I spotted this chap on a facebook post and he made me 🙂

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Churchill

The last person in battle to kill an opponent with a crossbow?

Sounds a top man.

BTW He used a longbow, not a crossbow (crossbow is still used today by some military units)

“If it wasn’t for those damn Yanks, we could have kept the war going another 10 years.”

😯

Top man.

“If it wasn’t for those damn Yanks, we could have kept the war going another 10 years.”

There was a young major who served in all theatres from 39-45 and in 45 when interviewed he said he was in disbelief. All he’d know all his adult life was war and thats all he knew what/how to do and what was he supposed to do now?

His life story (or at least his war service) would make a good film, Shirley? The Americans would make him a US soldier, though, or at least US born, showing the Limeys how to fight.

nicknamed…..Mad Jack…..a British soldier who fought throughout the Second World War armed with a longbow

I wonder why they nicknamed him Mad Jack?

His life story (or at least his war service) would make a good film, Shirley? The Americans would make him a US soldier, though, or at least US born, showing the Limeys how to fight.

Brad Pitt would of course be called to play him.

Characters like Mad Jack are good to read about, but I wonder what the squaddies who served under him thought.

The sort of guy who would wade ashore an enemy beach carrying a claymore and a set of bagpipes sounds like the sort of guy who liked the taste of danger a bit too much.

I think I would prefer to serve under someone with the nickname “Sensible Jack”, or “Dull and Rather Tedious Jack”.

The sort of guy who would wade ashore an enemy beach carrying a claymore and a set of bagpipes sounds like the sort of guy who liked the taste of danger a bit too much.

I know its the Band of Brothers but there was a character/Officer who said he had gone the whole way through from Normandy without firing one shot.

Captain Lewis Nixon, didn’t fire a single shot in combat but was one of the few Airborne troops to get three combat jump stars.

I know its the Band of Brothers but there was a character/Officer who said he had gone the whole way through from Normandy without firing one shot.

He was the company XO, but I think he got shot AT quite a bit.

An acquaintance of my Dad was in the Red Army during its advance into Germany. He never fired a shot and never even saw an enemy soldier until one popped out from behind a tree and demanded he surrender!
(he was about 14 at the time, so I think the Germans sort of took pity on him)

There was a young major who served in all theatres from 39-45 and in 45 when interviewed he said he was in disbelief. All he’d know all his adult life was war and thats all he knew what/how to do and what was he supposed to do now?

He didn’t need to worry too much though, did he?

Human nature being what it is and all that.

A member of the commando brethren!

The WW2 Commandos were kind of a precursor to conventional SF and kind of made up the rules as they went along. Of course, this attracted a certain type of soldier which is why we see people like mad Jack, Lovat (complete with bagpiper at sword beach) and Paddy Mayne. The Commandos won no less than 8 VCs in WW2. Some interesting reading here;
http://www.commandoveterans.org/CommandoVC
David sterling (SAS founder) was army commando as was Roger Courtney (SBS founder), the original Brit paratroopers were all recruited from commando forces and the US rangers were influenced by the original brit commandos.

He didn’t need to worry too much though, did he?

There was another linked-comment. Some men struggle with it all, some are natural born-killers who really excel at it (but didn’t know this before).

Wingate was known for various eccentricities. For instance, he often wore an alarm clock around his wrist, which would go off at times, and had raw onions and garlic on a string around his neck, which he would occasionally bite into as a snack (the reason he used to give for this was to ward off mosquitoes). He often went about without clothing. In Palestine, recruits were used to having him come out of the shower to give them orders, wearing nothing but a shower cap, and continuing to scrub himself with a shower brush. Lord Moran, Winston Churchill’s personal physician, wrote in his diaries that “[Wingate] seemed to me hardly sane—in medical jargon a borderline case.”[59] Likewise, referring to Churchill’s meeting with Wingate in Quebec, Max Hastings wrote that, “Wingate proved a short-lived protegé: closer acquaintance caused Churchill to realise that he was too mad for high command.”[60]

I agree with SomewhatSD … Who wants a crazy no-fear leader? My father in law was an antiaircraft gunner on a cruiser captained by a gung-ho Cousin of the then queen. They were involved in every possible action from Russian convoys to D Day and the relief of Malta with very little leave inbetween. My F-in-Law didn’t get so much as a scratch, though.

my favourite of ww2 is Major Vladimir Peniakoff, MC .

Paddy Mayne, when out of explosives he would attack aircraft with his bare fists.

Anders lassen, VC MC & 2 bars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Lassen
I don’t think he had any intention of surviving WW2.
His cousin also had the Knights Cross and oak leaves.

The number of true stories that would have been rejected from Commando magazine for being too daft… Fat MCarthy was another good one, faced with a fortified trench that had stopped an entire batallion in its tracks, he decided to charge it with 3 men. But halfway through decided that was overkill and left them behind, and in history’s greatest display of Steaming In killed 20 men, captured 50, as well as 5 machine guns and half a mile of trench. I don’t even understand the logistics, how do you capture 50 men? “Right, you lot, stay there- I’ll be back in 5 minutes having killed 1/3d of your mates and captured the rest- if any of you so much as move there’ll be consequences.” Another guy turned up halfway through but I think he just held McCarthy’s coat for him. Apparently after he was done, the german prisoners congratulated him for his fantastic display of VC-winning Hulking Out.

I know its the Band of Brothers but there was a character/Officer who said he had gone the whole way through from Normandy without firing one shot.

Most soldiers never actually shot with the intention of killing, most of the killing was done by about 10 percent of the soldiers in a unit. Hence partly why military doctrine moved to laying down as much fire with smaller caliber rounds and giving the ones who do kill heavier caliber support weapons eg a GPMG, more squaddies these days will kill though because of improved training.

Anyway, one of my grans brothers was a commando and the other a para during world war 2. The former blew up their outhouse toilet with a grenade for a laugh.

“I don’t even understand the logistics, how do you capture 50 men? “
A lot of German units were built up of non germans. While they were winning and had a german NCO stand behind them they would fight.
Once the tide turned and/or the german leadership was dead, surrendering became the next logical thing to do.
You don’t want to die for the father land, but you don’t want to be killed by it either.
Up to that tipping point these guys might be fighting hard, then down tools.

I liked this detail from wiki:

A delegation of prisoners told senior German army officers they feared they would be executed. A German army unit commanded by Captain Wichard von Alvensleben moved in to protect the prisoners. Outnumbered, the SS guards moved out…

Germans going against their own to protect prisoners.

Reminds me of the Battle for Castle Itter:

Battle for Castle Itter

Troops of the 23rd Tank Battalion of the US 12th Armored Division, anti-Nazi German Army soldiers, and imprisoned French VIPs defended the castle against a small force from the 17th Waffen-SS Panzer Grenadier Division. The French prisoners included former prime ministers, generals, and a tennis star.

Speshpaul – Member

Once the tide turned and/or the german leadership was dead, surrendering became the next logical thing to do.

Yeah, but still… Have you ever tried to organise a group of 50 people, even when they want to do the thing you’re trying to get them to do? And, you know, you speak the language and that. That’s VC-winning bus-party organisation

Chuck Yeager’s good for a Yank.

Shoot planes, get shot down, join the Resistance, escape over the Pyrenees, get back in a plane, shoot more planes including five in one day and a German ME262. Become a test pilot, bust a hole in the sound barrier get stuck into the next war, fly more prototypes, eject a few times etc etc.

“Mad Mitch” anyone? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7111303.stm