Written by: Sauharda Bajracharya - 26010, Grade VIII
Posted on: 09 February, 2022
There is a saying ‘Never bring a knife to a gunfight’ and well its true. You should not bring a knife to a gunfight but this didn’t stop Jack Churchill or ‘Mad Jack Churchill’ from doing so. Jack was born on 16th September, 1906 in Ceylon(Present day Srilanka). But, he spent most of his childhood in Hong Kong and England. He graduated from Royal Military College and got his first posting in 1926 in Burma(Present day Myanmar).
After 10 years of serving, he resigned and searched for another job. He worked as a newspaper editor in Kenya, worked as a model and even acted in Hollywood. In 1938, He won a prestigious bagpiping competition and won Archery World Championships in 1939. But, when Britain and France declared war on Germany in 1939, he was sent to France as a part of the British army. One day, he and his men were in a small village, when a lookout spotted a German army patrol heading towards them, he ordered his men to take firing positions and start firing when he gave a signal. Jack was camping in a tower in the village and waited till the last moment and then stood, raised his weapon and fired at the man leading the army hitting him on the chest, not with his gun but with a longbow. Jack’s men started firing at the Germans, meanwhile Jack threw his long bow and sprinted towards the Germans with his broadsword. The reason why Jack used a broadsword and a longbow instead of guns are unknown but he always told his soldiers, “Any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.”
After the success of the ambush, Jack went to Scotland to carry out a mission called ‘Mission Archery’. The target was in Vagsoy, Norway. Jack placed himself in the very first landing craft and he was fearless. But, he always carried an odd thing when he went to fight. It was a bagpipe. He played the bagpipe and then took out his broadsword and ran into the enemy line. The Germans were defeated in just hours. He along with his corporal once captured a whole tower with 50 Germans using just a sword and a bow. The two captured a whole tower without firing a single bullet. Jack’s next attack was in Brac(Present day Croatia) and his plan was to surprise the enemies with a sudden ambush. Jack led the war playing his bagpipe, but only 6 made it up to the hill. With enemies firing from every side, the 6 started dropping like flies and Jack was the only one left. There was nothing he could do, so he took his bagpipe and played it on the top of his lungs. It was a mortar round that almost killed him, he was surrounded by German troops who were ordered to shoot him then and there. But, it was pure luck that saved him. The president of the UK at that time was Winston Churchill and the Germans thought that Jack Churchill was the British Prime Minister’s nephew. And as a result, Jack was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp but he escaped the concentration camp but was captured again and this time, he was sent to Dachau concentration camp. The war was almost over and the security at the camp was not good, so he escaped once again. He hiked along the mountains and reached Italy where he was saved by Americans.
Jack got sent back to Burma to fight with the Japanese. But by the time he arrived, Americans had exploded a nuclear bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the war had officially been over. Jack lived until the age of 89 and passed away on 8th March, 1996.
