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The Invincible Soldier Who Would Not Die · Be Amazed

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Meet Adrian Carton to Wired, the soldier who fought in three major wars during his ludicrous lifetime.
• 0:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: But that only scratches the surface of this soldier's crazy life story.
• 0:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: This guy endured everything, from getting shot in the head to surviving five plane crashes, and even escaping out of a high security Italian prison.
• 0:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: So get your helmets and combat boots on as we uncover
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right, what better way to kick things off than right at the beginning of the wires in sane life?
• 0:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: All the way back in 1880, Little Baby Adrian was born in Brussels, Belgium.
• 0:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: The son of Leon Constant, Gisland, Carton Do Wear, and Ernestine Wenzig, this soon to be soldier was born into a life of lavish luxury.
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: He spent his early days in Belgium and England and life seemed destined to treat him gently.
• 1:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: But sadly for him, the good times wouldn't last.
• 1:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: When Adrian was just six years old, his mother passed away.
• 1:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: In the wake of their loss, Leon upsticks and moved the family to Cairo, Egypt.
• 1:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Leon was a successful lawyer and his career went from strength to strength while stationed in Cairo.
• 1:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sadly, things weren't going so well for Adrian, he was often ill.
• 1:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even when he wasn't sick, Adrian struggled with life in Egypt, later saying he was too lonely to be happy.
• 1:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: That change when Adrian was 11 as his father shipped him off to a school in Birmingham, England.
• 1:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: At first it was tough for the youngster, the food was bad, the discipline was strict, and he was frequently bullied simply for being a foreigner.
• 1:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Adrian Carton devired, however, was no ordinary kid.
• 2:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: While others may've buckled heat persevered, eventually winning his classmates over thanks to his super sporting ability.
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: By the time he was 17, Adrian would continue his educational journey, this time attending the prestigious Oxford University, with his father having aspirations of his son, following him in a career of law.
• 2:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yet despite his father's hopes, Adrian struggled at Oxford failing his exams.
• 2:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Realizing university life wasn't right for him, he felt a strong urge to take his life down a much older path.
• 2:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: The life of lectures and libraries couldn't satisfy him, he had a restless energy and craving for adventure.
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Adrian wanted a life of danger.
• 2:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: He wanted war.
• 2:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Fortunately for Adrian, he wouldn't have to wait long to get his wish.
• 2:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 1899, trouble was brewing in South Africa.
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: In October of that year, the second-born war broke out.
• 3:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: The conflict was between the British Empire and the South African Republic and Orange Free State over Britain's influence in Southern Africa.
• 3:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: At that moment, I knew that war was in my blood, I didn't know why the war had started, and I didn't care on which side I was to fight.
• 3:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: If the British didn't fancy me, I would offer myself to the boars.
• 3:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's right.
• 3:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: This eager beaver was so keen to fight.
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't even care what side he was fighting on.
• 3:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Still, despite his enthusiasm getting to the battlefield wouldn't be a simple task.
• 3:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: For starters, his father wanting his son to follow his path and become a lawyer would be furious if he found out Adrian had intentions of becoming a soldier.
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then there was the matter of enlisting.
• 3:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: From the British side he was ineligible, not only was Adrian too young to join the British Army, he was also Belgian, not British.
• 4:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Still undeterred by those obstacles Adrian was determined to make his dream a reality.
• 4:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: That desperation led to him enlisting under a false identity and age.
• 4:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Clearly, the British recruiter didn't look twice giving the go ahead for Adrian's Dispatchment to South Africa.
• 4:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Soon, Adrian's fighting fantasy would become reality.
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Following a brief crash course in combat training in South Africa, Adrian was thrust into the action.
• 4:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: One fateful day, he and a few other British soldiers were attempting to cross a river when all hell broke loose.
• 4:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Super stealthy as the Brits thought they were being, they were quickly spotted and fired upon by a group of bore soldiers.
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Adrian was shot twice with the bullets wounding his stomach and groin.
• 4:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Somehow, he survived the ordeal and his comrades dragged him to safety.
• 4:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: But survival came at a cost.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: When Adrian was whisked away to a military hospital, his false identity had been rumble.
