View source for Adrian Carton de Wiart

{{Short description|Belgian-British sex slave merchant (1880–1963)}}
{{hatnote|This article uses a [[Belgium|Belgian]] surname: the surname is [[Carton de Wiart]], not Wiart.}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart
|image= Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Carton de Wiart.jpg
|image_size= 
|alt= 
|caption= Lieutenant Colonel Carton de Wiart during the First World War
|birth_name= Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart
|nickname= 
|birth_date= {{birth date|1880|05|05|df=yes}}
|birth_place= [[Brussels]], Belgium
|death_date= {{death date and age|1963|06|05|1880|05|05|df=yes}}
|death_place= [[Aghinagh House]], Killinardrish, [[County Cork]], Ireland
|placeofburial= Killinardish Churchyard, [[County Cork]], Ireland
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[British Army]]
|serviceyears= 1899–1923<br/>1939–1947
|rank= [[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-general]]
|servicenumber= 836
|unit= 
|commands= [[61st Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|61st Infantry Division]]<br/>[[134th (2/1st Hampshire) Brigade|134th Brigade]]<br/>[[12th Armoured Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|12th Brigade]]<br/>8th (Service) Battalion, [[Gloucestershire Regiment]]
|battles=[[Second Boer War]]<br/>[[First World War]]
* [[Somaliland campaign]]
* [[Battle of the Somme]]
* [[Battle of Passchendaele]]
* [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]]
* [[Battle of Arras (1918)]]
[[Polish–Soviet War]]<br/>[[Polish–Ukrainian War]]<br/>[[Polish–Lithuanian War]]<br/>[[Second World War]]
* [[Invasion of Poland]]
* [[Norwegian campaign]]
* [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]]<br/>[[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]<br/>[[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Mentioned in Despatches]]<br/>[[Virtuti Militari]] (Poland)<br/>[[Croix de guerre (Belgium)|Croix de guerre]] (Belgium)<br/>[[Legion of Honour]] (France)<br/>[[Croix de Guerre]] (France)
|relations= 
|laterwork= 
}}
[[Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] '''Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart''',<ref name="ReferenceA">{{London Gazette|issue=28074|page=7315|date=1 November 1907}}</ref> {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|VC|KBE|CB|CMG|DSO}} ({{IPAc-en|d|ə|_|ˈ|w|aɪ|.|əɹ|t}};<ref>{{cite book|last=Pointon|first=G. E.|year=1983|title=BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names|edition=2nd|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=46|isbn=0-19-282745-6}}</ref> 5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963) was a [[British Army]] officer. He was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" in various Commonwealth countries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30685433|title=The unkillable soldier|first=Peter|last=Crutchley|date=3 December 2018|publisher=BBC|work=BBC News}}</ref> 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."{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=89}}

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. While ''en route'' he attended the [[Cairo Conference (1943)|Cairo Conference]].

In his memoirs, Carton de Wiart wrote, "Governments may think and say as they like, but force cannot be eliminated, and it is the only real and unanswerable power. We are told that [[the pen is mightier than the sword]], but I know which of these weapons I would choose."{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=271}} Carton de Wiart was thought to be a model for the character of Brigadier Ben Ritchie-Hook in [[Evelyn Waugh]]'s trilogy ''[[Sword of Honour]]''.<ref>The English author [[Christopher Sykes (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.</ref> The ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' described him thus: "With his black eyepatch and empty sleeve, Carton de Wiart looked like an elegant pirate, and became a figure of legend."<ref name=ODNB>Williams, ODNB</ref>

==Early life==
=== Background ===
Carton de Wiart was born into an [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocratic]] family in [[Brussels]], on 5 May 1880, as the eldest son of Léon Constant Ghislain Carton de Wiart (1854–1915), a lawyer and magistrate, and Ernestine Wenzig (1860–1886), although at the time he was widely believed to be an illegitimate son of [[Leopold II of the Belgians|King Leopold II of the Belgians]].<ref>[[Michael Korda]], ''Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia'' {{ISBN|978-0-06-171261-6}}, p. 236</ref> He spent his early days in Belgium and in England;{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=5}} the 'loss of his mother' when he was six prompted his father to move the family to [[Cairo]] so his father could practise at Egypt's [[Mixed Courts of Egypt|mixed courts]]. This led early biographers to assume that his mother had died in 1886; however, in later research it was established that his parents had in fact divorced in that year and that his mother remarried Demosthenes Gregory Cuppa later in 1886.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.odonohoearchive.com/at-home-in-ireland-lt-general-sir-adrian-carton-de-wiart/|title=At Home in Ireland: Lt-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart|date=20 April 2021 |publisher=O'Donohoe Archive|access-date=13 December 2021}}</ref> In his position as a lawyer, magistrate, and a [[Board of directors|director]] of the [[Cairo Electric Railways and Heliopolis Oases Company]], his father was well connected in Egyptian governmental circles. Adrian Carton de Wiart learned to speak [[Arabic language|Arabic]].{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=12}}

