Freddie Spencer Chapman
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Spencer Chapman, DSO
& Bar
, ED
(10 May 1907 – 8 August 1971) was a British Army
officer and World War II
veteran, most famous for his exploits behind enemy lines in Japanese occupied Malaya
. His medals include the following: The Arctic Medal
, Gill Memorial Medal, Mungo Park Medal
, and the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal.
. Freddie (or sometimes Freddy as he was to become known) and his older brother, Robert, were cared for by an elderly clergyman and his wife in the village of Cartmel, on the edge the Lake District
. He was schooled at Sedbergh School
before studying at Cambridge
, but did not excel in any of his chosen subjects. In 1946, he married Faith Townson and had three children: Nicholas, Stephen and Christopher.
1930-31 British Arctic Air-Route Expedition and a subsequent Greenland Expedition in 1932–33. These were his happiest years. He experienced cold of such intensity that he lost all his finger and toe nails. He spent twenty hours in a storm at sea in his kayak, fell into a deep crevasse, saving himself by holding onto the handles of his dog sled. He emerged from the Greenland expeditions, of very tough characters, to be amongst the toughest of men. He led a three man team across the desolate Greenland
ice-cap. The first European to do this since Nansen, he was fluent in Inuit and was an able Inuit Kayaker and dog sledger. He was awarded the Polar Medal
for his participation in the first expedition. \hr fsthered a son by an Inuit girl but the child died a year later.
In between the Greenland Expeditions he took part in the Fell run, 130 miles and 30,000 feet of climbing, his time of 25 hours was not however a record.
It was clear that Gino Watkins moulded an extraordinary esprit de corps in his expeditions, and the expedition members were a strange mixture of military intelligence (MI) officers, hard nuts, and rather fay Cambridge misfits. Many of the members would go on to do extraordinary things in the war. Spencer Chapman was probably the most extraordinary, but Martin Lindsay (7th Armoured division) was no slouch either. They were all certainly connected to Augustine Courtauld
who was a fellow expedition member and many of them spent time in MI. There is an argument that the system of command that gave us The Somme was challenged. Systems of group strength were to be tried in the Everest expeditions after the First World War. That the mountaineers' development of having a leader, who led, and that being on a fluid basis dependent on ability for the days task. This being a much less formal system than the British Army had experienced previously. It should be noted that all of the large Arctic and Antarctic expeditions prior to the Greenland adventures were military led. So these men at the beginning of the war were tough, experienced in adversity and extreme conditions, were MI connected, and connected to the corridors of power via the Courtaulds. Maybe the truly extraordinary thing about Spencer Chapman was (despite the above) his apparent humble love of people on the fringes of existence and of birds and bees and flowers.
In 1935, he went to Lapland, and had "an exciting" expedition on skis and with a reindeer called Isaac, which he eventually sold to a butcher.
Early in 1936, he joined a Himalayan climbing expedition. He was not only a keen mountaineer but studied the history of mountaineering, Dr Kellas
being amongst his heroes. He enjoyed his difficult climbs and achieved peaks and met Basil Gould
, the Political Officer for Sikkim
, Bhutan
and Tibet
. Gould invited Spencer to be his private secretary on his political mission, from July 1936 to February 1937, to persuade the Panchen Lama to return from China and establish permanent British representation in Lhasa. Spencer struggled to learn Tibetan, learning it well enough to converse. He was involved in cypher work, kept a meteorological log, pressed six hundred plants, dried seeds, and made notes on bird life. He kept a diary of "events" in Lhasa and took many photographs http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/thumbnails_photographer_Chapman.html that were sent to India on a weekly basis. He was allowed to wander and did so in an unshepherded way into the middle of Tibet and around the Holy City.
After his return from Lhasa, Chapman obtained permission to lead a five-man expedition from Sikkim to the holy mountain Chomolhari
, which the British group had passed on the way from Sikkim to Tibet in July 1936. Chapman and Sherpa Passang Dawa Lama succeeded to become the first mountaineers to climb the 7314 m high peak, which they finally reached from the Bhutanese side after finding the route from the Tibetan side impassable. The mountain would not be climbed again until 1970.
