Bloody few are violinists…

A divergent aside from the grim world of terrorism.  I came across a fascinating historical eccentric British military figure.  He went by the name of Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO. Very non-PC. I’m digging into his life story, and honestly you couldn’t make it up.   Here’s some examples of his exploits:

• He enlisted in the Army as a trooper in the Boer War, and was invalided home
• He fought in British Somaliland in 1914 against the Mad Mullah
• He was wounded 11 times in battle. He was shot through the lung (in South Africa), in the eye, and ear and arm in British Somaliland, lost his left hand in 1915, biting off his fingers when a doctor declined to remove them, shot through the skull and ankle at the Somme through the hip at Passchendale through the leg at Cambrai and through the ear at Arras.
• In 1914 De Wiart was taken back to Britain where he had what was left of his left eye removed. By this point it was early 1915 and World War 1 was in full swing and De Wiart was informed that he could only go if he wore a glass eye (they didn’t want the Germans to think they forced to use one eyed officers), De Wiart agreed and as he left the Medical Board he took out his eye and threw it away.
  He won the VC and commanded three battalions and a brigade on the Western front
• He was part of the British military mission to Poland after the war and retired and settled there in the 1920’s, and illegally was gun running for the Poles with the aid of a stolen train (allegedly). He was involved in a number of escapades which included shooting marauding Russian cavalry with his pistol from the footplate of a train. He then fell off the train (but jumped back on).
• On escaping from Poland in 1939 he crossed into Romania with this terrific quote. When he got to the border the first sentry on the other side stood up and de Wiart addressed him, first in English and then in French. He said there were only three sorts of Romanians: they’re either pimps, pederasts or violinists, and bloody few are violinists….. Fortunately the Romanian sentry, thinking this was mutual regard, saluted and they passed through.
• He commanded a pretty disastrous Norwegian campaign at the start of the German invasion there.
• He was appointed head of the British military mission to Yugoslavia as the Nazis were poised to invade, but en route his transport aircraft crashed over the Med and he became a POW after swimming to shore. Despite his age and disability he set about working on an escape tunnel for seven months and tried to escape 5 times.  Once de Wiart evaded capture for eight days disguised as an Italian peasant, no mean feat considering that he was in northern Italy, did not speak Italian, and was 61 years old, with an eye patch, one empty sleeve and multiple injuries. Ironically, de Wiart had been approved for repatriation due to his disablement but notification arrived after his escape. As the repatriation would have required that he promise not to take any further part in the war it is probable that he would have declined anyway.
• By August 1943 he was back in England (long story!) and was then sent to China as Churchill’s personal representative. There’s a whole book worth of anecdotes there…
• A champagne, claret and port man, he detested whisky, liked popular music hall tunes and had no ear for classical music.
• He married a countess, had two daughters but omitted mention of any of them (and his VC) in his autobiography. His second wife was 25 years younger then him.

I think he might be the subject of my next book…. 🙂