Thursday, September 26, 2013

Old Fashioned Weaponry

Born into an old  Oxfordshire family, John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, nicknamed 'Mad Jack', graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1926.  Before World War II fame, Mad Jack was an editor of a Nairobi newspaper, and because of his talent with a bow he shot for Britain during the World Championships in 1939.  By this time, of course, Europe was fast approaching World War II.  Mad Jack had left the army after ten years of service, but happily returned to it because of the "country having got into a jam in my absence". 

By 1940, Mad Jack was the second in command of an infantry company.  He always marched into battle with a bow and arrows and his trusty basket-hilted Claymore by his side.  Despite these weapons being wildly outdated, Churchill defended them saying, "In my opinion...any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.". 



To Be Continued...