In 1938 Spencer taught at Gordonstoun School where Prince Philip was one of his pupils
as a lieutenant
on 6 June 1939, Chapman's love of the outdoor life and adventure lead to him being chosen for a mission in Australia
. That mission was to train Australia
n and New Zealand
forces in guerrilla warfare
and eventually to join what was then Special Training School 101 STS-101
in Singapore
. This school had as one of its main objects the organization of parties to stay behind in areas the Japanese might overrun. In August 1941, a plan for stay-behind parties that would include local Indians, Chinese and Malays was proposed, but this was rejected by the British colonial governor, Sir Shenton Thomas
, as extravagant and defeatist.
During the Japanese invasion the then Captain Chapman took part in an undercover raid across the Perak River in support of Rose Force. During the mission Chapman noticed how lightly equipped the Japanese soldiers were in contrast to the heavy kit of the British and Indian forces.
Throughout the war Chapman remained a thorn in the Japanese
side, accounting for the loss of no less than seven trains, fifteen bridge
s and forty motor vehicles and the killing of some hundreds of Japanese troops in a short period of time at the beginning of Japanese occupation.
In early 1942, he ran out of the supplies that had been hidden for stay behind parties such as his team. Freddie and his team then tried to escape from Malaya, but had to hide from the Japanese in the Malayan jungle with the help of the Malayan Chinese Communists led by Chin Peng
who lived in guerrilla camps in the jungle waging war with the Japanese as a consequence of the Rape of Nanking. However, due to the bad conditions in the jungle and also due to Japanese attacks, he gradually lost all his team members through disease and gunfire and was completely cut off. For more than one and a half years, he had to live in jungle camps with Chinese Communist Guerrillas and travel long distances through dense and difficult jungles often suffering high fevers, caused by malaria.
In late 1943, he finally re-established contact with the British. Two other Britons joined him from Force 136
. On a search-mission in the jungle for another stay-behind-Briton, Freddie was captured by the Japanese but managed to escape into jungle during the night, despite being surrounded by Japanese soldiers who were asleep as well as several on guard.
Due to continued Japanese attacks, he and the two members of Force 136
, John Davis and Richard Broome were isolated again among the Communist Guerrillas until early 1945. During that time, they had to fight against diseases of the jungle, namely, malaria
, beriberi
, dysentery
and skin-ulcers from leech
bites. Finally, with the help of the Malayan Chinese Communists, they managed to repair their radio equipment with spare-parts collected by the Communist Guerrillas (the military wing of this being the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army
) and could contact their headquarters in Colombo
and organize reinforcements and supplies via parachute-drops into the jungle. Subsequently, they could support liaison of the British with the Malayan Chinese Communist Guerrillas and managed to escape from occupied Malaya in the submarine HMS Statesman
after a remarkable trek from the mainland jungle to the island Pulau Pangkor off the west coast disguised as Chinese labourers.
Chapman was wounded twice during his time in Malaya, once in the leg by a steel nut from a homemade cartridge and once in the arm. He was captured both by Japanese troops and by Chinese bandits and escaped from both. He suffered in the jungle. Once he was seventeen days unconscious, suffered from tick-typhus, blackwater fever and pneumonia. Chronic malaria being the worst of it. He walked bare foot for six days.
However much he suffered in the Malayan jungle, he attributed his survival to the basic rule that "the jungle is neutral". By this description he meant that one should view the surroundings as neither good or bad but neutral. The role of a survivalist is to expect nothing and accept the dangers and bounties of the jungle as of a natural course. Hence, one's steady state of mind was of the utmost importance to ensure that the physical health of body and the will to live were reinforced on a daily basis.
In the foreword to Chapaman's book on his experiences in Japanese occupied Malaya, The Jungle Is Neutral, Field Marshal Earl Wavell
wrote "Colonel Chapman has never received the publicity and fame that were his predecessor's lot (referring to T.E.Lawrence
); but for sheer courage and endurance, physical and mental, the two men stand together as examples of what toughness the body will find, if the spirit within it is tough; and as very worthy representatives of our national capacity for individual enterprise, which it is hoped that even the modern craze for regulating our lives in every detail will never stifle."
