Už jste slyšeli o Šíleném Jacku Churchillovi, co během 2. Světový války šel do boje s mečem a hrál u toho na dudy? Tak jeho kolega si bral pro změnu buřinku a deštník, jako správný Angličan.
Text nechávám v angličtině, protože citáty vyžadujou bejt čtený se správným britským přízvukem aspoň v duchu a mít text ve dvou jazycích mi přišlo stylisticky nevhodný.
Major Allison Digby Tatham-Warter, DSO (21 May 1917 – 21 March 1993), also known as Digby Tatham-Warter or just Digby, was a British Army officer who fought in the Second World War and was famed for wearing a bowler hat and carrying an umbrella into battle.
He was appointed as the company commander of A Company of the 2nd Parachute Battalion, part of the 1st Parachute Brigade of the 1st Airborne Division. A Company was then chosen by the battalion's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, to lead the 2nd Parachute Battalion in the Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden, because of Digby's reputation of being an aggressive commander. In preparation Digby, concerned about the unreliability of radios, educated his men on how to use bugle calls (signály na trubku) that had been used during the Napoleonic Wars for communication in case the radios failed. He also took an umbrella with his kit as a means of identification because he had trouble remembering passwords and felt that anyone who saw him with it would think that "only a bloody fool of an Englishman" would carry an umbrella into battle.
A Company was dropped away from the target of Arnhem Bridge and had to go through Arnhem, where the streets were blocked by German forces. Digby led his men through the back gardens of nearby houses instead of attempting to advance through the streets and thus avoided the Germans. Digby and A Company managed to travel 8 miles in 7 hours while also taking prisoner 150 German soldiers, including members of the SS. During the battle, Digby wore his maroon beret instead of a helmet and waved his umbrella while walking about the defences despite heavy mortar fire.
When the Germans started using tanks to cross the bridge, Digby led a bayonet charge against them wearing a bowler hat. He later disabled a German armoured car with his umbrella, incapacitating the driver by shoving the umbrella through the car's observational slit and poking the driver in the eye.
Digby then noticed the chaplain pinned down by enemy fire while trying to cross the street to get to injured soldiers. Digby got to him and said "Don't worry about the bullets, I've got an umbrella". He then escorted the chaplain across the street under his umbrella. When he returned to the front line, one of his fellow officers said about his umbrella that "that thing won't do you any good", to which Digby replied "Oh my goodness Pat, but what if it rains?"
Digby dožil svůj život v Keni, kde se i oženil a stal se jedním ze zakladatelů moderního safari, kde se zvířaty spíše fotí, než střílí.