Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
After his experiences in WW1, he said: “Frankly, I had enjoyed the war”.
After his experiences in WW1, he said: “Frankly, I had enjoyed the war”.
Who is the most fierce warrior in history?
Well, we can’t say for sure, but a very respectable guess would Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart.
Reason? He survived six wars, five plane crashes, was tunneled out of a POW-camp – and died peacefully at the age of 83.
Irish and Belgian decent
Carton de Wiart was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1880, son of an Irish mother and Belgian father.
His father wanted the son to go into law, as he was himself a succesful lawyer, and so Carton de Wiart was sent to boarding school in Oxford, England.
20 years old: His first war
He didn’t attend classes much, though, as he spend his time planning his first war, and at the age of 20, he enlisted in The British army, falsifying his name and age, claiming to be 25 years old,
He was then sent to fight in The Second Boer War in South Africa.
The first injuries
Early in the war, Carton de Wiart was wounded in the stomach and groin and sent home.
His father was furious when finding out, his son went off to fight in a war instead of attending school, but for some reason, Carton de Wiart was allowed to stay in the British army.
To India and back to South Africa
After his injuries in the Boer War, Carton de Wiart found interest in physical fitness, running, jogging and playing sport on a regular basis.
In 1902, he was transferred to India, but two years later, in 1904, his regiment was transferred to South Africa,
Turned British
Even though he’d been fighting for the Brits as well as being part of the British army for years, Carton de Wiart still was a Belgian national.
That all changed in 1907, when he took the oath of allegience to the british King and became a British national.
WW1
When the First World War broke out, Carton de Wiart was en route to British Somaliland because ow a low-level war against the “Mad Mullah (Mohammed bin Abdullah) were underway.
The Somaliland Campaign
Carton de Wiart fought in Somaliland and was shot twice in the face, losing his left eye and a portion of his ear.
The Western Front
In February of 1915, Carton de Wiart headed to France, where he succesfully commandeered three infantry battalions and a brigade at the Western Front.
Seven more woundings
During his fighting at the Western Front, Carton de Wiart was wounded a total of seven times, the most notable being losing his left hand.
He is said to have pulled of his two remaining fingers himself when a doctor declined to remove them.
The Polish Mission
After WW1, Carton de Wiart was sent to command the British-Poland Military Mission in Poland.
The newly independant Poland desperately needed assistance as they were fighting both Soviet Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania and Czechoslovakia at this time – meaning they fought four wars at once.
The first plane crashes
During his time in Poland, Carton de Wiart primarily moved around by plane.
After crashing twice, though, he switched to move by train.
Attack by the Red Army
In 1920, when he was on an observation train, he was attacked by a group of Red cavalry, fighting them off with his revolver from the footplate of the train.
He is said to have fallen on the tracks and quickly reboarding at one point during the fight.
Loved by the Polish
After helping Poland fight off the four adversaries, Carton de Wiart was awarded a mansion with a huge estate as a thank you by the Polish leadership.
WW2
When World War 2 broke out, Carton de Wiart was nearly 60 years old.
He moved back to the UK and during the German invasion of Norway, he was on a plane in Norway, which was shot down by a German fighter.
Yugoslavia
When safely back in England, Carton de Wiart was reassigned to help Yugoslavia fight of the German invasion in 1941.
En route to Yugoslavia, his airplane suffered an engine failure, and Carton de Wiart survived his fourth plane crash.
Captured by Italy
After escaping the plane crash, Carton de Wiart was arrested by Italian forces and moved to a special prison for senior officer POW.
Escape by tunnel
Incredibly, Carton de Wiart managed to dig a tunnel over the course of seven months in captivity, and he escaped the prison.
He was recaptured, though, but was released in 1943.
The China Mission
When he arrived back in England, Carton de Wiart was sent to China as a personal representative for then PM, Winston Churchill.
His time in China was relatively un-eventful, and in 1947, Carton de Wiart retired from the military – after surviving yet another plane crash.
“I enjoyed the war”
Carton de Wiart died at the age of 83 on 5 June 1963
In his memoirs “Happy Odyssey”, Carton de Wiart wrote about WW1:
“Frankly, I had enjoyed the war.”