Introducing Adrian Carton de Wiart, the soldier who fought in 3 major wars during his ludicrous lifetime! But that only scratches the surface of this soldier’s crazy life story. This guy endured everything. From getting shot in the head, to surviving 5 plane crashes, and even escaping out of a high-security Italian prison. Let's uncover the insane tale of the invincible soldier who simply wouldn’t die!
Early Life
All the way back in 1880, little baby Adrian was born in Brussels, Belgium. The son of Léon Constant Ghislain Carton de Wiart and Ernestine Wenzig, this soon-to-be soldier was born into a life of lavish luxury. He spent his early days in Belgium and England, and life seemed destined to treat him gently. But sadly for him, the good times wouldn’t last.
When Adrian was just six years old, his mother passed away. In the wake of their loss, Leon upped sticks and moved the family to Cairo, Egypt. Léon was a successful lawyer, and his career went from strength to strength while stationed in Cairo. Sadly, things weren’t going so well for Adrian. He was often ill. Even when he wasn’t sick, Adrian struggled with life in Egypt, later saying he was too lonely to be happy.
That’d change when Adrian was 11, as his father shipped him off to a school in Birmingham, England. At first it was tough for the youngster. The food was bad, the discipline was strict, and he was frequently bullied simply for being a foreigner. Adrian Carton de Wiart, however, was no ordinary kid. While others may’ve buckled, he persevered, eventually winning his classmates over thanks to his super sporting ability. By the time he was 17, Adrian would continue his educational journey, this time attending the prestigious Oxford University, with his father having aspirations of his son following him in a career of law. Yet, despite his father’s hopes, Adrian struggled at Oxford, failing his exams.
Military Life
Realizing university life wasn’t right for him, he felt a strong urge to take his life down a much bolder path. The life of lectures and libraries couldn’t satisfy him, he had a restless energy and craving for adventure. Adrian wanted a life of danger, he wanted war!
Fortunately for Adrian, he wouldn’t have to wait long to get his wish. In 1899, trouble was brewing in South Africa. In October of that year the
Second Boer War broke out. The conflict was between the British Empire and the South African Republic and Orange Free State over Britain’s influence in Southern Africa.
Not that young Adrian cared on what caused the conflict. ‘At that moment I knew that war was in my blood… I didn’t know why the war had started, and I didn’t care on which side I was to fight. If the British didn’t fancy me I would offer myself to the Boers.’ That’s right, this eager beaver was so keen to fight, he didn’t even care what side he was fighting on!
Still, despite his enthusiasm, getting to the battlefield wouldn’t be a simple task. For starters, his father, wanting his son to follow his path and become a lawyer, would be furious if he found out Adrian had intentions of becoming a soldier. Then, there was the matter of enlisting. From the British side he was ineligible. Not only was Adrian too young to join the British Army, he was also Belgian, not British. Still, undeterred by those obstacles, Adrian was determined to make his dream a reality. That desperation led to him enlisting under a false identity and age. Clearly, the British recruiter didn’t look twice, giving the go-ahead for Adrian’s dispatchment to South Africa. Soon, Adrian’s fighting fantasy would become reality.
Following a brief crash course in combat training in South Africa, Adrian was thrust into the action. One fateful day, he and a few other British soldiers were attempting to cross a river, when, all hell broke loose. Super-stealthy as the Brits thought they were being, they were quickly spotted and fired upon by a group of Boer soldiers. Adrian was shot twice, with the bullets wounding his stomach and groin. Somehow, he survived the ordeal, and his comrades dragged him to safety. But survival came at a cost. When Adrian was whisked away to a military hospital, his false identity had been rumbled. Even worse, he was sent back to England to recover from his injuries, where he’d have to face the wrath of his furious father who’d be notified of his son’s army activity.
Fortunately for Adrian, his father was surprisingly sympathetic. And, when he eventually recovered from his injuries, he even received the blessing of his father to return back to South Africa. So, in 1901, Adrian decided to quit Oxford for good, and returned to the fighting in South Africa. After re-joining a cavalry regiment, Adrian was soon promoted to the position of corporal. But the promotion wouldn’t last long. Just 24 hours later, he was demoted again after threatening to hit a sergeant. But that was about as fiery as things got for him. In the following months, Adrian suffered from a lack of military action all the way until the end of the Second Boer War in May 1902. After the war had finished Adrian was transferred to India. Annoyingly for the young soldier, his stay was largely peaceful and uneventful. Well, except for one hair-raising hobby that he discovered. De Wiart kept himself entertained by ‘pig-sticking’, which, if you’re wondering, consisted of riders on horseback hunting down wild boar with spears.
