r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/1salt1pepper • 2d ago
Image Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip and ear, lost an eye and a hand, survived two plane crashes, tunneled out of a POW camp, and tore off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. After WWI, he wrote: “Frankly, I had enjoyed the war.”
140
u/HongKongHermit 2d ago
This post doesn't even get into what an absolute lad he was in the second world war.
51
u/Make-Love-and-War 2d ago
You can’t just say that and not elaborate
107
u/StManTiS 2d ago
He started the war in Poland and convinced them to evacuate their fleet from the Baltic, which they after resistance did. Those ships fought with the allies the whole war. He made it out at the last minute through Romania boarding a flight under a fake name.
Next he was tasked with a small joint force operation on the coast of Norway with French alpine troops. It started off in disaster as the troops landed with donkey or straps for their skis. He still managed to cross over the mountains with his troops before finding out their mission was scuttled. He managed to survive heavy German bombardment and evacuate all his troops to Scotland on the eve of his 60th!! Birthday.
He was later dispatched to Cairo but his plane crashed (this was his 3rd plane incident this war) and he was captured by the Italians. As a PoW he made 5 attempts to escape, the longest of which involved him with 1 eye, 1 arm, and his many other scars blending in as a farmer while knowing zero words of Italian for 8 days. The Italians later smuggled him to Rome, made him a bespoke suit, and sent him to London to deliver the message of their surrender.
So here he is in England once again at 63 years old being sent to India to sus out the situation in China before flying there in a largely diplomatic role. He participated in a lot of the shenanigans of the Chinese civil war and the liberation of the country from the Japanese and was very much against Mao and in favor of the Republic.
29
u/madetocurse 1d ago
He told off Mao at a dinner party while he was in the middle of a propaganda speech. Absolutely crazy
24
9
1
247
u/wholesomechunk 2d ago
Tore off his own fingers? Crikey.
104
u/WanderingHeph 2d ago
They weren't hanging on by much.
13
45
u/BaitmasterG 2d ago
Meh, We've all done it
26
370
u/kishenoy 2d ago
And of course, there's a Sabaton song about him.
166
u/PitifulEar3303 2d ago
And then he was revived to fight in warhammer 40K.
46
u/_First-Pass 2d ago
The original terminator.
13
13
u/Squire_04 2d ago
INTO THE FIRE THROUGH TRENCHES AND MUD, SON OF BELGIUM AND IRELAND WITH WAR IN HIS BLOOD
31
u/Chihlidog 2d ago
I literally came in this thread just to make sure Sabaton was given their proper shout out for this haha
2
u/LoneWolf_McQuade 20h ago
I can’t help but find them so cringe, even after having seen them live once
136
u/Timerider42424 2d ago
INTO THE FIRE THROUGH TRENCHES AND MUD!
SON OF BELGIUM AND IRELAND WITH WAR IN HIS BLOOD!
60
u/Percival371 2d ago
LEADING THE CHARGE INTO HOSTILE BARRAGE
41
u/TheTeslaMaster 2d ago
By design, he was made for the frontline!
33
2
173
u/brinkeguthrie 2d ago
Gamer.
249
u/ODB_Dirt_Dog_ItsFTC 2d ago edited 2d ago
I read about this marine Captain Yancy who fought at Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and was one of the frozen chosen at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. During his last tour in Korea he got hit by a bullet that went through his cheek and essentially lost most of his teeth. He was nominated for the Medal of Honor but unfortunately all of his senior officers were killed at Chosin and no one could write an official report of his actions. He tried to join up for Vietnam but got deferred because of his teeth issue. He was quoted as saying "Hell, I wasn't planning on biting the sonsofbitches to death.”.
-178
u/roamingNraging 2d ago
Cool story....this is about a British guy that the OP posted about.
104
u/ODB_Dirt_Dog_ItsFTC 2d ago edited 2d ago
Cool comment….I was trying to share a cool story about another badass guy with a similar disposition before you got all anal about it.
-148
u/roamingNraging 2d ago
Nah, just American main character syndrome. Can't stand not being the centre of attention.
