The Carton De Wiart Society Dinner takes place to to honour Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart VC (OS 1891-8) KBE, CB, CMG, DSO - alongside his Polish, Belgian and French honours. Described in a BBC article in 2015 as 'the unkillable soldier', Carton de Wiart fought in the Boer War and in WWI, and was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest award for bravery in battle, for his actions at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

Churchill was a firm admirer of Carton de Wiart, describing him as "a model of chivalry and honour" and writing the foreword to his autobiography. De Wiart was known for his derring-do, leadership and the numerous injuries sustained in battle.  His highly entertaining memoirs of his career, Happy Odyssey, is a riveting read.

The Oratory School was honoured to host Old Oratorian Lt Col Philip Nathan, OBE (OS 1985–1990), as our guest speaker for the evening. Lt Col Nathan shared some wonderful anecdotes about his time at the school, alongside former classmate Wayne Hennesy-Barrett (OS 1985–1990), who had made the trip from Kenya to attend our event, before speaking about his time training at Sandhurst; his operational deployments to Bosnia and Macedonia, Afghanistan; his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel; and his final tour in the Iraqi Kurdish Region, advising Kurdish Security Forces on institutional reform and security operations.

On his return, he will be going back to Sandhurst for his final assignment to help run training of the next generation of Army Officers. Lt Col Nathan shared: “I am the fourth generation of my family that has served in the Armed Forces, a fact that I’m very proud of. I recently worked out that I have served for 29 years and still have three to go. I can honestly say that I have woken up almost every day for those 29 years and looked forward to going to work. Finishing my time in the Army back where it all started at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst will be a wonderful way to finish a wonderful career.”

Our Head of CCF, Lt Col Bosher, shared, "What a fantastic celebration of Carton de Wiart and the CCF! It was heartwarming to witness numerous Old Oratorians returning to reminisce and share their stories with both staff and cadets, accompanied by delightful food and excellent company. Lt Col Nathan's inspiring speech was thoroughly enjoyed by all cadets."