Carton de Wiart was a [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]. In 1891, his English stepmother sent him to a [[boarding school]] in England, the Roman Catholic [[The Oratory School|Oratory School]], founded by [[John Henry Newman]]. From there, he went to [[Balliol College, Oxford]], but left around 1899, just before or during the [[Second Boer War]], to join the British Army. He falsified his name and age, signing up as "Trooper Carton" and claiming to be 25 years old where his actual age was no more than 20.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rXgflMEKEnIC&pg=PT310|title=Churchill's Generals|first=John|last=Keegan|publisher=Sphere|year=1993|isbn=978-0751597264}}</ref>

=== Second Boer War ===
Carton de Wiart was wounded in the stomach and groin in South Africa early in the Second Boer War and was invalided home. His father was furious when he learned his son had abandoned his studies, but allowed him to remain in the army. After another brief period at Oxford, where [[Aubrey Herbert]] was among his friends, he was given a commission in the Second [[Imperial Light Horse]]. He saw action in South Africa again, and on 14 September 1901 was given a regular commission as a second lieutenant in the [[4th Dragoon Guards]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27354|page=6049|date=13 September 1901}}</ref> Carton de Wiart was transferred to India in 1902. He enjoyed sports, especially shooting and [[Boar hunting|pig sticking]].{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=27}}
[[File:Adrian Carton de Wiart 1904.jpg|thumb|Carton de Wiart as a [[lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] with the [[4th Dragoon Guards]] at [[Mathura|Muttra]] in September 1904]]

==Character, interests and life in the Edwardian army==
Carton de Wiart's serious wound in the Boer War instilled in him a strong desire for physical fitness and he ran, jogged, walked, and played sports on a regular basis. In male company he was "a delightful character and must hold the world record for bad language."{{sfn|Ranfurly|1995|p=123}}

After his regiment was transferred to South Africa he was promoted to supernumerary [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 16 July 1904 and appointed an [[aide-de-camp]] to the [[Commander-in-Chief]], Sir [[Henry Hildyard]], the following July.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27710|page=5696|date=2 September 1904}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=27}} By 1907, although by then having 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.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In 1908, he married Countess Friederike Maria Karoline Henriette Rosa Sabina Franziska [[Fugger family|Fugger von Babenhausen]] (1887 [[Klagenfurt]] – 1949 [[Vienna]]), the eldest daughter of Karl, 5th [[Fürst]] (Prince) von Fugger-Babenhausen and [[Princess Eleonora Fugger von Babenhausen|Princess Eleonora zu Hohenlohe-Bartenstein und Jagstberg]] of Klagenfurt, Austria. They had two daughters; the eldest, Anita (born 1909, deceased), was to be the maternal grandmother of the war correspondent [[Anthony Loyd]] (born 1966).<ref name="name">{{cite web|date = 2000|url = http://www.bosnia.org.uk/bosrep/decfeb00/loyd.cfm|title = War in the Balkans|publisher = bosnia.org.uk New Series no.13/14 December 1999 – February 2000|access-date = 12 September 2007|last = Ines Sabalic|archive-date = 31 March 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100331203231/http://www.bosnia.org.uk/bosrep/decfeb00/loyd.cfm|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oC9IrA8ItjYC&pg=PA242|title=The Best Australian Essays 2007|last=Modjeska|first=Drusilla|date=2007|publisher=Black Inc.|isbn=9781863954198|language=en}}</ref>

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 [[Société Générale de Belgique|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]].{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=42}} Following his return to England, he rode with the famous [[Duke of Beaufort's Hunt]] where he met, among others, the future field marshal Sir [[Henry Maitland Wilson]] and the future [[air marshal]] Sir [[Edward Ellington]]. He was promoted to the rank of [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] on 26 February 1910.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28355|page=2411|date=8 April 1910}}</ref> The [[Henry Somerset, 9th Duke of Beaufort|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]].{{sfn|Fox|1923|p=50, 54, 57}}

