"Mad Jack" Churchill

Harlequin-LA · #1 (**permalink**) 27-02-06, 06:17 PM

I understand that Mad Jack was the last serving soldier in the British Army to use a Bow in wartime....from the little I have found out he went almost directly from a competition to be with his Regiment in France in 1940. He was reported to have used his bow in the Retreat to Dunkirk.

Not only does he have this claim to fame but also was the first person to ride the Tidal Bore on the River Severn. He was Winston Churchill's brother I think.

Does anyone out there know more about Mad Jack?

Max · #2 (**permalink**) 27-02-06, 06:34 PM

Sounds like that character from Blackadder - "Madder than Mad Jack McMad, winner of this year's Mr Madman Competition"

tel · #3 (**permalink**) 27-02-06, 07:56 PM

appears he was more commonly known as "fighting Jack Churchill" - and as such has some impressive stories surrounding him....

JohnK · #4 (**permalink**) 27-02-06, 09:45 PM

I know this is only hearsay, and the chap concerned couldn't remember the names of the soldiers involved, but some I knew who was a boy in the late 1940s told me once that he'd attended a talk given by a couple of soldiers who were also archers, and who had apparently used their bows in WWII for certain special operations.

I also remember reading that Richard Galloway, the famous archer and bowyer who was the inspiration for many British bowyers, was supposed to have lobbed arrows from an observation plane at Hitler's bunker.

It would be interesting to look into this sort of thing, but I wouldn't know the first place to start.

TJ Mason · #5 (**permalink**) 28-02-06, 09:47 AM

Bows were used pretty often for silently taking out sentries.

When my dad was doing his national service in Malaya during the communist insurgency, he went out on night patrol with a native guide. At one point, the guide signalled to stop. He then took a folding steel bow out of his backpack, braced it, loaded an arrow and shot into a tree canopy 40 yards away. This was in very dark conditions, with only starlight. An armed man fell out of the tree, stone dead.

Heck of a shot. I think the arrow must have been poison-tipped to kill so quickly.

English Bowman · #6 (**permalink**) 28-02-06, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harlequin-LA

I understand that Mad Jack was the last serving soldier in the British Army to use a Bow in wartime....from the little I have found out he went almost directly from a competition to be with his Regiment in France in 1940. He was reported to have used his bow in the Retreat to Dunkirk.

Not only does he have this claim to fame but also was the first person to ride the Tidal Bore on the River Severn. He was Winston Churchill's brother I think.

Does anyone out there know more about Mad Jack?

Try the history section of www.purbrookbowmen.org.uk He was quite a character

Daniel

Thunk · #7 (**permalink**) 28-02-06, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJ Mason

Bows were used pretty often for silently taking out sentries.

When my dad was doing his national service in Malaya during the communist insurgency, he went out on night patrol with a native guide. At one point, the guide signalled to stop. He then took a folding steel bow out of his backpack, braced it, loaded an arrow and shot into a tree canopy 40 yards away. This was in very dark conditions, with only starlight. An armed man fell out of the tree, stone dead.

Heck of a shot. I think the arrow must have been poison-tipped to kill so quickly.

Any poison would take at least several seconds to kill...it would have to travel through the bloodstream from the entry point to the heart before it had any effect.

Undoubtedly a very impressive shot, but I would imagine the cause of death would have been the fall. But it shows that in these days of death by smart technology, a well-shot bow is still a fearsome weapon.