The Unkillable Soldier

Album: The War to End All Wars (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Born into an aristocratic family in Brussels, Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart served in the Boer War, and both World Wars as a British Army officer. During the conflicts, he got shot in the face, skull, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear, lost his left eye, and tore off his own fingers when a doctor declined to amputate them. Cartin de Wiart also survived two plane crashes, tunneled out of a prisoner-of-war camp, and on one occasion, when attacked by a group of Red cavalry, he fought them off with his revolver from the footplate of his train. "Frankly, I had enjoyed the war," de Wiart said, peacefully passing away aged 83 in 1963.

    During this epic anthem, Sabaton pay tribute to the "unkillable" war hero.
  • Sabaton recorded "The Unkillable Soldier" for The War to End All Wars, a concept album that deals with the atrocities, miracles and events of World War I. "The Unkillable Soldier" finds them reflecting on de Wiart's bravery and resilience during The Great War. Under fire, over trench and wire, he suffered many injuries, but remained unbreakable.

    "The story of Sir Adrian Carton De Wiart represents Sabaton in many ways, but especially because he never gave up in spite of what was thrown against him," said bassist Pär Sundström. "We were really captured by the life of this interesting character who 'frankly enjoyed the war.'"

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