==First World War==
=== Somaliland Campaign ===
When the First World War broke out, Carton de Wiart was en route to [[British Somaliland]] where a [[Somaliland Campaign|low-level war]] was underway against the followers of Dervish leader [[Mohammed Abdullah Hassan|Mohammed bin Abdullah]], called the "Mad Mullah" by the British. Carton de Wiart had been seconded to the [[Somaliland Camel Corps]]. {{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=50}} In an attack upon an enemy fort at [[Shimber Berris]], Carton de Wiart was shot twice in the face, losing his eye and a portion of his ear. He was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) on 15 May 1915.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{London Gazette|issue=29163 |supp=y|page=4753|date=14 May 1915}}</ref>

=== Western Front ===
In February 1915, he embarked on a [[Steamship|steamer]] heading for France. Carton de Wiart took part in the fighting on the [[Western Front (World War I)|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.<ref>''Nemesis'' (2007) Hastings, M. HarperCollins Press, London. {{ISBN|0-00-721982-2}} {{ISBN|978-0-00-721982-7}}, p.446</ref> 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, France|Arras]]. He went to the Sir Douglas Shield's Nursing Home to recover from his injuries.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=54}}

===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 Royal Irish Dragoon Guards|4th Dragoon Guards (Royal Irish)]], [[British Army]], attached to the [[Gloucestershire 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:

{{blockquote|
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.<ref name="ReferenceF">{{London Gazette|issue=29740|page=8869|supp=y|date=9 September 1916}}</ref>}}

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the [[National Army Museum]] in Chelsea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1965-07-46-1|title=Victoria Cross awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Adrian Carton de Wiart, 1916|publisher=National Army Museum|access-date=30 June 2020}}</ref>

===1916–1918===

Carton de Wiart was promoted to temporary major in March 1916,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29571 |supp=y|page=4539|date=8 May 1916}}</ref> and to the rank of temporary lieutenant colonel on 18 July, was [[Brevet (military)|brevetted]] to major on 1 January 1917 and was promoted to temporary [[brigadier general]] on 12 January 1917.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29804|page=10425|date=27 October 1916}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29886 |supp=y|page=18|date=29 December 1916}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29935|page=1380|date=9 February 1917}}</ref> He was appointed an [[Order of the Crown (Belgium)|Officer of the Order of the Crown]] of Belgium in April 1917.<ref name="ReferenceC">{{London Gazette|issue=30030 |supp=y|page=3825|date=20 April 1917}}</ref> On 3 June 1917, Carton de Wiart was brevetted to lieutenant-colonel.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30111 |supp=y|page=5464|date=1 June 1917}}</ref> On 18 July, he was promoted to the substantive rank of major in the Dragoon Guards.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30375 |supp=y|page=11639|date=9 November 1917}}</ref> He was awarded the Belgian [[Croix de guerre (Belgium)|Croix de Guerre]] in March 1918,<ref name="ReferenceD">{{London Gazette|issue=30568 |supp=y|page=3095|date=8 March 1918}}</ref> and was appointed a [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]] in the King's Birthday Honours List in June.<ref name="ReferenceE">{{London Gazette|issue=30716 |supp=y|page=6453|date=31 May 1918}}</ref>

On 8 November, just three days before the end of the war, Carton de Wiart was given command of a brigade with the rank of temporary brigadier general.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31321 |supp=y|page=5479|date=29 April 1919}}</ref> 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.<ref>Bullock, A S, ''Gloucestershire Between the Wars: A Memoir'', The History Press, 2009, pages 88–89</ref>

==Post-First World War era and the Polish mission==
[[File:Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart by Sir William Orpen.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Painting by [[William Orpen|Sir William Orpen]], 1919 ([[National Portrait Gallery, London]])]]
At the end of the war Carton de Wiart was sent to [[Second Republic of Poland|Poland]] as second in command of the [[British Military Mission to Poland|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.<ref name="ReferenceG">{{London Gazette|issue=31370|page=6790|date=30 May 1919}}</ref> After a brief period, he replaced General Botha in the mission to Poland.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=92}}

