How much Qur’aan did Khaalid ibn al-Waleed (may Allah be pleased with him) memorize?
Question

                Is it true that Khalid ibn Waleed (ra) only knew three Surah of the Quran because he was busy leading the armies of Islam? Is this recorded anywhere?.
Praise be to Allah.
      Khaalid ibn al-Waleed (may Allah be pleased with him) is 
      the knight of Islam, the Sword of Allah unsheathed against His enemies, 
      leader of great conquests who was present in many decisive battles in 
      Islamic history. He was a man of bravery, strength and courage against the 
      enemy; on the day of Mu’tah seven swords were broken in his hand, as was 
      narrated by al-Bukhaari in his Saheeh. 

    He had a great love of jihad in support of the religion of 
    Allah and to subdue the forces of evil, kufr and tyranny. Jihad distracted 
    him from all worldly preoccupations, to such an extent that he used to say: 
    “There is no night in which I was given a bride that I love that was more 
    dear to me than a night of severe cold and ice on a campaign in which I 
    attacked an enemy the following morning. Narrated by Abu Ya‘la. 

    And he (may Allah be pleased with him) said when he was 
    dying: I sought to be killed in a place where death is usually expected 
    (i.e., the battlefield) but it was decreed for me to die in my bed. There is 
    no deed of mine that gave me greater hope, after [saying] la ilaaha 
    ill-Allah, than a night that I spent with a shield in my hand and it rained 
    until morning, in preparation for raiding the kuffaar. 

    Then he said: If I die, then look at my weapons and my horse, 
    and give them (for jihad) for the sake of Allah. 

    His love for and preoccupation with this great act of worship 
    (jihad for the sake of Allah) distracted him from other acts of worship such 
    as narrating hadeeth and memorizing the Holy Qur’aan. 

    He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Jihad for the sake 
    of Allah kept me from a great deal of recitation. Narrated by Ibn Abi 
    Shaybah in al-Musannaf (4/214) and classed as saheeh by al-Haafiz ibn 
    Hajar in al-Mataalib al-‘Aaliyah (4/277); also narrated by 
    al-Haythami in Majma‘ al-Zawaa’id (9/353), 

    This preoccupation was not something blameworthy; rather it 
    was a preoccupation that brought glory to all of Islamic history and spread 
    the light of Islam throughout the world which the kaafir tyrants tried to 
    extinguish. There is nothing blameworthy in that, for “everyone is helped to 
    do that for which he was created.” Among the Sahaabah there were scholars, 
    fuqaha’, qaadis (judges), brave men, mujaahideen, those who gave in charity 
    and those who devoted themselves to worship, according to their various 
    abilities and the talents that Allah granted to them.

     It is not wise for a person to leave that which he does well 
    and excels at for something in which his achievements will be like those of 
    anyone else, or less, and in which he will not excel. 

    The words of Khaalid (may Allah be pleased with him) quoted 
    above do not mean that he did not memorize any more than three soorahs, as 
    mentioned in the question. But it does mean that he was not like the hafizes 
    and scholars such as ‘Abd-Allah ibn Mas‘ood, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b and others, 
    based on the fact that he said: “Jihad for the sake of Allah kept me from a 
    great deal of recitation,” and he did not say: “… kept me from recitation.” 
    Jihad kept him from learning a great deal, but not keep him from reciting at 
    all. 

    But stirring up such doubts and criticism about Khaalid (may 
    Allah be pleased with him) may be motivated by the fact that Khaalid was a 
    sword unsheathed against idols and false gods. Therefore, today you find the 
    enemies of Islam striving hard to undermine his character and cast 
    aspersions on his achievements, and they do not know that a sword that Allah 
    has unsheathed against the kuffaar can never be sheathed again and that this 
    great leader has become one of the symbols of courage, bravery and military 
    genius. Thus were the men around the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah 
    be upon him), beacons of action, sacrifice, nation-building, values and 
    morals. 

    We ask Allah to enable us to follow in their footsteps and 
    make us among those who follow them in truth. 

    And Allah knows best.