di Vincigliata. There were a
number of senior officer prisoners here due to the successes achieved by Rommel in North Africa
early in 1941. Carton de Wiart made friends, especially with General Sir Richard O'Connor, The 6th
Earl of Ranfurly and Lieutenant-General Philip Neame, VC. In letters to his wife, Lord Ranfurly
described Carton de Wiart in captivity as "a delightful character" and said he "must hold the record
for bad language." Ranfurly was "endlessly amused by him. He really is a nice person – superbly
outspoken."[15] The four were committed to escaping. He made five attempts, including seven

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months tunnelling. Once Carton de Wiart evaded capture for eight days disguised as an Italian
peasant (he was in northern Italy, could not speak Italian, and was 62 years old, with an eye patch,
one empty sleeve and multiple injuries and scars).[66]

Then, in a surprising development, Carton de Wiart was taken from prison in August 1943 and
driven to Rome. The Italian government was secretly planning to leave the war and wanted Carton
de Wiart to send the message to the British Army about a peace treaty with the UK. Carton de
Wiart was to accompany an Italian negotiator, General Giacomo Zanussi, to Lisbon to meet Allied
contacts to negotiate the surrender. To keep the mission secret, Carton de Wiart was told he
needed civilian clothes. Distrusting Italian tailors, he stated that "[he] had no objection provided
[he] did not resemble a gigolo."[67] In Happy Odyssey, he described the resultant suit as being "as
good as anything that ever came out of Savile Row."[67] When they reached Lisbon, Carton de
Wiart was released and made his way to England, reaching there on 28 August 1943.[68]

China mission (1943–1947)

Within a month of his arrival back in England,

Carton de Wiart was summoned to spend a night at
the prime minister's country home at Chequers.
Churchill informed him that he was to be sent to
China as his personal representative. He was
granted the rank of acting lieutenant-general on 9
October,[69] and left by air for India on 18 October
1943. Anglo-Chinese relations were difficult in
World War II as the Kuomintang had long called for
the end of British extraterritorial rights in China
together with the return of Hong Kong, neither
Carton de Wiart in the Cairo Conference, behind
proposal being welcome to Churchill. In early 1942,
Soong Mei-ling on the right. From left to right:
Churchill had to ask Chiang Kai-shek to send
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, US President
Chinese troops to help the British hold Burma from
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, British Prime Minister the Japanese, and following the Japanese conquest
Winston Churchill and Soong Mei-ling. Back row, of Burma the X Force of five Chinese divisions had
Chinese Generals Chang Chen and Ling Wei; ended up in eastern India.[70] Churchill was
American Generals Somervell, Stilwell and unhappy with having the X Force defend India as it
Arnold; and senior British officers, Field Marshal weakened the prestige of the Raj, and in an attempt
Sir John Dill, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten. to improve relations with China, the prime minister
felt a soldier experienced in diplomacy such as
Carton de Wiart would be the best man to be his
personal representative in China.[70]

As his accommodation in China was not ready, Carton de Wiart spent time in India gaining an
understanding of the situation in China, especially being briefed by a genuine tai-pan, John
Keswick, head of the great China trading empire Jardine Matheson. He met the Viceroy, Field
Marshal Viscount Wavell and General Sir Claude Auchinleck, the Commander-in-Chief in India.
He also met Orde Wingate.[71] Before arriving in China, Carton de Wiart attended the 1943 Cairo
Conference organized by Churchill, U.S. President Roosevelt and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang
Kai-shek.[72]

When in Cairo, he took the opportunity to renew his acquaintance with Hermione, Countess of
Ranfurly, the wife of his friend from prisoner-of-war days, Dan Ranfurly. Carton de Wiart was one
of the few to be able to work with the notoriously difficult commander of US forces in the China-
Burma-India Theatre, U.S. Army General Joseph Stilwell.[73] He arrived in the headquarters of the
Nationalist Chinese Government, Chongqing, in early December 1943. For the next three years, he
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was to be involved in a host of reporting, diplomatic and administrative duties in the remote
wartime capital. Carton de Wiart became a great admirer of the Chinese people. He wrote that,
when he was appointed as Churchill's personal representative to Chiang Kai-shek in China, he
imagined a country "full of whimsical little people with quaint customs who carved lovely jade
ornaments and worshiped their grandmothers."[70] Once stationed in China, however, he wrote:
"Two things struck me forcibly: the first was the amount of sheer hard work the people were doing,
and the second their cheerfulness in doing it."[74]

He regularly flew out to India to liaise with British officials.