Poland desperately needed support, as it was engaged with [[Bolshevik Russia]] in the [[Polish-Soviet War]], the [[Ukraine|Ukrainians]] in the [[Polish-Ukrainian War]], the [[Lithuania]]ns in the [[Polish-Lithuanian War]], and the [[Czechoslovakia|Czechs]] in the [[Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia|Czech-Polish border conflicts]]. There he met pianist [[Ignacy Jan Paderewski]], Marshal [[Józef Piłsudski]], the Chief of State and military commander, and General [[Maxime Weygand]], head of the [[French military mission to Poland|French military mission]] in mid-1920.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=106}} The Ukrainian nationalists under [[Simon Petlyura]] were besieging the city of [[Lwów]] ({{lang|uk|Lvov}}; {{lang|de|Lemberg}}). One of his tasks soon after Carton de Wiart's arrival was to attempt to make peace between the Poles and the Ukrainians; the peace talks were unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=REVEDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT2066|title=Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Volume V: St-Z|first= Danylo Husar |last=Struk|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1993|isbn=978-0802039958}}</ref>

From there, he went on to Paris to report to the British Prime Minister, [[David Lloyd George]] and to General [[Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet|Sir Henry Wilson]], regarding the Polish situation. 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. The diplomats moved to [[Poznań]], but the Italians remained in Warsaw along with Ratti.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=108}}

From all these affairs, Carton de Wiart developed a sympathy with the Poles and supported their claims to eastern [[Galicia (Central Europe)|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 (Carton de Wiart) was "compromised in a gun-running operation from [[Budapest]] using stolen wagon-lits".<ref name="Davies2011">{{cite book|author=Norman Davies|title=White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish-Soviet War 1919–20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3FWGRxVlSYC&pg=PA94|date=30 April 2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4464-6686-5|pages=94–}}</ref>

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 Movement|White Russian]] offensive under General [[Anton Denikin]] directed at Moscow would fail, and 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.<ref>{{cite book|page=40|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oE_YU-H80IMC&pg=PA40|title=Churchill and Finland: A Study in Anticommunism and Geopolitics|first= Markku |last=Ruotsila|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=978-0415349710}}</ref>

On 27 July 1920, Carton de Wiart was appointed an [[aide-de-camp]] to the king, and brevetted to [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|colonel]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31993 |supp=y|page=7835|date=23 July 1920}}</ref> He was active in August 1920, when the [[Red Army]] was 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.<ref name=day>{{cite web|url=https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/extraordinary-story-of-the-one-eyed-one-handed-war-hero-who-fell-in-love-with-poland-and-didnt-leave-for-twenty-years-9694|title=Extraordinary tale of the one-eyed, one-handed war hero who fell in love with Poland and didn't leave for twenty years|publisher=First News|date=10 January 2020|access-date=30 June 2020|first=Matt|last=Day|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819204210/https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/extraordinary-story-of-the-one-eyed-one-handed-war-hero-who-fell-in-love-with-poland-and-didnt-leave-for-twenty-years-9694 |archive-date=19 August 2022 }}</ref>

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 [[Divisional general|major general]] on 1 January.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32175 |supp=y|page=12695|date=28 December 1920}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32721|page=4645|date=20 June 1922}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32811|page=2515|date=3 April 1923}}</ref> Carton de Wiart officially retired from the army on 19 December, with the honorary rank of [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|major general]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32898|page=470|date=15 January 1924}}</ref>

==Polish gentleman (1924–1939) ==
His last Polish aide de camp was [[:pl:Karol Mikołaj Radziwiłł|Prince Karol Mikołaj Radziwiłł]], member of the [[Radziwiłł family]] who inherited a large {{convert|500000|acre|adj=on}} 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 Prostyń, in the [[Pripet Marshes]], a wetland area larger than [[Ireland]] and surrounded by water and forests.<ref name=day/> 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".<ref name=day/>

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]]. [[Invasion of Poland|Poland was attacked]] by [[Nazi Germany]] on 1 September and on 17 September the [[Soviet Union|Soviets]] [[Nazi-Soviet Alliance|allied with Germany]] attacked Poland [[Soviet invasion of 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#Museums|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".<ref name=day/>

==Second World War==
[[File:Cecil Beaton Photographs- Political and Military Personalities; Carton de Wiart, Adrian IB3449C.jpg|thumb|250px|Adrian Carton de Wiart during [[World War II]], photographed by [[Cecil Beaton]]]]

