A British WWII officer who went into battle with a longbow, a claymore sword, and bagpipes — and reportedly the last man to record a confirmed longbow kill in war.
John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill — universally known as 'Mad Jack' — was a British Army commando officer who fought in World War II armed with a Scottish broadsword, a longbow and quiver of arrows, and bagpipes. He was not related to Winston Churchill. He simply believed 'any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.'
Churchill had actually competed professionally before the war: he represented Great Britain at the 1939 World Archery Championships in Oslo and played bagpipes at military competitions. These were not affectations — he was genuinely skilled with medieval weapons in a world that had moved on to tanks and aircraft.
During the 1941 commando raid on the German garrison at Vågsøy, Norway, Churchill led the assault force ashore playing 'March of the Cameron Men' on his bagpipes. The garrison was overrun in under ten minutes. This was considered a normal Churchill operation.
In Italy in 1943, Churchill crept up on a German observation post near Molina and captured 42 prisoners — including a mortar squad — essentially single-handedly, using his sword and bow. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Afterward he retraced his steps through enemy lines to look for his lost sword.
In 1944 in Yugoslavia, during a German assault, a mortar shell killed or wounded every man around Churchill. He was found alone, playing 'Will Ye No Come Back Again?' on his bagpipes as the Germans closed in. He was knocked out by grenades and captured. German intelligence assumed he must be related to the Prime Minister and flew him to Berlin for interrogation.
Churchill escaped from a German concentration camp and walked 150 miles to the Adriatic coast before being recaptured. He was later liberated by American forces in 1945. He expressed genuine disappointment when Japan surrendered: 'If it wasn't for those damned Yanks, we could have kept the war going another 10 years,' he reportedly said.
After the war, Churchill served in Palestine, took up surfing in Australia (becoming one of England's first surfers), and spent his retirement sailing coal-fired ships up and down the Thames. He died in 1996 at age 89, apparently on his own terms.