His old friend, Richard O'Connor, had escaped from the
Italian prisoner-of-war camp and was now in command of
British troops in eastern India. The Governor of Bengal, the
Australian Richard Casey, became a good friend.[75]

On 9 October 1944, Carton de Wiart was promoted to

temporary lieutenant-general and to the war substantive
rank of major-general.[76] Carton de Wiart returned home
in December 1944 to report to the War Cabinet on the
Chinese situation. He was appointed Knight Commander of
the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1945 New
Year Honours.[77] Clement Attlee, when he became head of
the Labour Government in June 1945, asked Carton de
Wiart to stay on in China.[78]

South East Asia

Carton de Wiart in Cairo, 1943.
Carton de Wiart was assigned to a tour of the Burma Front,
and after meeting Admiral Sir James Somerville,
Commander-in-Chief of the British Eastern Fleet, he was given a front seat on the bridge of the
battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth for the bombardment of Sabang in the Netherlands East Indies in
1945, including air battles between Japanese fighters and British carrier aircraft.[79]

A good part of Carton de Wiart's reporting had to do with the

increasing power of the Chinese Communists. The journalist
and historian Max Hastings writes: "De Wiart despised all
Communists on principle, denounced Mao Zedong as 'a
fanatic', and added: 'I cannot believe he means business'. He
told the British cabinet that there was no conceivable
alternative to Chiang as ruler of China."[80] He met Mao
Zedong at dinner and had a memorable exchange with him,
interrupting his propaganda speech to criticise him for holding
back from fighting the Japanese for domestic political reasons.
Mao was briefly stunned, and then laughed.[81]

Supreme Allied Commander South After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Carton de Wiart
East Asia: Mountbatten with flew to Singapore to participate in the formal surrender. After a
General Chiang Kai-Shek (left) and visit to Peking, he moved to Nanking, the now-liberated
Dr T V Soong (right). In the Nationalist capital, accompanied by Julian Amery, the British
background are Captain R V Prime Minister's Personal Representative to Chiang.[82] A visit
Brockman, Lt Gen F A M Browning to Tokyo to meet General Douglas MacArthur came at the end
and General Carton de Wiart VC at
Chongqing.

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of his tenure. He was now 66 and ready to retire, despite the offer of a job by Chiang. Carton de
Wiart retired in October 1947, with the honorary rank of lieutenant-general.[83]

Retirement and death

En route home via French Indochina, Carton de Wiart stopped in Rangoon as a guest of the army
commander. Coming down stairs, he slipped on coconut matting, fell down, broke several
vertebrae, and knocked himself unconscious. He was admitted to Rangoon Hospital where he was
treated.[84] His wife died in 1949. In 1951, at the age of 71, he married Ruth Myrtle Muriel Joan
McKechnie, a divorcee known as Joan Sutherland, 23 years his junior (born in late 1903, she died
13 January 2006 at the age of 102.)[85] They settled at Aghinagh House, Killinardrish, County
Cork, Ireland.[86]

Carton de Wiart died at the age of 83 on 5 June 1963. He left no papers.[87] He and his wife Joan
are buried in Caum Churchyard just off the main Macroom road. The grave site is just outside the
actual graveyard wall on the grounds of his own home, Aghinagh House. Carton de Wiart's will was
valued at probate in Ireland at £4,158 and in England at £3,496.[88]

Publications
Happy Odyssey: The Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, Jonathan
Cape, 1950.

Awards and decorations

Carton de Wiart was the recipient of several awards:[89]

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10/9/23, 2:50 PM Adrian Carton de Wiart - Wikipedia

Victoria Cross (VC) 1916[26]

Knight Commander of the Order of the

British Empire (KBE) (Military Division) New Year Honours 1945[77]

Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)

Birthday Honours 1919[39]
(Military Division)
Companion of the Order of St Michael and
St George (CMG) Birthday Honours 1918[36]

Companion of the Distinguished Service

Order (DSO) 1915[23]

with clasps for "South Africa 1901," "Transvaal,"

Queen's South Africa Medal
"Orange Free State" and "Cape Colony"

Africa General Service Medal with clasp for "Shimber Berris 1914–15"

1914 Star

British War Medal

Victory Medal (United Kingdom) with bronze oak leaf for MID

1939–45 Star

Africa Star

Burma Star

Italy Star

War Medal 1939-1945 with bronze oak leaf for MID

King George VI Coronation Medal 1937

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal 1953

Officer of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) 1917[32]

Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (Belgium) 1918[35]

Silver Cross (Knight) of the Order of Military

1920
Virtue of Poland

Cross of Valour (Poland) Two awards (1920, 1941[90])

Commander of the Legion of Honour of

France

Croix de guerre 1939–1945 (France) With bronze palm for army-level MID

In popular culture

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10/9/23, 2:50 PM Adrian Carton de Wiart - Wikipedia

Carton de Wiart is the subject of the 2022 song "The Unkillable Soldier" by Swedish heavy metal
band Sabaton on their album The War to End all Wars.[91][92][93]

