The autobiography of Adrian Carton de Wiart is one of the most remarkable military memoirs. Son of the Belgian lawyer Leon Constant Ghislain Carton de Wiart (1854-1915), he was forced to abandon his legal studies at Balliol College, Oxford, in 1899 to serve as a soldier in the South African War. His military career was noteworthy, including service with the Somaliland Camel Corps (1914-15), as a liaison with Polish forces (1939), a member of the British Military Mission to Yugoslavia (1941), as well as a period of captivity (1941-43). From 1943 to 1946, he served as Churchill's representative to Chiang Kai-shek. During the First World War, in addition to commanding the 8th Gloucesters, he served as GOC of the 12th Brigade (1917) and GOC of the 105th Brigade (April 1918), with these commands ending due to injuries. Carton de Wiart was wounded eight times during the war, including the loss of an eye and a hand, won the VC at the Battle of the Somme, and was mentioned in dispatches six times. He was also the model for Brigadier Ben Ritchie Hook in Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy.