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Mad Jack Churchill soldier (2 photos)
Lt. Col. Jack Churchill (John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming «Jack» Churchill, 16 September 1906 - 8 March 1996), nicknamed "Soldier Jack Churchill" and "Mad Jack", was the most frostbitten British soldiers who fought during the Second World War. Jack went to fight armed with bow and arrows and a short Scottish broadsword.
In May 1940, Churchill and his division of the Manchester Regiment attacked a German patrol near L'Epinette, France. Churchill gave the signal for the attack, shot and killed a German sergeant from the bow went into the history of the Second World War as the only British soldier who shot an enemy with an arrow. After the Battle of Dunkirk, Jack volunteered in Commandos, not even imagining what a unit of Commando. Its just interested intimidating name.
Churchill was the second commander of the commando raid "Archery" - operations of special units of the British armed forces on the captured German Norwegian island of Vågsøy December 27, 1941. Churchill first jumped out of the ambush, and bravely played a tune on the bagpipes before throw a grenade. For his heroism, Churchill received the Military Cross.
During the fighting in Italy, the company of Churchill was tasked to capture the town Pegoletti. Realizing that his soldiers would not be able to get close to the Nazis unnoticed, Jack goes on a risky step, which can be called pure adventure. Waiting for darkness, he built several soldiers in ranks and gave the command to attack. At the same time they had to scream at the top of - "Commandos !!!" trick failed - surprise the Germans were confused and were successfully captured in an amount of about 130 people.
In 1944, he led the Commandos in Yugoslavia. In May, he was ordered to attack the Germans controlled the island of Brac ?? .. He organized a motley army of 1,500 partisans and 43 commandos. Bagpipe Churchill gave the signal to engage the enemy. Only Churchill and six managed to reach the goal. Under mortar fire, killing all his colleagues, but Churchill, continued to play the bagpipes, "Do not you will not come back?". In the end, it threw grenades and unconscious captured. When Churchill was taken to the German capital, he managed to set fire to the Luftwaffe aircraft using scraps of paper and a candle candle. After Berlin, Jack was in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where immediately fled, managed to get to Rostock, but was again arrested and sent to Austria. From the Austrian camp Churchill escaped again, using minute malfunction in the electrical lighting system, and this time successfully reached the Allies liberated Italy, marched 150 miles from one rusty can of onions as food.
Jack Churchill (right) conducts exercises Landing. In his right hand he holds a sword.
The war in Europe ended. "If it were not for those damn Yanks, we could have a fun fight another 10 years!" Lamented Jack - "Well, again, there were also Japanese!».
However, here again luck was against Mad Jack. His fight flown to Burma, but then surrendered and Tokyo. Lieutenant Colonel Churchill responded to this as follows: "Well, as the Japanese I cheated, our team went to war with the Indonesians».
After the war, Mad Jack Churchill acted in films, retrained from a commando paratroopers and finished his service in 1959, having more to war in Palestine, the Jewish Haganah and Arab radicals.
It remains to add that Mad Jack died at his home in Surrey in 1996, at age 89, leaving behind two sons.
In May 1940, Churchill and his division of the Manchester Regiment attacked a German patrol near L'Epinette, France. Churchill gave the signal for the attack, shot and killed a German sergeant from the bow went into the history of the Second World War as the only British soldier who shot an enemy with an arrow. After the Battle of Dunkirk, Jack volunteered in Commandos, not even imagining what a unit of Commando. Its just interested intimidating name.
Churchill was the second commander of the commando raid "Archery" - operations of special units of the British armed forces on the captured German Norwegian island of Vågsøy December 27, 1941. Churchill first jumped out of the ambush, and bravely played a tune on the bagpipes before throw a grenade. For his heroism, Churchill received the Military Cross.
During the fighting in Italy, the company of Churchill was tasked to capture the town Pegoletti. Realizing that his soldiers would not be able to get close to the Nazis unnoticed, Jack goes on a risky step, which can be called pure adventure. Waiting for darkness, he built several soldiers in ranks and gave the command to attack. At the same time they had to scream at the top of - "Commandos !!!" trick failed - surprise the Germans were confused and were successfully captured in an amount of about 130 people.
In 1944, he led the Commandos in Yugoslavia. In May, he was ordered to attack the Germans controlled the island of Brac ?? .. He organized a motley army of 1,500 partisans and 43 commandos. Bagpipe Churchill gave the signal to engage the enemy. Only Churchill and six managed to reach the goal. Under mortar fire, killing all his colleagues, but Churchill, continued to play the bagpipes, "Do not you will not come back?". In the end, it threw grenades and unconscious captured. When Churchill was taken to the German capital, he managed to set fire to the Luftwaffe aircraft using scraps of paper and a candle candle. After Berlin, Jack was in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where immediately fled, managed to get to Rostock, but was again arrested and sent to Austria. From the Austrian camp Churchill escaped again, using minute malfunction in the electrical lighting system, and this time successfully reached the Allies liberated Italy, marched 150 miles from one rusty can of onions as food.
Jack Churchill (right) conducts exercises Landing. In his right hand he holds a sword.
The war in Europe ended. "If it were not for those damn Yanks, we could have a fun fight another 10 years!" Lamented Jack - "Well, again, there were also Japanese!».
However, here again luck was against Mad Jack. His fight flown to Burma, but then surrendered and Tokyo. Lieutenant Colonel Churchill responded to this as follows: "Well, as the Japanese I cheated, our team went to war with the Indonesians».
After the war, Mad Jack Churchill acted in films, retrained from a commando paratroopers and finished his service in 1959, having more to war in Palestine, the Jewish Haganah and Arab radicals.
It remains to add that Mad Jack died at his home in Surrey in 1996, at age 89, leaving behind two sons.