See also
Jack Churchill, another notably eccentric British officer

References
1. "No. 28074" (https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28074/page/7315). The London
Gazette. 1 November 1907. p. 7315.
2. Pointon, G. E. (1983). BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (2nd ed.). Oxford
University Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-19-282745-6.
3. Crutchley, Peter (3 December 2018). "The unkillable soldier" (https://www.bbc.com/news/maga
zine-30685433). BBC News. BBC.
4. Carton de Wiart 1950, p. 89.
5. Carton de Wiart 1950, p. 271.
6. The English author Christopher Sykes (1907–1986), Waugh's biographer, said in 1975 that he
thought that the fire-eating officer in the Sword of Honour trilogy, Brigadier Ben Ritchie-Hook,
"bears a very strong resemblance to" Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart VC, a
friend of the author's father-in-law. Waugh was familiar with Carton de Wiart through a club to
which he belonged.
7. Williams, ODNB
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006/Gazette_Feb_2006.pdf) (PDF). Ireland's Genealogical Gazette. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
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rch/famous-soldiers-of-the-royal-dragoon-guards/sir-adrian-carton-de-wiart/).
www.rdgmuseum.org.uk.
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91. "Sabaton – The Unkillable Soldier Official Music Video" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4
vj_WB5w_k). YouTube.
92. "Sabaton's "The Unkillable Soldier" Lyrics Meaning" (https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/
sabatons-the-unkillable-soldier-lyrics-meaning/). Songs: meaning and facts. 12 February 2022.
Retrieved 14 February 2022.
93. "Sabaton unveil music video for new track "The Unkillable Soldier" " (https://www.metalforcesm
agazine.com/site/news-sabaton-release-tenth-studio-album-the-war-to-end-all-wars/). Metal
Forces Magazine. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022.

Sources
Carton de Wiart, Sir Adrian (1950). Happy Odyssey: The Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir
Adrian Carton de Wiart V.C., K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O. ; with a Foreword by the Rt. Hon.
Winston S. Churchill O.M. (https://books.google.com/books?id=Tmt2nQAACAAJ) Jonathan
Cape.
Fox, Frank (1923). The History of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry, 1898–1922.
London: Philip Allan & Co.
Ranfurly, Hermione (1995). To War With Whitaker, The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of
Ranfurly 1939–1945. London: Mandarin Paperbacks.

Further reading
Boatner, Mark, (1999), The Biographical Dictionary of World War II, Presidio Press, Novato,
California.
Buzzell, Nora (1997), The Register of the Victoria Cross, This England.
Davies, Norman, (2003) White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish-Soviet War 1919–1920, Pimlico
Edition, London.
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10/9/23, 2:50 PM Adrian Carton de Wiart - Wikipedia

Davies, Norman, (2003) The Miracle on the Vistula", Pimlico Edition, London.
Doherty, Richard; Truesdale, David, (2000) Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross
Foot, M.R.D. & Langley, J.M., MI9 Escape & Evasion 1939–45, The Bodley Head, 1979, 365
pages
Gliddon, Gerald (1994), VCs of the First World War – The Somme.
Hargest, Brigadier, James C.B.E., D.S.O. M.C., Farewell Campo 12, Michael Joseph Ltd,
1945, 184 pages contains a sketch map of Castello Vincigliata page 85, route of capture and
escape 'Sidi Azir – London (inside front cover),(no index)
Harvey, David, (1999), Monuments to Courage.
Leeming, John F (1951) Always To-Morrow, George G Harrap & Co. Ltd, London, 188p,
Illustrated with photographs and maps
Neame, Sir Philip Lt-Gen. V.C., K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O., Playing with Strife, The Autobiography of
a Soldier, George G Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1947, 353 pages, (written whilst a POW, the best
narrative of Vincigliata as Campo PG12, contains a scale plan of Castello di Vincigliata, and
photographs taken by the author just after the war)
Ogden, Alan (2022). Life and Times of Lieutenant General Adrian Carton de Wiart Soldier and
Diplomat (https://books.google.com/books?id=w4ZIEAAAQBAJ&q=gen+frederick+beaumont+
nesbitt+1893). Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1350233140.
Williams, E. T. "Carton de Wiart, Sir Adrian (1880–1963)" (http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/articl
e/32316), rev. G. D. Sheffield, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University
Press, 2004, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32316 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F32316).
Online version retrieved on 6 February 2009.

External links
Media related to Adrian Carton de Wiart at Wikimedia Commons
Location of grave and VC medal (https://web.archive.org/web/20041028141855/http://www.ho
meusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/cocork.htm) (Co. Cork)
Adrian Carton de Wiart (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7745614) at Find a Grave
British Army Officers 1939–1945 (http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_C01.html
#Carton_de_Wiart_A) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20111005032129/http://www.unith
istories.com/officers/Army_officers_C01.html#Carton_de_Wiart_A) 5 October 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
Generals of World War II (https://www.generals.dk/general/Carton_de_Wiart/Adrian/Great_Brit
ain.html)
"The Other Way in Libya" (https://web.archive.org/web/20121103205740/http://www.time.com/ti
me/magazine/article/0,9171,772677-1,00.html). Time. 21 April 1941. Archived from the original
(http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772677-1,00.html) on 3 November 2012.
Retrieved 15 July 2009.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adrian_Carton_de_Wiart&oldid=1177904531"

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