On 21 February 1946 he was appointed to the Distinguished Service Order
, backdated to 31 March 1944. A Bar
followed on 7 November 1946. He retained a reserve commission until 4 December 1957, when he reached the age limit for service. He was belatedly awarded the Efficiency Decoration
on 19 January 1970.
, South Africa
(1956–61) and Warden of Wantage Hall
at the University of Reading
. Chapman suffered from frequent and severe back pain, as well as recurring stomach pain and headaches, which may have been a factor in his suicide. Chapman shot himself to death on 8 August 1971.
A bar situated at Emerald Bay on Pankor Laut, just off Pangkor Island
, the rendez-vous point with the submarine, has been named after him (Chapman's).
The story of Chapman's Malayan jungle adventure can be found in The Jungle is Neutral, Frederick Spencer Chapman, Lyon Press, ISBN 1-59228-107-9, also in the book "Jungle Soldier" by Brian Moynahan, Quercus History, ISBN 978-1-84916-076-6
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
& Bar
Medal bar
A medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the...
, ED
Efficiency Decoration
The Efficiency Decoration is a defunct medal of Britain and the Commonwealth awarded for long service in the Territorial Army of the UK, the Indian Volunteer Forces and Colonial Auxiliary Forces....
(10 May 1907 – 8 August 1971) was a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
veteran, most famous for his exploits behind enemy lines in Japanese occupied Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
. His medals include the following: The Arctic Medal
Polar Medal
The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It was instituted in 1857 as the Arctic Medal and renamed the Polar Medal in 1904.-History:...
, Gill Memorial Medal, Mungo Park Medal
Mungo Park Medal
The Mungo Park Medal is awarded by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in recognition of outstanding contributions to geographical knowledge through exploration and/or research, and/or work of a practical nature of benefit to humanity in potentially hazardous physical and/or social...
, and the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal.
Family and education
Chapman's mother, Winifred Ormond, died shortly after his birth in London. His father, Frank Spencer Chapman, was killed at the Battle of YpresBattle of Ypres
There were five Battles of Ypres during World War I:*First Battle of Ypres *Second Battle of Ypres...
. Freddie (or sometimes Freddy as he was to become known) and his older brother, Robert, were cared for by an elderly clergyman and his wife in the village of Cartmel, on the edge the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
. He was schooled at Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School is a boarding school in Sedbergh, Cumbria, for boys and girls aged 13 to 18. Nestled in the Howgill Fells, it is known for sporting sides, such as its Rugby Union 1st XV.-Background:...
before studying at Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, but did not excel in any of his chosen subjects. In 1946, he married Faith Townson and had three children: Nicholas, Stephen and Christopher.
Expeditions
Chapman was attached as "ski expert and naturalist" to Gino Watkins'Gino Watkins
Henry George "Gino" Watkins FRGS was a British Arctic explorer.Born in London, he was educated at Lancing College and acquired a love of mountaineering and the outdoors from his father through holidays in the Alps, the Tyrol and the English Lake District...
1930-31 British Arctic Air-Route Expedition and a subsequent Greenland Expedition in 1932–33. These were his happiest years. He experienced cold of such intensity that he lost all his finger and toe nails. He spent twenty hours in a storm at sea in his kayak, fell into a deep crevasse, saving himself by holding onto the handles of his dog sled. He emerged from the Greenland expeditions, of very tough characters, to be amongst the toughest of men. He led a three man team across the desolate Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
ice-cap. The first European to do this since Nansen, he was fluent in Inuit and was an able Inuit Kayaker and dog sledger. He was awarded the Polar Medal
Polar Medal
The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It was instituted in 1857 as the Arctic Medal and renamed the Polar Medal in 1904.-History:...
for his participation in the first expedition. \hr fsthered a son by an Inuit girl but the child died a year later.
In between the Greenland Expeditions he took part in the Fell run, 130 miles and 30,000 feet of climbing, his time of 25 hours was not however a record.
