¶ The Brave and Unconventional Soldier
On the eleventh day of Christmas , my true love gave to me eleven pipers piping . So , cindy , is there nothing more dulcet and sweet than the sounds of the bagpipes ?
Some people might argue with you . Some people might say no , no .
Have you ever heard a didgeridoo ? Katie , have you ?
Is it super weird that I am jealous of people who are in professions where they get to have bagpipes played at their funerals . I think the bagpipes are the best . That's like the best .
Like you cannot hear a bagpipe and not start like weeping , just be like , oh , they could be playing , like we wish you a Merry Christmas and you're just like oh , I don't know , Cindy .
Have you heard the wind beneath my wings on an oboe ? That's pretty haunting . Well , Cindy , would you be surprised to know that the bagpipes themselves ? There's evidence to suggest that it dates back to Roman times .
Yes , because I did a whole podcast episode on that . Katie , you just take my podcast and you're just going to recycle it .
I do , and then I expect you to be surprised when I regurgitate facts that you've literally given to me . I'm ready , let's do it Just okay this time around , cindy , just feign stupefication . Just feign amazement . Okay , ready , three , two , one . Stupefaction . Just feign amazement . Okay , ready , three , two , one . Cindy .
Did you know that the bagpipes date back to roman times ? What I know amazing .
One of the most famous , most unbelievably accomplished pipers of the 20th century would be john malcolm thorpe , fleming churchill , jack churchill , also known as mad jack that was a lot of names if there's one thing that I feel like the british , the british , all of the united kingdom enjoys enjoys its unnecessary surnames and middle names .
Names for days , so Mad .
Jack was born in 1906 in Colombo , what is now Sri Lanka . His family eventually moved to Surrey where he was raised by an Anglo-Scottish , where he was raised by Anglo-Scottish parents . He eventually went on to move to Nairobi where he , as an adult , he became a newspaper editor and a male model . Whoa whoa .
He did move back to the United Kingdom and he actually starred in yes what did he model ?
don't just bypass that . I didn't look it up . I mean it's like 1920 , so he's probably modeling gloves or slacks or slacks slacks model . They're high rise and uncomfortable nothing comes between me and my pleats .
Man , how do I get me a 1920s pants model ? And he moved back to the United Kingdom and eventually starred in two movies , which allowed him to demonstrate a very unique skill that he developed as a child archery . So he did join the armed forces in 1926 , and he was posted out in Southeast Asia .
There's records of him literally motorcycling across India in his free time and eventually ended up in Burma , which is now modern-day Myanmar , where he that's where he learned to play the bagpipes .
Really , I did not see that coming , neither did I .
Not a place that I would expect one to learn a traditional Scottish instrument , but when in . Rome , but not After his brief military stint . He did return to england where he it is worth noting that he did represent the great britain in the world archery cup championships that year , in 1939 , where he came in second place , unfortunately .
But with the outbreak of World War II he reenlisted and he became part of the Expeditionary Force in France . Any guess what the Expeditionary Forces did ? their job was they went to antarctica no , you're in the right vein , um , but they went and they went exploring yes and no , so , but this is . You want to think like military they went on .
They went exploring places that they then invaded . They're like the scouts , they're scouts . I got there Just give me 20 minutes and I'll get there .
But you're in the right ballpark . They're the ones who go out first , who have to explore , if you will , to do some reconnaissance , see who's out there . But instead of finding penguins , he found Nazis . And now the thing about Nazis is you want to sneak up on them and be very stealthy and kill them in very quiet ways . And how do you suppose he did that ?
Cindy Back to the longbow . So , literally , drawing upon his experience as an archer , he would bring a longbow with him into battle and as an expeditionary force soldier , this is how he took out a number of Nazis .
Oh , he's like the Legolas to the military . He's like sliding down elephant trunks .
So I'm like shooting , Shooting off arrows instead of orcs . It's Nazis .
I say orcs , you say Nazis .
Let's call the whole world war off , and Mad Jack was noted for not only bringing his longbow into battle with him , but a long sword , but also a broad sword and his bagpipes , which he would use to rally the troops .
I knew he brought the bagpipes , katie , of course he did .
And at the Battle of and I'm probably butchering this it's Lepinette , Lepinette , I think so that's correct . Yes , during the Battle of Lepinette he used a longbow to silently cut down a Nazi soldier before picking up two machine guns and firing until he ran out of ammunition , at which point he led his troops into battle with his broadsword in hand .
Eventually , he was shot in the shoulder but was able to lead the rest of his men to safety , despite being wounded . It's under your frozen , I think .