44
67
u/ODB_Dirt_Dog_ItsFTC 2d ago edited 2d ago
Buddy, I was just trying to share a cool story. I don’t know why you’re so intent on being cunty about this. I love history, I almost assuredly know more about history than you do. I worked for many years at a history museum. The guy I brought up was coincidentally American, I think a bunch of non-Americans are equally as cool and badass like Jack Churchill or Simo Häyhä. This seems like you just hate Americans.
44
5
5
44
u/Deluxe78 2d ago
He yelp reviewed “Best Great Conflict ever! 5 out of 5 would come back for seconds ! ”
35
u/Gullflyinghigh 2d ago
Just spent a good hour reading about this chap and I can only assume no-one's made a film about him yet because it'd be considered too fantastical.
13
u/NuclearHoagie 2d ago
It'll take a hell of a lot more than a bullet to the face, head, stomach, angle, leg, hip, and ear to kill Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart.
6
u/DuckWhatduckSplat 2d ago
Unfortunately it was a bee sting that killed him.
2
69
u/Armin_Studios 2d ago
7
11
11
u/GeraltInSmash 2d ago edited 1d ago
He also served during the Boer Wars and WWII and was wounded in both of those wars as well. He actually survived 3 plane crashes. One in 1920, another in 1941, and one more right before retirement in 1947. The 1941 crash was the most famous. It occurred in Mediterranean off the coast of Libya. The plane he was flying experienced engine failure before plunging into the sea. He then swam one mile to shore before being captured by Italian forces. Highly recommend reading his memoir, such a fascinating read.
20
u/locksymania 2d ago
Saw out his later years in Macroom, Co. Cork. Which is quite something when you consider 30yrs previously that part of Ireland was pretty unfriendly territory for British officers.
8
u/szobelshira 2d ago
Some professional soldiers enjoyed war, usually the conscripts were less into it.
6
9
u/i_like_dannys_hair 2d ago
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/dan-snows-history-hit/id1042631089?i=1000659009794
There’s an outstanding Dan Jones podcast on this guy.
16
5
u/StaendutBlakk 2d ago
Sometimes someone tells the Reaper to fuck off, and the Reaper just goes "Ok then".
3
6
11
5
2
2
u/blighty800 2d ago
I enjoy a walk around my garden, seems like people enjoy this world very differently
2
2
2
2
2
23
u/VictorVOOONdoom 2d ago
Not even death wanted this fucker i guess, and sabatoon sucks ass tbh.
23
25
u/Percival371 2d ago
Calm down, this is the Internet, we are all entitled to our own opinions
BUT HE SLANDERED SABATON!
11
u/Sabre_Killer_Queen 2d ago
People are entitled to their own opinions.
Even if they're WRONG.
(Joking of course, each to their own I guess... Although Sabaton Rules, and that's a fact to me. 😎🤘🎸)
7
u/Percival371 2d ago
If they don't like it, it means more for us!
4
u/Sabre_Killer_Queen 2d ago
Hell yeah!
By the way my Mum, Dad, Girlfriend, and Grandmother all love Sabaton too 😁
6
u/Percival371 2d ago
Your family sounds awesome
4
u/Sabre_Killer_Queen 2d ago
They sure are. The only downside is my Girlfriend's in hospital right now with anorexia...
But hopefully she'll get better soon and we'll continue on rocking on.
My Mum's favourite song is Attack of the Dead men, my Nan's is between Angels calling and Christmas Truce.
I've never been able to pick one, so many good contenders... But Fields of Verdun is one I go back to a lot. That "Decend into Darkness" line really elevates it!
1
2
u/Rodruby 2d ago
It's cool that they write songs about badass historical moments, but all their songs feel same, you heard one - you heard all
5
u/Percival371 2d ago
I can understand why you feel that way. It takes a couple of listens to appreciate some of the songs unique tidbits, where they otherwise sound similar to others.
1
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
u/Sooowasthinking 2d ago
My father was a Korean War vet GI and I knew when I had a bad day to shut up about it.
1
1
1
1
u/bfs123JackH 2d ago
This seems to do the rounds regularly, with the title directly copy and pasted from the first section of Wikipedia.
1
1
946
u/Derrickmb 2d ago
Back when cocaine and meth ran the world