It was clear that Gino Watkins moulded an extraordinary esprit de corps in his expeditions, and the expedition members were a strange mixture of military intelligence (MI) officers, hard nuts, and rather fay Cambridge misfits. Many of the members would go on to do extraordinary things in the war. Spencer Chapman was probably the most extraordinary, but Martin Lindsay (7th Armoured division) was no slouch either. They were all certainly connected to Augustine Courtauld
Augustine Courtauld
Augustine Courtauld , often called August Courtauld, was a yachtsman and British Arctic explorer, best known for serving as the solo meteorologist of a winter observation post, Icecap Station, located in the interior of Greenland in 1930-1931...
who was a fellow expedition member and many of them spent time in MI. There is an argument that the system of command that gave us The Somme was challenged. Systems of group strength were to be tried in the Everest expeditions after the First World War. That the mountaineers' development of having a leader, who led, and that being on a fluid basis dependent on ability for the days task. This being a much less formal system than the British Army had experienced previously. It should be noted that all of the large Arctic and Antarctic expeditions prior to the Greenland adventures were military led. So these men at the beginning of the war were tough, experienced in adversity and extreme conditions, were MI connected, and connected to the corridors of power via the Courtaulds. Maybe the truly extraordinary thing about Spencer Chapman was (despite the above) his apparent humble love of people on the fringes of existence and of birds and bees and flowers.
In 1935, he went to Lapland, and had "an exciting" expedition on skis and with a reindeer called Isaac, which he eventually sold to a butcher.
Early in 1936, he joined a Himalayan climbing expedition. He was not only a keen mountaineer but studied the history of mountaineering, Dr Kellas
Alexander Mitchell Kellas
Alexander Mitchell Kellas was a Scottish chemist, explorer, and mountaineer known for his studies of high-altitude physiology. He was born in Aberdeen, Scotland....
being amongst his heroes. He enjoyed his difficult climbs and achieved peaks and met Basil Gould
Basil Gould
Sir Basil John Gould, CMG, CIE was a British Political Officer in Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet from 1935 to 1945.Gould was known by the nickname "B.J.", and went to school at Winchester College and Oxford University. He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1907.Gould was a British Trade Agent in...
, the Political Officer for Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
. Gould invited Spencer to be his private secretary on his political mission, from July 1936 to February 1937, to persuade the Panchen Lama to return from China and establish permanent British representation in Lhasa. Spencer struggled to learn Tibetan, learning it well enough to converse. He was involved in cypher work, kept a meteorological log, pressed six hundred plants, dried seeds, and made notes on bird life. He kept a diary of "events" in Lhasa and took many photographs http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/thumbnails_photographer_Chapman.html that were sent to India on a weekly basis. He was allowed to wander and did so in an unshepherded way into the middle of Tibet and around the Holy City.
After his return from Lhasa, Chapman obtained permission to lead a five-man expedition from Sikkim to the holy mountain Chomolhari
Chomolhari
Jomolhari or Chomolhari sometimes known as "the bride of Kangchenjunga”, is a mountain in the Himalayas, straddling the border between Yadong County of Tibet and the Thimphu district of Bhutan. The north face rises over above the barren plains...
, which the British group had passed on the way from Sikkim to Tibet in July 1936. Chapman and Sherpa Passang Dawa Lama succeeded to become the first mountaineers to climb the 7314 m high peak, which they finally reached from the Bhutanese side after finding the route from the Tibetan side impassable. The mountain would not be climbed again until 1970.
In 1938 Spencer taught at Gordonstoun School where Prince Philip was one of his pupils
Malaya
Commissioned into the Seaforth HighlandersSeaforth Highlanders
The Seaforth Highlanders was a historic regiment of the British Army associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The Seaforth Highlanders have varied in size from two battalions to seventeen battalions during the Great War...
as a lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
on 6 June 1939, Chapman's love of the outdoor life and adventure lead to him being chosen for a mission in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. That mission was to train Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
forces in guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
and eventually to join what was then Special Training School 101 STS-101
STS-101
-Mission parameters:* Mass:** Orbiter landing with payload: ** Payload: * Perigee: * Apogee: * Inclination: 51.6°* Period: 91 min-Space walks:* Voss and Williams – EVA 1...
in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. This school had as one of its main objects the organization of parties to stay behind in areas the Japanese might overrun. In August 1941, a plan for stay-behind parties that would include local Indians, Chinese and Malays was proposed, but this was rejected by the British colonial governor, Sir Shenton Thomas
Shenton Thomas
Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas, GCMG, GCStJ was the last Governor of the Straits Settlements, 1934–1942 during which time World War II began. He died at age 82...