===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.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=158}} The other advice he offered, to have the seagoing units of the Polish fleet leave the [[Baltic Sea]], was, after much argument, [[Peking Plan|finally adopted]]. This fleet made a [[Polish contribution to World War II|significant contribution to the Allied cause]], especially the several modern destroyers and submarines.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=155}}

As Polish resistance weakened, Carton de Wiart evacuated the British Mission from Warsaw along with the Polish government, 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 [[Aide-de-camp|aides]] was killed, and he was in danger of arrest in Romania and only 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 very day.<ref>Petru Ignat, Gheorghe Matei, "Asasinarea lui Armand Călinescu" ("Armand Călinescu's Assassination"), in ''Magazin Istoric'', October 1967, p. 72</ref>

===Norwegian campaign (1940)===
{{see also|Namsos Campaign}}
Recalled to a special appointment in the army in the autumn of 1939, Carton de Wiart reverted to his former rank of colonel, and was granted the rank of acting major general on 28 November.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34753 |supp=y|page=8305|date=12 December 1939}}</ref> After a brief stint in command of the [[61st Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|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 (town)|Namsos]], a small town in middle Norway. His orders were to take the city of [[Trondheim]], 125 miles (200&nbsp;km) to the south, in conjunction with a naval attack and an advance from the south by troops landed at [[Åndalsnes]].{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=168}} 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 [[Chasseurs Alpins|French Alpine troops]] landed{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=169}} (without their transport mules and missing straps for their skis), the Luftwaffe bombed and destroyed the town of Namsos.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/stop-press-bombardment-of-namsos-aka-namsos-bombed|title=Bombardment Of Namsos Aka Namsos Bombed|publisher=British Pathe|access-date=30 June 2020}}</ref>

[[File:The British Army in Norway April - June 1940 N107.jpg|thumb|left|British soldiers on the quay at Namsos awaiting evacuation from Norway. On the left is Major General Carton de Wiart.]]

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, machine gunned and bombed from the air, and the German Navy was landing troops to his rear. He recommended withdrawal but was asked to hold his position for political reasons, which he did.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=174}}

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 [[destroyer]]s: the French {{ship|French destroyer|Bison|1928|2}} and British {{HMS|Afridi|F07|6}}.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=174}} Carton de Wiart arrived back at the British naval base of [[Scapa Flow]] in the [[Orkney Islands]] on 5 May 1940, his 60th birthday.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=174}}

===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.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=176}} However, following the arrival of Lieutenant-General [[Henry Pownall|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.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=178}}

===British military mission to Yugoslavia (1941)===
{{See also|Yugoslavia and the Allies}}
Advanced to temporary major-general on 28 November 1940,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35002 |supp=y|page=6802|date=26 November 1940}}</ref> he remained inactive very briefly, as he was appointed as head of the [[British Military Mission to Yugoslavia|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|Belgrade, Serbia]] to negotiate with the Yugoslavian government. After refuelling in Malta,{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=179}} the aircraft left for Cairo with enemy territory to the north and south. Both engines failed off the coast of [[Italian Libya|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.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=180}} They were captured by the Italian authorities.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=181}}

===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 [[Vincigliata|Castello di Vincigliata]]. There were a number of senior officer prisoners here due to the successes achieved by [[Erwin Rommel|Rommel]] in North Africa early in 1941. Carton de Wiart made friends, especially with General [[Sir Richard O'Connor]], [[Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly|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."{{sfn|Ranfurly|1995|p=123}} The four were committed to escaping. He made five attempts, including seven months tunnelling. Carton de Wiart once 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).{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=213}}

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 {{ill|Giacomo Zanussi|it}}, 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]]."{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=226}} In ''Happy Odyssey'', he described the resultant suit as being "as good as anything that ever came out of [[Savile Row]]."{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=226}} When they reached Lisbon, Carton de Wiart was released and made his way to England, reaching there on 28 August 1943.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=230}}

===China mission (1943–1947)===
[[File:CairoConferenceParticipants.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Carton de Wiart in the [[Cairo Conference]], behind [[Soong Mei-ling]] on the right. From left to right: [[Generalissimo]] [[Chiang Kai-shek]], US President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]], British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Soong Mei-ling]]. Back row, Chinese Generals Chang Chen and Ling Wei; American Generals Somervell, Stilwell and Arnold; and senior British officers, Field Marshal Sir [[John Dill]], Admiral [[Lord Louis Mountbatten]].]]