• 5:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even worse, he was sent back to England to recover from his injuries, where he'd have to face the wrath of his furious father who'd be notified of his son's army activity.
• 5:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Fortunately for Adrian, his father was surprisingly sympathetic.
• 5:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when he eventually recovered from his injuries, he even received the blessing of his father to return back to South Africa.
• 5:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: So in 1901, Adrian decided to quit Oxford for good and returned to the fighting in South Africa.
• 5:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: After rejoining a cavalry regiment, Adrian was soon promoted to the position of Corporal.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: But the promotion wouldn't last long.
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just 24 hours later, he was demoted again after threatening to hit a sergeant.
• 5:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: But that was about as fiery as things got for him.
• 5:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: In the following months, Adrian suffered from a lack of military action all the way until the end of the Second World War in May 1902.
• 5:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: After the war had finished, Adrian was transferred to India.
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Annoyingly, for the young soldier, his stay was largely peaceful and uneventful.
• 6:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, except for one hair-raising hobby that he discovered.
• 6:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: The wired kept himself entertained by pig sticking, which, if you're wondering, consisted of writers on horseback, hunting down wild boar with spears.
• 6:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: On one occasion, he pigsticked a little too ferociously falling from his horse, cracking several of his ribs and spraining an ankle in the process.
• 6:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even in peacetime, this guy lived life on the edge.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: By 1904, Adrian found himself stationed in South Africa once again, but this time with the second-born war over, there was no battle for him to sink his teeth into.
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: And as the years passed, the prospect of war wasn't becoming any more apparent, that's not to say the former Oxford student was having a bad time though.
• 6:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 1907, after having served in the British Army for eight years, the Belgian-born soldier became formally naturalized as a British subject.
• 6:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: A year later, he married Austrian Countess, Friederika Maria, Carolina, Henriette, Rosa Sabina, Franziska, Fugher, Vaughn, Bob and Housing.
• 7:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: easy for me to say.
• 7:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Luckily for Adrian, this life of bliss would soon come to an abrupt halt.
• 7:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 1914 World War I broke out, as a result, thousands of British soldiers were shipped out to fight on the trench-ridden frontlines in France and Belgium.
• 7:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: You'd presume Adrian would be front in center of the action, but no.
• 7:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, he was stationed halfway across the world in Somali land, found in modern-day Somalia, to find a fierce guerrilla army headed by a much-feared ruler known as the Madmulla.
• 7:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not that Adrian was one bit scared, as long as guns and fighting were involved, he was there.
• 7:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Adrian was assigned a squadron of the Somali land camel corps, yep, he really wrote a camel into battle.
• 7:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: His unit were tasked with storming an enemy fort in the mountains of Somali land.
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: No doubt Adrian speedily rode on a head, yet he'd soon be stopped in his tracks.
• 8:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: The fort was well-defended and as the weird charge forward, he was shot by the enemy.
• 8:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Adrian was shot in the eye, but incredibly stirred on by excitement, he kept charging.
• 8:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: But as he pressed forward, another bullet hit him in the elbow, shattering his bone.
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Still, Adrian refused to falter.
• 8:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then came a third shot this time tearing through his ear, splitting it clean in two.
• 8:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ouch!
• 8:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: After getting patched up by a nearby medic, Adrian, who was now bandaged, bloody, and barely able to see, made yet another charge for the four.
• 8:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you can see where this is going, can't you?
• 8:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: A ricochet from a bullet went through the already damaged eye once again.
• 8:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Soon after the British forces retreated, you'd presume Adrian would be cursing his luck at all his horrendous injuries, but then you'd be forgetting what kind of crazed soldier he was.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Writing later in memoirs, the YR said, hit it all been the most exhilarating fun.
• 9:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Who knew getting shot in the elbow ear and twice in the eye could be fun?
• 9:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: As much fun as Adrian was having, he was in a bad way and sent back to England to recover.
• 9:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Here he hoped not for rest but to be reassigned to service this time to fight in World War I.
• 9:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Army's Medical Commission agreed on one condition.
• 9:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: To avoid the embarrassment of sending a half-blind soldier back into battle, they insisted Adrian wear a glass eye.
• 9:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Desperate to get back into action, Adrian immediately agreed, but the fake eye didn't last long.
