In Command of the British troops in Namsos area of Norway is Major-General Carton de Wiart. He was a member of a famous Belgium family, but he made the British Army his career and saw active service in the South African War and in East Africa before winning fame in the Great War he won his V.C on September 11th, 1916 at La Boisselle, near Albert. One of the more incredible figures of British military history, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is quoted as having described him thusly, “With his black eyepatch and empty sleeve, Carton De Wiart looked like an elegant pirate, and became a figure of legend.” He was wounded eight times while serving during World War I, one injury taking his left eye and another taking his left arm. He retired at age 66 and died in 1963 at the age of 83. He is pictured here, with his bristly, defiant moustache in what could almost be described as a military mugshot, in 1944.