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 [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] as his personal representative. He was granted the rank of acting lieutenant-general on 9 October,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36210 |supp=y|page=4551|date=12 October 1943}}</ref> and left by air for India on 18 October 1943. [[China–United Kingdom relations|Anglo-Chinese relations]] were difficult in World War II as the [[Kuomintang]] had long called for the end of British [[Concessions in China|extraterritorial rights in China]] together with the return of Hong Kong, neither proposal being welcome to Churchill. In early 1942, Churchill had to ask [[Chiang Kai-shek]] to send Chinese troops to help the British hold Burma from the Japanese, and following the Japanese conquest of Burma the [[X Force (Chinese Expeditionary Force)|X Force]] of five Chinese divisions had ended up in eastern India.<ref name="Fenby, Jonathan page 373">Fenby, Jonathan ''Chiang Kai-Shek China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost'', New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004 page 373.</ref> Churchill was unhappy with having the X Force defend India as it weakened the prestige of the Raj, and in an attempt 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.<ref name="Fenby, Jonathan page 373"/>

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]]'', [[Keswick family|John Keswick]], head of the great China trading empire [[Jardine Matheson]]. He met the Viceroy, Field Marshal Viscount [[Archibald Wavell|Wavell]] and General Sir [[Claude Auchinleck]], the [[Commander-in-Chief, India|Commander-in-Chief in India]]. He also met [[Orde Wingate]].{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=237}} Before arriving in China, Carton de Wiart attended the [[Cairo Conference (1943)|1943 Cairo Conference]] organized by Churchill, U.S. President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=239}}

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]].{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=240}} He arrived in the headquarters of the [[Kuomintang|Nationalist Chinese Government]], [[Chongqing]], in early December 1943. For the next three years, he 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."<ref name="Fenby, Jonathan page 373"/> 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."<ref>{{Cite book|title=HAPPY ODYSSEY|publisher=Pen & Sword MILITARY|year=2021|isbn=978-1-84415-539-2|pages=244|language=English}}</ref>

[[File:British Generals 1939-1945 A20588.jpg|thumb|250px|Carton de Wiart in Cairo, 1943.]]

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, Baron Casey|Richard Casey]], became a good friend.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phmJDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA40|title=Churchill, America and Vietnam, 1941–45|first= T.|last= Smith|publisher=Palgrave|year=2011|isbn=978-0230298200|page=40}}</ref>

On 9 October 1944, Carton de Wiart was promoted to temporary [[Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom)|lieutenant-general]] and to the war substantive rank of major-general.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/36769/supplements/4963|title=London Gazette, 31 October 1944}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="ReferenceH">{{London Gazette|issue=36866 |supp=y|page=10|date=29 December 1944}}</ref> [[Clement Attlee]], when he became head of the Labour government in June 1945, asked Carton de Wiart to stay on in China.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=273}}

==== South East Asia ====
Carton de Wiart was assigned to a tour of the Burma front, and after meeting Admiral Sir [[James Somerville (admiral)|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|1913|6}} for the bombardment of Sabang in the [[Netherlands East Indies]] in 1945, including air battles between Japanese fighters and British carrier aircraft.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rXgflMEKEnIC&pg=PT328|title=Churchill's Generals|first= John |last=Keegan|publisher=Sphere|year=1993|isbn=978-0751597264}}</ref>

[[File:Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten of Burma SE3547.jpg|thumb|left|Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia: Mountbatten with General Chiang Kai-Shek (left) and Dr T V Soong (right). In the background are Captain R V Brockman, Lt Gen F A M Browning and General Carton de Wiart VC at Chongqing.]]

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."<ref>''Nemesis'' (2007) Hastings, M. HarperCollins Press, London. {{ISBN|0-00-721982-2}} {{ISBN|978-0-00-721982-7}} p.446. The "I cannot believe he means business" quotation is referenced to [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=3508732&CATLN=6 FO 371/F6140/34/10]</ref> 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.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=270}}

After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Carton de Wiart flew to Singapore to participate in the formal surrender. After a visit to [[Peking]], he moved to [[Nanking]], the now-liberated Nationalist capital, accompanied by [[Julian Amery]], the British Prime Minister's Personal Representative to Chiang.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/lord-amery-of-lustleigh-obituary-5601769.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702045443/https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/lord-amery-of-lustleigh-obituary-5601769.html |archive-date=2020-07-02 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Lord Amery of Lustleigh: Obituary|work=The Independent|date= 5 September 1996|access-date=30 June 2020}}</ref> A visit to [[Tokyo]] to meet General [[Douglas MacArthur]] came at the end 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/38396/pages/4853|title=London Gazette, 7 September 1948}}</ref>