• 9:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Writing in a taxi through the streets of London, Adrian found the prosthetic so uncomfortable he janked it from his socket and hurled it out the window.
• 9:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: With the glass eye gone, Adrian adopted the iconic black eye patch that would come to define his daring courageous image.
• 9:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, in February, 1915, Adrian got his chance to fight in the heart of the action in World War I.
• 10:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: That month, Adrian boarded a steamer bound for northern France, eager to throw himself into the action.
• 10:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Once there, he joined the fourth royal Irish Dragoon guards, a cavalry regiment stationed along the western front.
• 10:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: His first major involvement came two months later during the second battle of Heeper,
• 10:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: While marching to relieve an infantry unit, his regiment came under ferocious fire from German artillery.
• 10:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: A combination of shell fragments and exploded parts of his own wristwatch completely mutilated W.Arts left hand.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: It seemed like every battle this sorry soldier fought in, he got hurt.
• 10:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: So bad was this particular wound, and I warn you this is grizzly, he was left with only
• 10:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: If that wasn't grotesque enough, a field medic refused to amputate Adrian's remaining fingers.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So what did this madman do?
• 11:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: He pulled his remaining fingers off himself feeling absolutely no pain in doing it.
• 11:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Given the seriousness of his injury, Adrian could have easily ever requested to be repatriated back to Britain, where he'd be allowed to live a quiet life away from the fearsome war.
• 11:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: But Adrian was just getting started.
• 11:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: After all, you can't spell the weird without war.
• 11:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: By December 1915, Adrian's left hand was amputated.
• 11:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Incredibly, this ferocious fighter was out of hospital in three weeks, hoping to return to France as soon as possible.
• 11:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: And return he did, this time taking part in the Battle of the Song.
• 11:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Despite having just one eye in one arm, Adrian struck fear into the hearts of his enemies and inspired all among his comrades.
• 11:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Soldiers even reported seeing him tearing the pins out of grenades with his teeth before throwing them into enemy territory with his one hand.
• 11:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Man, even the Terminator would be intimidated by this guy, but he didn't just excel in looking hard as nails, he was also an extremely skilled and brave fighter too.
• 12:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: During an enemy assault on the occupied village of Lebo Azel, three unit commanders were shot down in rapid succession.
• 12:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: With defeat looking certain, Adrian took command of not one, not two, but all three units.
• 12:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: With no access to field radios or telephones to communicate between lines, Adrian decided he'd be the messenger, running back and forth among the three units to relay his orders, dodging bullets and shells that were raining down onto no man's land in the process.
• 12:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Somehow Adrian and his men managed to hold back the advancing Germans, his courageous actor earned him the Victoria Cross, the highest military award in the British Army.
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Unsurprisingly, Adrian couldn't get enough of the thrills of war.
• 12:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: After his heroics at Le Boiselle, the VR continued to charge headfirst from battle to battle until he narrowly escaped yet another near-death experience.
• 13:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: This time while fighting in the trenches of Delville Wood, he was shot in the back of the head by an enemy sniper.
• 13:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: How a sniper got behind British lines as anyone's guess, but the shot should have been fatal.
• 13:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, fatal for mere mortals like you and me.
• 13:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: not for the invincible Adrian.
• 13:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: The bullet managed to miss his brain in spinal cord and Adrian just shrugged it off like it was a minor grace.
• 13:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: By the time World War I was over in 1918, Adrian's body was full of wounds and shrapnel.
• 13:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Following his miraculous escape at Delville Wood, this super soldier would be shot in the ankle, hip, leg, and ear.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: No doubt enemy soldiers would have thought this guy was invincible.
• 13:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: If the wired reputation wasn't already fierce enough, he later remarked, frankly, I had enjoyed the war.
• 13:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: She did nothing phase this man.
• 13:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: For most soldiers, the end of the first world war was massively celebrated.
• 13:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Finally, after four long years of trudging through muddy trenches dodging bullets and clinging to life, they could finally return home to their family.
• 14:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: For Adrian, the end of the war wasn't a blessing, it was a curse.
• 14:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Peestime meant there were no exhilarating battles he could sink his teeth into, luckily for him, after World War I there were still plenty of conflicts taking place around Europe.
