Michael Calvert was one of the legendary figures of the Second World War. He hit the headlines as 'Mad Mike' after the first Chindit campaign in 1943, with a reputation as a tough and daring leader of guerrilla troops. His specialty was penetrating behind enemy lines; his success was due to a resourceful mind and the fact that men would follow him wherever he led.

Mad Mike fought in the snow and ice of Norway, in the steaming jungles of Burma, and on the battlefields of Europe where in 1945 he commanded the crack Special Air Service Brigade.

He was one of the first men selected for the Chindits by the controversial General Orde Wingate. He became Wingate's right-hand man - both in fierce jungle fighting and in battles against stick-in-the-mud staff officers.