On one occasion, he ‘pig-sticked’ a little too ferociously, falling from his horse, cracking several of his ribs and spraining an ankle in the process. Even in peacetime, this guy lived life on the edge. By 1904, Adrian found himself stationed in South Africa once again. But this time, with the Second Boer War over, there was no battle for him to sink his teeth into. As the years passed, the prospect of war wasn’t becoming any more apparent. That’s not to say the former Oxford student was having a bad time, though. In 1907, after having served in the British Army for 8 years, the Belgian-born soldier became formally naturalized as a British subject. A year later he married Austrian Countess, Friederike Maria Karoline Henriette Rosa Sabina Franziska Fugger von Babenhausen.
Luckily for Adrian, this life of bliss would soon come to an abrupt halt. In 1914, World War One broke out. As a result, thousands of British soldiers were shipped out to fight on the trench-ridden front lines in France and Belgium. You’d presume Adrian would be front and center of the action, but no. Instead, he was stationed halfway across the world in Somaliland, found in modern-day Somalia, to fight a fierce guerilla army headed by a much-feared ruler, known as the Mad Mullah. Not that Adrian was one bit scared. As long as guns and fighting were involved, he was there.
The Unkillable Soldier
Adrian was assigned a squadron of the Somaliland Camel Corps. Yes, he really rode a camel into battle! His unit were tasked with storming an enemy fort in the mountains of Somaliland. No doubt Adrian speedily rode on ahead. Yet, he’d soon be stopped in his tracks. The fort was well defended, and as De Wiart charged forward, he was shot by the enemy. Adrian was shot in the eye, but incredibly, stirred on by excitement, he kept charging.
But as he pressed forward, another bullet hit him in the elbow, shattering his bone. Still, Adrian refused to falter. Then came a third shot, this time tearing through his ear, splitting it clean in two. After getting patched up by a nearby medic, Adrian, who was now bandaged, bloodied and barely able to see, made yet another charge for the fort. You can guess where this is going, can’t you? A ricochet from a bullet went through the already-damaged eye once again. Soon after, the British forces retreated.
You’d presume Adrian would be cursing his luck at all his horrendous injuries, but then you’d be forgetting what kind of crazed soldier he was. Writing later in memoirs, de Wiart said: ‘It had all been the most exhilarating fun.’ Who knew getting shot in the elbow, ear, and twice in the eye could be fun?
As much fun as Adrian was having, he was in a bad way, and sent back to England to recover. Here he hoped not for rest, but to be reassigned to service, this time to fight in World War One. The Army’s medical commission agreed on one condition. To avoid the embarrassment of sending a half-blind soldier back into battle, they insisted Adrian wear a glass eye. Desperate to get back into action, Adrian immediately agreed. But the fake eye didn’t last long. Riding in a taxi through the streets of London, Adrian found the prosthetic so uncomfortable, he yanked it from his socket and hurled it out the window. With the glass eye gone, Adrian adopted the iconic black eye patch that would come to define his daring, courageous image.
So, in February 1915, Adrian got his chance to fight in the heart of the action in World War One. That month, Adrian boarded a steamer bound for northern France, eager to throw himself into the action. Once there, he joined the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, a cavalry regiment stationed along the Western Front. His first major involvement came two months later during the
Second Battle of Ypres. While marching to relieve an infantry unit, his regiment came under ferocious fire from German artillery. A combination of shell fragments and exploded parts of his own wristwatch, completely mutilated de Wiart’s left hand. It seemed like every battle this sorry soldier fought in, he got hurt!
So bad was this particular wound, he was left with only part of his palm, with two dangling fingers. If that wasn’t grotesque enough, a field medic refused to amputate Adrian’s remaining fingers. So what did this mad man do? He pulled his remaining fingers off himself, feeling ‘absolutely no pain in doing it.’
Given the seriousness of his injury, Adrian could’ve easily have requested to be repatriated back to Britain, where he’d be allowed to live a quiet life away from the fearsome war. But Adrian was just getting started! After all, you can’t spell ‘De Wiart’ without ‘war’! By December 1915, Adrian’s left hand was amputated. Incredibly, this ferocious fighter was out of hospital in three weeks, hoping to return to France ASAP. And return he did, this time taking part in the
Battle of the Somme. Despite having just one eye and one arm, Adrian struck fear into the hearts of his enemies, and inspired awe among his comrades. Soldiers even reported seeing him tearing the pins out of grenades with his teeth, before throwing them into enemy territory with his one hand. Even the Terminator would be intimidated by this guy!