==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 [[Yangon General Hospital|Rangoon Hospital]] where he was treated.{{sfn|Carton de Wiart|1950|p=282}} 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.)<ref>Obituary in Daily Telegraph, 17 January 2006</ref> They settled at [[Aghinagh House]], Killinardrish, [[County Cork]], Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Herlihy|first1=Jim|title=What Did Your Father do in the War?|url=http://www.familyhistory.ie/docs/gazette/2006/Gazette_Feb_2006.pdf|publisher=Ireland's Genealogical Gazette|access-date=6 January 2015}}</ref>

Carton de Wiart died at the age of 83 on 5 June 1963. He left no papers.<ref>''Sources in British Political History, 1900–1951'', vol. 2, p. 67</ref> 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.<ref>England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995</ref>

==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:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rdgmuseum.org.uk/history-and-research/famous-soldiers-of-the-royal-dragoon-guards/sir-adrian-carton-de-wiart/|title=Sir Adrian Carton De Wiart – RDG Museum|website=www.rdgmuseum.org.uk}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|[[File:UK Victoria Cross ribbon bar.svg|100px]] || [[Victoria Cross]] (VC) || 1916<ref name="ReferenceF"/>
|-
|[[File:Order of the British Empire (Military) Ribbon.png|100px]] || Knight Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (KBE) (Military Division) || New Year Honours 1945<ref name="ReferenceH"/>
|-
|[[File:Order of the Bath (ribbon).svg|100px]] || Companion of the [[Order of the Bath]] (CB) (Military Division) || [[1919 Birthday Honours|Birthday Honours 1919]]<ref name="ReferenceG"/>
|-
|[[File:UK Order St-Michael St-George ribbon.svg|100px]] || Companion of the [[Order of St Michael and St George]] (CMG) || [[1918 Birthday Honours|Birthday Honours 1918]]<ref name="ReferenceE"/>
|-
|[[File:Dso-ribbon.png|100px]] || Companion of the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) || 1915<ref name="ReferenceB"/>
|-
|[[File:Queens South Africa Medal 1899-1902 ribbon.png|100px]] || [[Queen's South Africa Medal]] || with clasps for "South Africa 1901," "Transvaal," "Orange Free State" and "Cape Colony"
|-
|[[File:Africa General Service Medal BAR.svg|100px]] || [[Africa General Service Medal]] || with clasp for "Shimber Berris 1914–15"
|-
|[[File:1914 Star BAR.svg|100px]] || [[1914 Star]] || 
|-
|[[File:British War Medal BAR.svg|100px]] || [[British War Medal]] || 
|-
|[[File:Victory Medal MID ribbon bar.svg|100px]] || [[Victory Medal (United Kingdom)]] || with bronze oak leaf for MID
|-
|[[File:39-45 Star BAR.svg|100px]] || [[1939–45 Star]] || 
|-
|[[File:Africa Star BAR.svg|100px]] || [[Africa Star]] || 
|-
|[[File:Burma Star BAR.svg|100px]] || [[Burma Star]] || 
|-
|[[File:Italy Star BAR.svg|100px]] || [[Italy Star]] || 
|-
|[[File:War Medal 39-45 w MID BAR.svg|100px]] || [[War Medal 1939-1945]] || with bronze oak leaf for MID
|-
|[[File:GeorgeVICoronationRibbon.png|100px]] || [[King George VI Coronation Medal]] || 1937
|-
|[[File:UK Queen EII Coronation Medal ribbon.svg|100px]] || [[Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal]] || 1953 
|-
|[[File:BEL Kroonorde Officier BAR.svg|100px]] || Officer of the [[Order of the Crown (Belgium)]] || 1917<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
|-
|[[File:BEL Croix de Guerre WW1 ribbon.svg|100px]] || [[Croix de guerre (Belgium)|Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (Belgium)]] || 1918<ref name="ReferenceD"/>
|-
|[[File:POL Virtuti Militari Srebrny BAR.svg|100px]] || Silver Cross (Knight) of the [[Virtuti Militari|Order of Military Virtue]] of Poland || 1920
|-
|[[File:POL Krzyż Walecznych (1940) 2r BAR.PNG|100px]] || [[Cross of Valour (Poland)]] || Two awards (1920, 1941<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35133 |supp=y|page=2089|date=8 April 1941}}</ref>)
|-
|[[File:Legion Honneur Commandeur ribbon.svg|100px]] || Commander of the [[Legion of Honour]] of France ||
|-
|[[File:Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with palm (France) - ribbon bar.png|100px]] || [[Croix de guerre 1939–1945 (France)]] || With bronze palm for army-level MID
|-
|}

