Adrian Carton De Wiart

From Alf Askin's research notes

Reproduced as Alf wrote it, c. 2000–2005. Spelling and abbreviations are his own.

CARTON de WIART, Adrian. ( Reg No. 191).

Lieutenant Colonel. 4th Dragoon Guards. (Royal Irish) attached to, and Commanding, the 8th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment .

London Gazetted on 9th September 1916.

Born on 5th May 1880 in Brussels, Belgium.

Died on 5th June 1963 at Killinardrish, County Cork, Ireland.

Memorial not known.

Digest of Citation reads: On 2nd/3rd July 1916 at La Boiselle, France, Lieutenant Colonel Carton de Wiart's dauntless courage and inspiration averted what could have been a serious reverse. He displayed the utmost energy in forcing the attack home and after three other battalion commanders had become casualties, he controlled their commands and made sure that the ground was held at all costs. In organising the positions to be held, he exposed himself fearlessly to enemy fire. He was wounded eight times* during the course of the First World War.

*These wounds included the loss of an eye and his left hand.

Additional information:. Lt. General Carton-de-Wiart was a Knight of the British Empire (KBE); Companion of (the Order of) the Bath (CB); a Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG); the Distinguished Service Order(DSO); the Croix d'Officier de la Couronne,(Belgium); the Croix de Guerre(Belgium);the Croix de Guerre(France); Legion de Honneur (France);the Polish Cross of Valour. He commanded the British Military Mission to Poland 1918-1924. He served with the Polish army and the Central Norwegian Expeditionary Force in World War Two. He was taken prisoner en route to his appointment with the Military Mission to Yugoslavia in 1941. On his release from being a prisoner-of-war he helped negotiate the Italian surrender in 1943. After which he then went to be the Military Representative with General Chiang Kai-Shek. He was the author of the book, Happy Odyssey