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Sergeant Jackrum is a man with a great deal of mystery surrounding him. He is a sergeant in the Borogravian Army. Despite pretending to be a dimwitted soldier in the presence of his officers, he is both intelligent and manipulative. His exact age is unknown, as are most of the details of his past. He acts as something of a father figure to the soldiers under his command.

So far, he has only appeared in Monstrous Regiment.

• To borrow an expression from some books on the same shelf, this explanation is wrong in almost every particular, although it is quite a good lie. It is, unfortunately, hard to discuss Sgt. Jackrum or many other characters in Monstrous Regiment without MAJOR SPOILERS.

About three generations ago, in rural Borogravia (which is all the Borogravia there is,) there was a big, stroppy farm girl who married a soldier named William. This was perfectly normal; almost all the young men were soldiers. This girl, however, was a little different. She soon tired of farm work and being separated from her new husband and formed a plan. She cut off her hair, acquired some trousers, and enlisted in the same regiment herself. The arrangement worked fairly smoothly for a time, and the union even produced a son who was sent to be raised by his great-grandmother, but soon after, William was killed. The girl had already risen in the ranks, showing considerable military skill and leadership, and no one was offering widows' pensions, so she remained, and remained, until she was the most experienced and widely known NCO in the army. In the course of this long career, she discovered that she was not the only woman in her situation. Indeed, some quite senior officers were operating without standard equipment, besides the many other farm girls who were usually inept but occasionally useful soldiers. She helped both the officers and "men" through their careers, from suggesting improvements to their disguise to saving their lives, and she remembered.

With old age advancing and insane militarism threatening finally to destroy the country completely Jack led a squad of "his little lads" to bring about a truce, calling in her markers (and using a little blackmail) to persuade the High Command and obtain some benefits for her "monstrous regiment." She retired with the assurance that Polly Perks would carry on her leadership of the rude equal-opportunity movement.