, as extravagant and defeatist.
During the Japanese invasion the then Captain Chapman took part in an undercover raid across the Perak River in support of Rose Force. During the mission Chapman noticed how lightly equipped the Japanese soldiers were in contrast to the heavy kit of the British and Indian forces.
Throughout the war Chapman remained a thorn in the Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
side, accounting for the loss of no less than seven trains, fifteen bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
s and forty motor vehicles and the killing of some hundreds of Japanese troops in a short period of time at the beginning of Japanese occupation.
In early 1942, he ran out of the supplies that had been hidden for stay behind parties such as his team. Freddie and his team then tried to escape from Malaya, but had to hide from the Japanese in the Malayan jungle with the help of the Malayan Chinese Communists led by Chin Peng
Chin Peng
Chin Peng, former OBE , was born Ong Boon Hua in Sitiawan, and was a long-time leader of the Malayan Communist Party...
who lived in guerrilla camps in the jungle waging war with the Japanese as a consequence of the Rape of Nanking. However, due to the bad conditions in the jungle and also due to Japanese attacks, he gradually lost all his team members through disease and gunfire and was completely cut off. For more than one and a half years, he had to live in jungle camps with Chinese Communist Guerrillas and travel long distances through dense and difficult jungles often suffering high fevers, caused by malaria.
In late 1943, he finally re-established contact with the British. Two other Britons joined him from Force 136
Force 136
Force 136 was the general cover name for a branch of the British World War II organization, the Special Operations Executive . The organisation was established to encourage and supply resistance movements in enemy-occupied territory, and occasionally mount clandestine sabotage operations...
. On a search-mission in the jungle for another stay-behind-Briton, Freddie was captured by the Japanese but managed to escape into jungle during the night, despite being surrounded by Japanese soldiers who were asleep as well as several on guard.
Due to continued Japanese attacks, he and the two members of Force 136
Force 136
Force 136 was the general cover name for a branch of the British World War II organization, the Special Operations Executive . The organisation was established to encourage and supply resistance movements in enemy-occupied territory, and occasionally mount clandestine sabotage operations...
, John Davis and Richard Broome were isolated again among the Communist Guerrillas until early 1945. During that time, they had to fight against diseases of the jungle, namely, malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
, beriberi
Beriberi
Beriberi is a nervous system ailment caused by a thiamine deficiency in the diet. Thiamine is involved in the breakdown of energy molecules such as glucose and is also found on the membranes of neurons...
, dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
and skin-ulcers from leech
Leech
Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from other oligochaetes in significant ways...
bites. Finally, with the help of the Malayan Chinese Communists, they managed to repair their radio equipment with spare-parts collected by the Communist Guerrillas (the military wing of this being the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army
Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army
The Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army was a resistance movement during Japanese-occupied Malaya during World War II. It originated among ethnic Chinese cadres of the Malayan Communist Party . Some units were trained by the British...
) and could contact their headquarters in Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
and organize reinforcements and supplies via parachute-drops into the jungle. Subsequently, they could support liaison of the British with the Malayan Chinese Communist Guerrillas and managed to escape from occupied Malaya in the submarine HMS Statesman
HMS Statesman (P246)
HMS Statesman was an S class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on 14 September 1943. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Statesman.-Career:She spent the time between August...
after a remarkable trek from the mainland jungle to the island Pulau Pangkor off the west coast disguised as Chinese labourers.
Chapman was wounded twice during his time in Malaya, once in the leg by a steel nut from a homemade cartridge and once in the arm. He was captured both by Japanese troops and by Chinese bandits and escaped from both. He suffered in the jungle. Once he was seventeen days unconscious, suffered from tick-typhus, blackwater fever and pneumonia. Chronic malaria being the worst of it. He walked bare foot for six days.