• 14:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And surprise, by 1919, Adrian was back doing what he loved after being assigned to Poland as a military advisor for the country.
• 14:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Over the next two years, the country would be at war with Soviet Russia, Czechoslovakia,
• 14:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: No doubt Adrian would have been like a kid in a candy shop.
• 14:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: The same year he arrived in Poland, Adrian's legendary streak of death-defying close calls continued.
• 14:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: He survived not one, but two, playing crashes.
• 14:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yet they wouldn't be the only form of transportation he'd have trouble with.
• 14:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: By 1920 he was getting closer to the front line as the war with Russia intensified.
• 15:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: One day as he was aboard an observation train, his unit came under attack by an enemy cavalry charge intent on hijacking the vehicle.
• 15:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Adrian with his one-good hand fired his revolver at the charge, repelling the attackers.
• 15:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Amid the carnage, he even fell off of the moving train before quickly leaping back on, revolver still blazing, until the train escaped the cavalry charge.
• 15:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: James Bond take notes.
• 15:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: After victory in the Polish Wars Adrian decided that was about enough action for one lifetime, retiring from military duty in 1923 at the age of 43.
• 15:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: For the next 16 years Adrian lived a life of luxury, staying in a large estate in Eastern Poland.
• 15:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: But as fate would have it, peace wasn't something Adrian was destined to know for long.
• 15:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 1939, the Storm Clouds of War gathered once again, this time, it was World War II.
• 15:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Without any hesitation, Old Adrian decided to dust off his military uniform and charge into battle one more time.
• 16:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Using a fake passport, Adrian returned to the UK, where he re-enlisted.
• 16:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: By this point, he was 61 years young with one eye and one hand.
• 16:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not that that put any doubt in his mind.
• 16:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: The weird got his first piece of action during the German invasion of Norway, tasked with leading an Allied force to take the city of Tronheim to halt the German assault, the weird was flown into Scandinavia by seaplane.
• 16:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, the aircraft was forced to crash land after it was attacked by a German fighter plane, and true Adrian style he refused to board a rubber dingy to shore, convinced it would make him a sitting duck.
• 16:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, he waited in the wreckage until the enemy claimed literally, ran out of ammunition and flew off.
• 16:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Despite the hairy start under Devyard's leadership, his forces managed to traverse over mountains, eventually reaching Trondheim.
• 16:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, and this is all while they were being bombarded by German fighter planes, endured artillery strikes from the German Navy, and fought off German ski troops.
• 17:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: It quickly became apparent that the whole Norwegian campaign was becoming a disaster.
• 17:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, through sheer grit and determination, to wear and his forces held their ground until a naval force arrived to evacuate them.
• 17:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Adrian arrived back in England on his 60th birthday.
• 17:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: No doubt the Steely Soldier's birthday wish was to get back into the action.
• 17:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: His wish quickly came true when in April 1941 Yugoslavia fearing a German invasion asked for British help.
• 17:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Adrian was appointed as head of the British Yugoslavian military mission.
• 17:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was his job to negotiate with the Yugoslavian government and organize Allied support.
• 17:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, Adrian would never reach his destination.
• 17:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: After the plane he was aboard refueled in Malta, it was sent crashing down, yet again.
• 17:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: But this time it wasn't down to the enemy.
• 17:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, both the engine spaled, sending the aircraft plummeting down into the Mediterranean Sea.
• 18:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: As the plane knows dive down onto the sea, Adrian was knocked unconscious.
• 18:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thankfully for him, the cold water quickly woke him up.
• 18:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even more good news, the plane was only around a mile from shore, so he roused what strength he had before swimming to shore.
• 18:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: If that wasn't impressive enough on its own, he even pulled an injured comrades to shore with him in the process.
• 18:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: And don't forget, he did all that at the ripe old age of 61, with one hand and one eye.
• 18:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Despite the Herkulean effort that we are in space dropped as soon as he reached the shore.
• 18:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: He arrived at the coast of Italian controlled Libya and enemy of the Allies.
• 18:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Within an instant he was captured by the Italians, Adrian was transported to the Uber High Security, Ben Cigliata Castle, and Florence Italy, where 12 other high-ranking senior officers were held prisoner, essentially it was like a retirement home.
