Jack Churchill
| John 'Mad Jack' Churchill | |
|---|---|
"Mad Jack" Churchill
|
|
| Birth name | John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill |
| Nickname(s) | Fighting Jack Churchill, Mad Jack |
| Born |
16 September 1906 Hong Kong |
| Died | 8 March 1996 (aged 89) Surrey, England |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom/British Empire
|
| Service/branch |
 British Army
|
| Years of service | 1926–1936 1939–1959 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Unit |
Manchester Regiment No. 2 Commando 3 Commando Brigade 5th (Scottish) Parachute Battalion Seaforth Highlanders Highland Light Infantry |
| Battles/wars |
Burma Rebellion 1930-32 World War II 1948 Palestine War |
| Awards |
DSO with Bar Military Cross |
Lieutenant-Colonel John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming "Jack" Churchill, DSO & Bar, MC & Bar (16 September 1906 – 8 March 1996) was a British Army officer who fought throughout the Second World War armed with a longbow, bagpipes, and a basket-hilted Scottish broadsword.
Nicknamed "Fighting Jack Churchill" and "Mad Jack", he is known for the motto: "Any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed."
Churchill was born in Hong Kong. Both his father, Alec Fleming Churchill, and grandfather, John Fleming Churchill, served in the Ceylon Civil Service. Soon after Churchill's birth, the family returned to Surrey, where his younger brother, Thomas Bell Lindsay Churchill was born (in 1907). In 1910, the Churchills moved to Hong Kong when Alec Fleming Churchill was appointed as Director of Public Works in Hong Kong. The Churchills' third and youngest son, Robert Alec Farquar Churchill, was born in Hong Kong in 1911. The family returned to England in 1917.
John 'Jack' Churchill was educated at King William's College on the Isle of Man. Churchill graduated from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1926 and served in Burma with the Manchester Regiment. He enjoyed riding a motorbike while in Burma.
He left the army in 1936 and worked as a newspaper editor in Nairobi, Kenya, and as a male model. He used his archery and bagpipe talents to play a small role in the 1924 film The Thief of Bagdad and also appeared in the 1938 A Yank at Oxford. He took second place in the 1938 military piping competition at the Aldershot Tattoo. In 1939 Jack Churchill represented Great Britain at the World Archery Championships in Oslo.
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