However much he suffered in the Malayan jungle, he attributed his survival to the basic rule that "the jungle is neutral". By this description he meant that one should view the surroundings as neither good or bad but neutral. The role of a survivalist is to expect nothing and accept the dangers and bounties of the jungle as of a natural course. Hence, one's steady state of mind was of the utmost importance to ensure that the physical health of body and the will to live were reinforced on a daily basis.
In the foreword to Chapaman's book on his experiences in Japanese occupied Malaya, The Jungle Is Neutral, Field Marshal Earl Wavell
Earl Wavell
Earl Wavell was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1947 for Field Marshal Archibald Wavell, 1st Viscount Wavell, Viceroy of India from 1943 to 1947...
wrote "Colonel Chapman has never received the publicity and fame that were his predecessor's lot (referring to T.E.Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
); but for sheer courage and endurance, physical and mental, the two men stand together as examples of what toughness the body will find, if the spirit within it is tough; and as very worthy representatives of our national capacity for individual enterprise, which it is hoped that even the modern craze for regulating our lives in every detail will never stifle."
On 21 February 1946 he was appointed to the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, backdated to 31 March 1944. A Bar
Medal bar
A medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the...
followed on 7 November 1946. He retained a reserve commission until 4 December 1957, when he reached the age limit for service. He was belatedly awarded the Efficiency Decoration
Efficiency Decoration
The Efficiency Decoration is a defunct medal of Britain and the Commonwealth awarded for long service in the Territorial Army of the UK, the Indian Volunteer Forces and Colonial Auxiliary Forces....
on 19 January 1970.
Post-war
After the war, Chapman was asked to form a School in Germany for the sons and daughters of British Forces and Control Commission Civilians resident in the British Zone of occupied Germany. This School, the King Alfred School for children 11 to 18 years of age, used the German naval establishment at Plőn in Schleswig-Holstein where Admiral Doenitz had resided during the last days of World War II. Freddie, as Headmaster, set up the school, organised the teachers, arranged for the alterations to accept both boys and girls, and then in one day in 1948 accepted 400 young boys and girls into what was possibly the first successful comprehensive, co-educational boarding school in the World. His dynamism and understanding of the requirements of young people were the guiding influence in setting up the school and it was a first class success story which lasted for 11 years. He was relieved after its successful commencement, at which time he continued in educational work as Headmaster of St Andrew's College, GrahamstownGrahamstown
Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
(1956–61) and Warden of Wantage Hall
Wantage Hall
Wantage Hall, built 1908, is the oldest hall of residence at the University of Reading. The hall is in the town of Reading in the UK. The displayed motto "Astra castra, Numen lumen" is that of the Knights of the Maccabees...
at the University of Reading
University of Reading
The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...
. Chapman suffered from frequent and severe back pain, as well as recurring stomach pain and headaches, which may have been a factor in his suicide. Chapman shot himself to death on 8 August 1971.
A bar situated at Emerald Bay on Pankor Laut, just off Pangkor Island
Pangkor Island
Pulau Pangkor is an island off the coast of Perak in north-west peninsular Malaysia, reached by ferry from Lumut . It has a land area of only 8 square kilometers, and a population of approximately 25,000 islanders...
, the rendez-vous point with the submarine, has been named after him (Chapman's).
The story of Chapman's Malayan jungle adventure can be found in The Jungle is Neutral, Frederick Spencer Chapman, Lyon Press, ISBN 1-59228-107-9, also in the book "Jungle Soldier" by Brian Moynahan, Quercus History, ISBN 978-1-84916-076-6
Publications by Frederick Spencer Chapman
All books published by Chatto & Windus in London.- Northern Lights, 1932.
- Watkins' Last Expedition, 1934.
- Lhasa: The Holy City, 1938.
- Helvellyn to Himalaya, 1940.
- Memoirs of a Mountaineer, 1945 (combined reprint of the above two).
- The Jungle is Neutral, 1948
- Living Dangerously, 1953.
- Lightest Africa, 1955.
External links
- The great birdwatching war hero—For over three years in the second world war, he blew up trains, bridges and enemy soldiers in the jungles of Malaya – all the while studying birdlife and sending home seeds. Welcome to the extraordinary life of Freddie Spencer Chapman, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 21 October 2009.