• 18:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Before long, Adrian and some of his fellow prisoners started getting twitchy and became determined to escape out of Ventiliatta Castle.
• 19:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Starting in September 1942, six prisoners, including Do We Art, took it in turns to tunnel down in four-hour shifts per day.
• 19:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: The work was boring and tiring, especially for those with one hand, but they managed to evade detection.
• 19:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Finally, six months later, the 60-foot deep tunnel was complete.
• 19:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: On the evening of 29th March 1943, the men crawled their way under and out of the Vincigliata Castle.
• 19:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Miraculously, all six prisoners made it out.
• 19:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Talk about a greatest game.
• 19:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: The plan was to escape far away from the castle and avoid detection by dressing like Italian peasants.
• 19:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: While that sounds great on paper, I'm not sure how well a pale, old, eye patch wearing non-attalion speaking amputee will blend into the background.
• 19:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: In fairness, Adrian did manage to evade being detected for eight days, until he was finally uncovered around 50 miles north of Vincigliata Castle.
• 20:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just surprised he lasted eight days before his cover was blown.
• 20:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Though Adrian was swiftly taken back to prison, freedom would soon follow.
• 20:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: In July 1943, the Italians were secretly negotiating their surrender with the allies, so they decided to take Adrian out of prison to help them out.
• 20:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was secretly flown out to Lisbon with Italian negotiator General's annuci, where a deal was struck, Italy had surrendered, and the weird was free to return to England.
• 20:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yet there'd be no respite for old Adrian, only a month after his return British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent him out to China for a diplomatic mission to improve relations between the countries.
• 20:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: For some strange reason Adrian's plane didn't crash when making this particular voyage.
• 20:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Stranger still compared to his previous escapades, his time in China was relatively calm.
• 20:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Though he wasn't getting shot in the back of the head or hauling a stricken camera through the Mediterranean Sea, Adrian continued to demonstrate his trademark brand of downright, dangerous bravery.
• 21:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: For instance, during a formal dinner, Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party and future leader of the People's Republic of China, was giving a lengthy speech.
• 21:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Adrian, not giving it a second thought, interrupted Mao, criticizing China's military operations against Japan.
• 21:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not the wisest thing to say to the most powerful man in the country, don't you think?
• 21:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mao was stunned into silence before bursting out laughing.
• 21:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, let's just say that could have ended very differently for Loudmouth, Adrian.
• 21:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 1945, the Second World War ended, and after staying in China for two more years surviving yet another plane crash along the way, Adrian cartoned the way are, finally decided to hang up his combat uniform for good.
• 21:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: At the grand old age of 66, the one-eyed, one-handed war legend announced his retirement.
• 22:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: But even after stepping down as a soldier, Adrian couldn't help but get himself into another startling situation.
• 22:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: On his way back to England, he paid visit to a friend living in nearby Burma, while walking downstairs, Adrian slipped, falling down the stairs, breaking several vertebrae and knocking himself unconscious in the process.
• 22:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't all bad news though, doctors who treated his spine also reportedly found and removed large amounts of shrapnel that he'd accumulated from his many wounds over the years.
• 22:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jeez, this guy sounds truly metal, and more ways than one.
• 22:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Following his recovery, Adrian returned home before settling down in a larger state with his second wife, Joan Sutherland in Cork, Ireland.
• 22:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: He'd spend the next year's writing his memoirs hunting, fishing, and making sure his substantial collection of metals were squeaky clean.
• 22:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Though he somehow managed to dodge death his entire life, Adrian's time did finally come in 1963 at the age of 83 at his home in Ireland.
• 23:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: The soldier may have passed, but there's no doubt his legacy continues to live on over 60 years after his death.
• 23:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Whether it's charging into battle without a second thought surviving being shot in the eye, ear, hand-stomach, groin and head.
• 23:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: or even escaping from a high security Italian prison, Adrian's life story shows that with determination, courage and a little bit of madness, absolutely anything is possible.
• 23:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that rounds up the frankly insane story of Adrian Carten, Do Weird.
• 23:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Which bit of the invincible soldiers liked did you find most jaw dropping?
• 23:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let me know in the comments if the platform allows it and thanks for listening.
• 23:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're the best, you're the best, you're the best.