Carton de Wiart, General Sir Adrian, 1880-1963

A winner of the Victoria Cross in World War I in which he was nine times wounded and lost a hand and an eye, Carton de Wiart was one of the most striking figures in the British Army. He is alleged to have provided the model for the flamboyant Ritchie-Hook in Evelyn Waugh’s famous war novel, Men At Arms. He commanded the Central Norwegian Expeditionary Force in 1940, was taken prisoner in the Western Desert in 1941, was repatriated in 1943 for medical reasons and employed for the rest of the war as special representative to CHIANG Kai-shek by Winston CHURCHILL of whom he was a special favorite.