Upvote:3
Judging from the reference to Robert Hardy's book, I'm assuming that the bow in question is the longbow, so what follows is based on that...
The Bow
The longbow itself was usually made from a single piece of wood. This would have been 5-6 ft long with a maximum girth of 4-5in at the center. Typical draw-weights for a warbow, determined from examples found on the Mary Rose, appear to have been in the 90-140lbs range, so the bow would have had to have been fairly strong to tolerate that amount of force. If used in the manner of a staff or club, the body of the bow could have landed a serious clout. Using it in such a manner against an armored foe does, of course, increase the chance of damage to the weapon.
The Bowman
The typical English longbowman was a yeoman, a small land-owner or urban gentleman. Not a rich man but not the lowest of peasants either. His equipment would have reflected his position both as a land-owner and as a professional soldier. He would be lightly armored and would probably have a sword and/or a long dagger for self-defence. These melee weapons could be supplemented by the mauls and axes used to prepare stakes (for cavalry defence) and by weapons looted from the fallen men-at-arms around them. It wouldn't be unusual for an archer to carry a spare bow on campaign, in case his main weapon was broken. This second bow may also have been of a lighter pull for use at shorter ranges or later in the battle when the bowman's stamina was waning.
The Battle
While the typical image of the longbow in cinema is as a long range weapon, dropping a rain of arrows on their foes, it's clear from descriptions of battles that it was used as a short range weapon too. In fact, the longbow could only puncture plate armor at fairly short ranges (assuming a square hit and a bodkin arrowhead).
A common tactic was to have the knights and men-at-arms in the center of the line with archers on each wing. As the enemy engaged the center, the wings would wrap around shooting into the sides of the enemy formation. In this situation, the bowmen might be shooting from as little as 5-10 yards.
However, far more common that pitched open battles were seiges and raiding parties (chevauchΓ©e). In these situations, the archers were often directly exposed to the enemy troops, in ambush or assault. Archers also provided the artillery for naval vessels of the period. Archers would line the decks and vantage points, such as the forecastle and crows nest, to fire on the enemy. Once the ships closed, they would continue to shoot to prevent the enemy troops concentrating for a boarding action or to clear the enemy decks for a boarding action of their own.
From this we can see that the archers bow was his main weapon of choice even down to short ranges. However, in the event of hand-to-hand combat, he would have had more suitable weapons available to him. Given the risk of damage to the bow, it's very unlikely that any archer would choose to use it as a club or staff when there were better options available.
That said, there is always the possibility of an archer being taken by surprise by an enemy in battle. With no time to draw another weapon, he might well have had a swing with the bow in his hands, if only to buy time to draw his sword or dagger. Since it would have been a life or death, spur of the moment, action by a mere peasant, that kind of use would be unlikely to make it into the pages of the chronicles.
refs:
The Bowmen of England, D. Featherstone (Pen & Sword, 2004)
The Longbow, M. Loades (Osprey, 2013)
Longbow (5th Ed), R. Hardy (Haynes, 2012)