Friday 26 July 2013

They don't make them like this anymore!

While surfing the web I came across this entry in Wikipedia


Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963) was a British Army officer of Belgian and Irish descent. He served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War; was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear; survived a plane crash; tunnelled out of a POW camp; and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. Describing his experiences in World War I, he wrote, "Frankly I had enjoyed the war...and why do people want peace if the war is so much fun".

And this is just the first paragraph! The whole entry is worth a read.

British history used to be replete with tales of men like this, maybe their ilk has died out (not surprising given their proclivities) or maybe the world has changed so much that there is no room for men like these. If that is the case then I think we are the worse off for their loss.

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