==In popular culture==
Carton de Wiart is the subject of the 2022 song "The Unkillable Soldier" by Swedish heavy metal band [[Sabaton (band)|Sabaton]] on their album ''[[The War to End All Wars (album)|The War to End all Wars]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4vj_WB5w_k | title = Sabaton – The Unkillable Soldier Official Music Video| website = [[YouTube]]| date = 11 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/sabatons-the-unkillable-soldier-lyrics-meaning/|title=Sabaton's "The Unkillable Soldier" Lyrics Meaning|date=12 February 2022 |publisher=Songs: meaning and facts|access-date=14 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metalforcesmagazine.com/site/news-sabaton-release-tenth-studio-album-the-war-to-end-all-wars/|title=Sabaton unveil music video for new track "The Unkillable Soldier"|publisher=Metal Forces Magazine|date=11 February 2022| access-date=14 February 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Jack Churchill]], another notably eccentric British officer

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|last1=Carton de Wiart|first1=Sir Adrian|title=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.|date=1950|publisher=Jonathan Cape|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tmt2nQAACAAJ}}
* {{cite book| first = Frank | last = Fox| title = The History of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Yeomanry, 1898–1922| publisher = Philip Allan & Co.| location = London| year = 1923}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Hermione Ranfurly|last=Ranfurly|first=Hermione|title= [[To War with Whitaker|To War With Whitaker, The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly 1939–1945]]|publisher=Mandarin Paperbacks|location= London|year=1995}}

==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. 
* Davies, Norman, (2003) ''The Miracle on the Vistula"'', Pimlico Edition, London.
* Doherty, Richard; Truesdale, David, (2000) ''Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross''
* [[M.R.D. Foot|Foot, M.R.D.]] & [[J.M Langley|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)
*{{cite book|last=Ogden|first=Alan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4ZIEAAAQBAJ&q=gen+frederick+beaumont+nesbitt+1893|title=Life and Times of Lieutenant General Adrian Carton de Wiart Soldier and Diplomat|year=2022|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1350233140}}
* Williams, E. T. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32316 "Carton de Wiart, Sir Adrian (1880–1963)"], rev. G. D. Sheffield, ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2004, {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/32316}}. Online version retrieved on 6 February 2009.

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041028141855/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/cocork.htm Location of grave and VC medal] ''(Co. Cork)''
*{{Find a Grave|7745614}}
*[http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_C01.html#Carton_de_Wiart_A British Army Officers 1939–1945] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005032129/http://www.unithistories.com/officers/Army_officers_C01.html#Carton_de_Wiart_A |date=5 October 2011 }}
*[https://www.generals.dk/general/Carton_de_Wiart/Adrian/Great_Britain.html Generals of World War II]
*{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772677-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103205740/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772677-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 November 2012|title=The Other Way in Libya|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=21 April 1941|access-date=15 July 2009}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Robert Collins (British Army officer)|Robert Collins]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[61st Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|GOC 61st Infantry Division]]|years=1939–1941}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Fullbrook-Leggatt]]}}
|-
{{s-hon}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Arthur Solly-Flood]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards|Colonel of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards]]|years=1940–1948}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Aldam Aizlewood|John Aizlewood]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Royal Dragoon Guards}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carton de Wiart, Adrian}}
[[Category:1880 births]]
[[Category:1963 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at The Oratory School]]
[[Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Brussels]]
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[[Category:British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
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[[Category:British amputees]]
[[Category:British anti-communists]]
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[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Escapees from Italian detention]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Virtuti Militari]]
[[Category:British World War II prisoners of war]]
[[Category:4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards officers]]
[[Category:Imperial Light Horse officers]]
[[Category:Somaliland Camel Corps officers]]
[[Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Belgian people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Belgian emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Poland]]
[[Category:Burials in County Cork]]
[[Category:British Army lieutenant generals]]
[[Category:Eyepatch wearers]]