In the WWII era, when all sorts of modern weaponry exist like guns and tanks, and bombs, one warrior emerges amidst the battlefield with nothing but his longbow, sword, and… bagpipe? Yep, that’s Mad Jack.

Who is Mad Jack?

Before he became “Mad Jack” or “Fighting Jack Churchill,” he was plain John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, a British born in British Ceylon. His father, John Fleming Churchill, also served in the army. He was a graduate of King William’s College on the Isle of Man and Royal Military College in Sandhurst, England. In 1926, he was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion in the Manchester Regiment. There, he acquired his excellent bagpipe talent under the Pipe Major of the Cameron Highlanders.

When he joined his battalion in Rangoon, he was tasked to do a signals course in Poona. According to historic.uk.com, “On completion, he drove a Zenith motorcycle 1,500 miles across the Indian subcontinent, crashing into a water buffalo at one point. In Burma, he used to cross railway bridges that had open sleepers by stepping onto the sleepers and pushing his bike along the rails.”

The army life didn’t seem interesting enough for him, so he left and pursued a career as an actor and entertainer. It is said that he appeared in a film called “The Thief of Baghdad” in 1924, where he showed off his archery skills. He was also a participant at the World Archery Championships in 1939.