Young Winston Churchill

The British Bulldog when he was just a puppy

Chris Wild

1890s

Churchill during his service in the South African Light Horse. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Second Lieutenant Winston Churchill of the 4th Queen's Own Hussars. Credit: Time Life Pictures/Pictures Inc./The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Former UK prime minister Winston Churchill left school in 1893 at the age of 19, and immediately entered the military.  Except it took him three attempts before he passed the entrance exam to the Royal Military College in Sandhurst, England.Although Churchill was well paid as a second lieutenant in the 4th Hussars, he regularly overspent his salary, as well as a further and greater sum paid to him by his mother. In order to boost his income, Churchill began war correspondence for a range of London newspapers.In 1895, Churchill was commissioned by London's Daily Graphic (now defunct) to write about the conflict between Spain and Cuban guerillas.  This was to be a significant incident in the young Churchill's life for more than one reason. It was the first time he came under fire (for which he would receive a Spanish medal), and it also introduced Churchill to an object which would become his lifelong companion: the Havana cigar.

Churchill during his service in the South African Light Horse. Credit: Time Life Pictures/Pictures Inc./The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Churchill on horseback in Bangalore, India. Credit: Mondadori Collection/Getty Images

Churchill standing at the opening of his tent as a war correspondent during the Second Boer War, in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images

Churchill portrait by Russell & Sons. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images