Here at the Man Institute, we have set the bar pretty high in terms of manliness. One must wonder, how manly can one man be? The answer: Jack Churchill. Churchill began his career in Burma, serving with the Manchester Regiment. In 1936, Churchill decided to leave the armed forces to work for a newspaper company, but after the invasion of Poland, Churchill knew he had a job to do. And in doing that job, he became the legendary idol of manliness that he is. As a Lieutenant-Colonel, he was quoted stating ”any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.”

Churchill signed on to be a commando. He didn’t completely understand exactly what a commando does, but decided to do it because it sounded dangerous. Once in France, Churchill lead his regiment on an ambush mission. The attack began when he killed the German sergeant with his bow and arrow. He lead other assaults in France and Norway and was decorated with the Military Cross and Bar. In Italy, he lead one other soldier into the city of Salerno, where he promptly convinced (with force) 42 enemy soldiers to surrender.

In 1944, Churchill lead an invasion of a German-held, Yugoslavian island. Before reaching the objective, all but six of his men had fallen. Once there, the others were taken out by a mortar and Churchill was knocked unconscious by a grenade.

Churchill was held at a concentration camp in Germany, but escaped with an officer of the RAF. They planned to walk to the Baltic sea, but were recaptured by Germans only a few miles away. In 1945 Churchill was transferred to Tyrol where the German troops weren’t prepared to take the prisoners. The SS abandoned most of them, but others were sent to Niederdorf, Italy, where Churchill escaped once again. From Niederdorf, he walked 150 miles to Verona and met a column of American armour.

Churchill was to return to Burma in 1945, but the Japanese surrendered before he saw any more action in World War II. After the war Churchill ended up in Palestine. In 1948 he assisted a Jewish medical convoy that was attacked by Arabs. Afterward, he coordinated the evacuation of 700 people from the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem.

Below is a brief, god awful documentary on this awesome man. Try to ignore the garbage commentary and just listen to the facts.

For fighting a heavily armed enemy with a quiver of arrows on his back, a bow in one hand and a sword in the other, and twice escaping from German prison, Jack Churchill earns a manliness rating of 10.