Hard Facts About Adrian Carton de Wiart, Britain’s Indestructible Soldier

Adrian Carton de Wiart was the one-eyed, one-handed British Army officer whose battlefield heroics defied belief—and the odds.


1. He Was Indestructible

Adrian Carton de Wiart earned the moniker “the unkillable soldier”. And, given his record, it’s easy to see why. Carton de Wiart survived shots to the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip and ear. Not to mention, a couple of plane crashes, a harrowing escape from a POW camp and a self-inflicted amputation (sans anesthesia). And that’s just the short version.

Portrait of Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Carton De Wiart

Henry Walter Barnett, Wikimedia Commons

2. He Might Have Been A Prince

Born in Brussels on May 5, 1880, Adrian Carton de Wiart was the eldest son of Léon Constant Ghislain Carton de Wiart, a prominent lawyer and magistrate, and Ernestine Wenzig. Or was he? Even before he was born, there was speculation that Carton de Wiart was, in fact, the illegitimate child of King Leopold II of the Belgians.

That might help explain what happened next.

Photograph of Lieutenant Adrian Carton de Wiart

Major Gerald Lamont, Wikimedia Commons

3. His Mother Abandoned Him

Carton de Wiart’s mother curiously fell out of the picture in 1886. Historians originally speculated that she had passed away, but later discovered that his parents had gotten a rather sudden divorce.

Shortly thereafter, Carton de Wiart moved to Cairo, Egypt with his father where he learned to speak Arabic.

As it turns out, he had big ideas for Carton de Wiart’s future—but they didn’t quite turn out as planned.

A black and white portrait of General Carton de Wiart

Oulds D C (Lt), Royal Navy, Wikimedia Commons

4. He Was Going To Be A Lawyer

Carton de Wiart’s father remarried to an Englishwoman who insisted that the little boy receive a proper British education. Without a second thought, she shipped him off to boarding school in England.

Eventually, Carton de Wiart found himself at Balliol College, Oxford, following in his father’s footsteps and preparing for a career in law.

But adventure was calling his name.

Sir Adrian Carton De Wiart posing for a photo

H. Walter Barnett, Wikimedia Commons