No , I'm not frozen . I was just trying to visualize all of this happening and I had lots of thoughts going through my head and I didn't know what to say . But yeah , that's very impressive .
But this would not be the only time he used unconventional weapons to rally his men and to build a sort of esprit de corps so that they could take on the Nazi foes . In 1941 , he was put as second in command of his unit and they were sent to Vagsøy , norway , where he and his men would make a beach landing .
On the way there , he encouraged them pounding , pounding out notes , I don't know . Yes , pounding , belting out . No , what's the word I'm looking for ? Bleeding , bleeding .
Let go bleed . You bleed them out Bleeding .
Let go Bleed . You bleed them out , bleed out those jams . No , on the way to Vagsor Norway , he encouraged his men by playing the bagpipes with traditional Scottish songs to build up their encouragement . Oh my God , yes , yes , the morale .
To boost the morale .
Yes , Thank you . Thank you , he pounded out some amazing grace on his bagpipes On the way . Let's try this one more time . On the way to Bagsword , Norway , he beat out some sick jams on his bagpipes to encourage the men to face their ultimate foe .
It was said that he was the first one to hurl a grenade at the enemy and there's video footage of him charging from the boats as they made their beach landing sword in hand to face the enemy .
Question why did they have swords in World War II ?
I just because why not ? There are still soldiers today who will bring knives and swords and things like that with them onto the battlefield .
Really , I just figured everybody was equipped with a gun of some kind in World War II .
I just figured everybody was equipped with a gun of some kind in World War II . I mean , as far as I know he could , he did use guns . I'm sure it was a standard issue for him to receive a rifle or whatnot , but it's like I would just prefer the longsword . And who's going to say no to a man who's brandishing a longsword and a bow and arrow ?
Are you going to say no to him ?
Well , and that's the thing . Is it like if you are , if you're , if your leader , if your fearless leader is pounding out feats on a bagpipe ? See what I'm doing .
It's a lot like the chicken dance like that um , obviously , what are you ?
what are you motivated to reach for your rifle or your sword ?
you're gonna reach for your sword like that brave heart instinct in you just comes out and and also just the amount of sheer bravery to say , okay , you got a machine gun , I got a broad sword and I'm not afraid to face you . Absolute , just be , be for lack of a better term cojones on this gentleman . Incredible .
But , cindy , our story does not end here by any stretch of the imagination . He then was sent to Italy , sicily and Salerno specifically , and then his unit was sent to Yugoslavia , where he was captured as a prisoner of war and he was sent to a concentration camp . Do you think this stopped him ? Did they have bagpipes there ?
They didn't , but they had other pows that he was able to rally without use of his bagpipes and they were able to tunnel to freedom whoa okay , hold on back up back up . No , a concentration camp would not stop him , but nor would dirt and earth . And he heard that he did escape from this .
But then I've also heard that the prisoners were abandoned by their SS guards because they feared retribution from German soldiers . And he did , on foot , make his way to the Italian border , to freedom . But that did not stop him . He was still ready for a fight
¶ The Eccentric Retirement of Mad Jack
. So as the theater in Europe closed , he headed back to Burma , modern-day Myanmar , only to find that World War II has come to an end . And do you know what Mad Jack had to say when he discovered that the World War II was over ? If it weren't for those damn Yanks , we could have kept this war going for another ten years .
He didn't want it to end no . Oh , he had a lot more Nazis to stay .
Yes , so he did not go quietly into the night . What happened to him ?
He did eventually go back home to England . He liked to . I have to double check this . I think he liked to like refurbish submarines or something like that .
I figured he'd become a bounty hunter or something .
No , no Retirement . Let's see , he was very eccentric . In his interests he startled train guards and passengers by throwing his briefcase out the wind , the train window each day on the ride home . He later explained that he was tossing his case into his own back garden so he would not have to carry it home from the station .
Uh , but I saw somewhere that he oh , he would refurbish coal-fired sailing boats and he liked playing with radio-controlled model warships in his retirement . I feel like eccentric is just a very nice way of saying . You should probably talk to somebody or you need a hobby that doesn't involve stabbing Nazis .
He had the bagpipes , so what if he used them to call people into battle ?
You know what , cindy , though , if I had someone who woke me every day with the bagpipes , I feel like I could get a whole lot more accomplished in my life . Maybe I'll finally fold all of my clothes according to the KonMari method .
I feel like that would really help me achieve that very low bar goal for myself , after you murder the person who woke you up with a bagpipe After I .
You don't find them soothing , thank you .