But he didn’t just excel in looking hard as nails, he was also an extremely skilled and brave fighter too. During an enemy assault on the occupied village of La Boiselle, three unit-commanders were shot down in rapid succession. With defeat looking certain, Adrian took command of not one, not two, but all three units! With no access to field radios or telephones to communicate between lines, Adrian decided he’d be the messenger, running back and forth among the three units to relay his orders, dodging bullets and shells that were raining down onto no man’s land in the process.
Somehow, Adrian and his men managed to hold back the advancing Germans. His courageous act earned him the Victoria Cross, the highest military award in the British Army. Unsurprisingly, Adrian couldn’t get enough of the thrills of war. After his heroics at La Boisselle, de Wiart continued to charge head-first from battle-to-battle, until he narrowly escaped yet another near-death experience. This time, while fighting in the trenches of Delville Wood, he was shot in the back of the head by an enemy sniper. How a sniper got behind British lines is anyone’s guess, but the shot should have been fatal. Well, fatal for mere mortals like you and me, not for the invincible Adrian. The bullet managed to miss his brain and spinal cord, and Adrian just shrugged it off like it was a minor graze.
By the time World War One was over in 1918, Adrian’s body was full of wounds and shrapnel. Following his miraculous escape at Delville Wood, this super soldier would be shot in the ankle, hip, leg and ear. No doubt enemy soldiers would’ve thought this guy was invincible! If de Wiart’s reputation wasn’t already fierce enough, he later remarked: ‘Frankly, I had enjoyed the war.’ Did nothing faze this man? For most soldiers, the end of the First World War was massively celebrated. Finally, after four, long years of trudging through muddy trenches, dodging bullets, and clinging to life, they could finally return home to their family. For Adrian, the end of the war wasn’t a blessing, it was a curse. Peacetime meant there were no exhilarating battles he could sink his teeth into.
Luckily for him, after World War One there were still plenty of conflicts taking place around Europe. And surprise surprise, by 1919, Adrian was back doing what he loved, after being assigned to Poland as a military advisor for the country. Over the next two years, the country would be at war with Soviet Russia, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine and Lithuania. No doubt Adrian would’ve been like a kid in a candy shop. The same year he arrived in Poland, Adrian’s legendary streak of death-defying close calls continued. He survived not one, but two plane crashes. Yet they wouldn’t be the only form of transportation he’d have trouble with.
By 1920 he was getting closer to the front-line, as the war with Russia intensified. One day, as he was aboard an observation train, his unit came under attack by an enemy cavalry charge intent on hijacking the vehicle. Adrian with his one good hand, fired his revolver at the charge, repelling the attackers. Amid the carnage, he even fell off of the moving train, before quickly leaping back on, revolver still blazing until the train escaped the cavalry charge. After victory in the Polish wars, Adrian decided that was about enough action for one lifetime, retiring from military duty in 1923 at the age of 43. For the next 16 years, Adrian lived a life of luxury, staying in a large estate in eastern Poland.
But, as fate would have it, peace wasn’t something Adrian was destined to know for long. In 1939, the storm clouds of war gathered once again. This time it was World War Two! Without any hesitation, old Adrian decided to dust off his military uniform and charge into battle one more time.
Using a fake passport, Adrian returned to the UK, where he re-enlisted. By this point he was 61 years young, with one eye and one hand. Not that that put any doubt in his mind. De Wiart got his first piece of action during the German invasion of Norway. Tasked with leading an Allied force to take the city of Trondheim to halt the German assault, de Wiart was flown into Scandinavia by seaplane. However, the aircraft was forced to crash land after it was attacked by a German fighter plane.
In true Adrian style, he refused to board a rubber dinghy to shore, convinced it would make him a sitting duck. Instead, he waited in the wreckage until the enemy plane literally ran out of ammunition and flew off. Despite the hairy start, under de Wiart’s leadership his forces managed to traverse over mountains, eventually reaching Trondheim. And this is all while they were being bombarded by German fighter planes, endured artillery strikes from the German navy, and fought off German ski troops. It quickly became apparent that the whole Norwegian campaign was becoming a disaster. However, through sheer grit and determination, de Wiart and his forces held their ground until a naval force arrived to evacuate them. Adrian arrived back in England on his 60th birthday. No doubt the steely soldier’s birthday wish was to get back into the action.
His wish quickly came true when, in April 1941, Yugoslavia, fearing a German invasion, asked for British help. Adrian was appointed as head of the British-Yugoslavian Military Mission, it was his job to negotiate with the Yugoslavian government and organize Allied support. However, Adrian would never reach his destination. After the plane he was aboard re-fueled in Malta, it was sent crashing down yet again! But, this time, it wasn’t down to the enemy. Instead, both the engines failed, sending the aircraft plummeting down into the Mediterranean Sea. As the plane nosedived down onto the sea, Adrian was knocked unconscious. Thankfully for him, the cold water quickly woke him up. Even more good news, the plane was only around a mile from shore. So, he roused what strength he had, before swimming to shore. If that wasn’t impressive enough on its own, he even pulled an injured comrade to shore with him in the process. And don’t forget, he did all that at the ripe old age of 61, with one hand and one eye!
Despite the herculean effort, De Wiart’s face dropped as soon as he reached the shore. He’d arrived at the coast of Italian-controlled Libya, an enemy of the Allies. Within an instant, he was captured by the Italians. Adrian was transported to the uber high-security Vincigliata Castle in Florence, Italy, where 12 other high-ranking senior officers were held prisoner. Essentially, it was like a retirement home. Well, a retirement home with prison guards, stone walls and steel bars. Before long, Adrian and some of his fellow prisoners started getting twitchy and became determined to escape out of Vincigliata Castle. Starting in September 1942, 6 prisoners, including De Wiart, took it in turns to tunnel down in four hour shifts per day.
The work was boring and tiring, especially for those with one hand, but they managed to evade detection. Finally, 6 months later, the 60-foot deep tunnel was complete. On the evening of 29th March 1943, the men crawled their way under and out of the Vincigliata Castle. Miraculously, all six prisoners made it out! Talk about a great escape!
The plan was to escape far away from the castle, and avoid detection by dressing like Italian peasants. While that sounds great on paper, I’m not sure how well a pale, old, eyepatch-wearing, non-Italian speaking amputee will blend into the background. In fairness, Adrian did manage to evade being detected for 8 days, until he was finally uncovered around 50 miles north of Vincigliata Castle. I’m just surprised he lasted 8 days before his cover was blown! Though Adrian was swiftly taken back to prison, freedom would soon follow.
In July 1943, the Italians were secretly negotiating their surrender with the Allies. So, they decided to take Adrian out of prison to help them out. He was secretly flown out to Lisbon with Italian negotiator, General Zanussi, where a deal was struck, Italy had surrendered, and De Wiart was free to return to England. Yet there’d be no respite for ol’ Adrian. Only a month after his return, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent him out to China for a diplomatic mission to improve relations between the countries. For some strange reason, Adrian’s plane didn’t crash when making this particular voyage.
Stranger still, compared to his previous escapades, his time in China was relatively calm. Though he wasn’t getting shot in the back of the head, or hauling a stricken comrade through the Mediterranean Sea, Adrian continued to demonstrate his trademark brand of downright dangerous bravery. For instance, during a formal dinner, Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party and future leader of the People’s Republic of China, was giving a lengthy speech. Adrian, not giving it a second-thought, interrupted Mao, criticizing China’s military operations against Japan.
Not the wisest thing to say to the most powerful man in the country, don’t you think? Mao was stunned into silence, before bursting out laughing. Let’s just say that could’ve ended very differently for loud-mouth Adrian!In 1945 the Second World War ended, and after staying in China for two more years, surviving yet another plane crash along the way, Adrian Carton de Wiart finally decided to hang up his combat uniform for good. At the grand old age of 66, the one-eyed, one-handed war legend announced his retirement. But even after stepping down as a soldier, Adrian couldn’t help but get himself into another startling situation. On his way back to England, he paid visit to a friend living in nearby Burma. While walking downstairs, Adrian slipped, falling down the stairs, breaking several vertebrae and knocking himself unconscious in the process.
It wasn’t all bad news, though. Doctors who treated his spine also reportedly found and removed large amounts of shrapnel that he’d accumulated from his many wounds over the years. This guy sounds truly metal, in more ways than one!
Following his recovery Adrian returned home, before settling down in a large estate with his second wife, Joan Sutherland, in Cork, Ireland. He’d spend the next years writing his memoirs, hunting, fishing and making sure his substantial collection of medals were squeaky clean.Though he somehow managed to dodge death his entire life, Adrian’s time did finally come in 1963, at the age of 83 at his home in Ireland. The soldier may have passed, but there’s no doubt his legacy continues to live on over 60 years after his death. Whether it’s charging into battle without a second thought, surviving being shot in the eye, ear, hand, stomach, groin and head, or even escaping from a high-security Italian prison,
Adrian’s life story shows that with determination, courage, and a little bit of madness, absolutely anything is possible. I hope you were amazed at the story of Adrian Carton de Wiart, the unkillable soldier. Thanks for reading!
