Chapman Frederick Spencer

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Biografie:
gestorben in Courmayeur (Italien)

Frederick Spencer Chapman 1907-71
Of Freddy Chapman's many qualities, that for which he will be remembered was his extraordinary power of endurance. In the practice of his professed belief that determined singleness of purpose could master all weakness, he not only achieved remarkable feats on the mountains but overcame hardships which no lesser man could have survived.
His early life was a lonely once, for he was orphaned as a child. His love of the countryside and of it natural history owed much to understanding masters at Sedbergh, who allowed him to run loose over the fells instead of conscripting him into the organised games. There, and in the school holidays, much of which he spent with his guardians in the Lake District, he developed the –kills of travelling fast and far over the hills. And especially he widened his appreciation of wildlife and natural beauties which so enriched hi subsequent writings.
At Cambridge he found kindred spirits in the C..U.M.C., and Sunday evening soirées at the shrine of Geoffrey Young opened his eyes to the wider opportunities of mountaineering. With Cambridge friends he had the conventional initiation into British rock-climbing. But for Chapman, rock-climbing was not an end in itself, but a means of improving technique for mountaineering on greater ranges. After a short season in the Dauphiné in 1928, he turned to
skiing, in which he soon became proficient,
By 1931 Freddy had reached an age when his mentor, Arthur Wakefield, considered him mature enough to tackle the round of Lakeland summit of which he, Wakefield, had been the pioneer. In spite of bad weather and a stumble in the dark which cost him a broken compass, he achieved the round of 130 miles and 33,000 ft of up and down. But he took twenty-five hours, so failed to qualify for the record, This astounding achievement matches even the great 'Beardie' nearly forty years later (see A.J. 75 - 340).
Once Chapman had met Gino Watkins he was committed to Greenland. first with the British Arctic Air Route party of 1930-1, the purpose of which was to locate suitable staging posts for transatlantic aircraft. He was in Greenland again the following year with the similar Pan-American Expedition. during which Watkins was so tragically lost. His two books, Northern Lights and Watkins' Last Expedition describe these two seasons. In 1934 he was in Greenland a third time, making preparations for a British Graham Land party. But the time had come for him to consider his future. He settled for teaching, and started as a master at Aysgarth School.
However, after two years an invitation to join Marco Pallis in Sikkim was irresistible. He stayed on with Harrison's party to climb the 23,000-ft Fluted Peak. Back in Gangtok after his famous marathon run of the four stages from Lachen in one day, he had the great fortune to be invited by Basil Gould, the Political Agent, to accompany him as secretary on a six months' mission to Lhasa. He told of this in his beautifully illustrated book Lhasa the Holy City.
Like every traveller before him, whether to Lhasa or by the old route to Everest from the north, Chapman was fascinated by Chomolhari, the 24,000-ft peak which rises 10,000 ft above the Phari plain. Shortly after his return he organised a small party of Charles Crawford and three Sherpas for the ascent. His achievement in reaching the summit, with Pasang Dawa Lama then with little climbing experience, and in barely a week out from Phari, with the minimum of equipment, and without time for prior reconnaissance, will rank for all time as a mountaineering epic. They suffered grievously on the descent-a long fall from the summit ridge, then storms, a crevasse accident, and days of endurance without fuel or food.
Return to school, now at Gordonstoun, did not last for long. With the war, Freddy was commissioned in the Seaforth Highlanders and was attached to the Ski Battalion of the Scots Guards. This led to training at Chamonix. After a spell as instructor at the S.O.E. training centre at Arisaig he was posted to a Commando School in Australia, then in 1941 to Singapore.
He arrived in August 1941, and when the Japanese invaded Malaya all special operations were concentrated on putting trained parties into the jungle to harry the enemies' communications. The story of Chapman's almost singlehanded achievements, and of his survival in the jungles of Malaya for 3 1/2 Years after the operation for his recovery had failed, of his escape after capture, of his enduring infinite hardship, starvation and disease, have been vividly described in his best-selling book The Jungle is Neutral. He was awarded the D.S.O. when he was safely brought out by submarine, and later a bar to his D.S.O. for his subsequent activities after he had parachuted into Japanese-held Malaya.
His return to headquarters in Ceylon led to his romantic marriage to Faith Townson, who had been at the receiving end of the signals he had sent out of Malaya.
In addition to his war decorations, Spencer Chapman was much honoured by Geographical Societies. The white ribbon of his Polar Medal was a rare sight in the tropics.
After the war he was appointed the first organising secretary of the Outward Bound Trust, and in these days he became widely known as a lecturer and broadcaster on 'living dangerously'. His sixth book bore this title. Then he returned to his old career, first as headmaster of the newly established King Alfred School near KieI, then, after a year back in England, he was off again on an extensive tour of Africa by caravan sponsored by Outward Bound.
He took his wife and their three young sons, the youngest aged two, on this 17,000-mile journey lasting a year. Again, he wrote a typically charming book, Lightest Africa.
In 1956 he was in Africa again as headmaster of St Andrew's CoIlege, Grahamstown, where he introduced many new outdoor activities, and set up the SouthAfrican version of Outward Bound. When he returned to England he spent some time as warden of the Pestalozzi Children's village, then finally became warden of Wantage Hall at Reading University.
Freddy Spencer Chapman will be long remembered by his writings, which reveal not only the details of his phenomenal achievements but also of his character. His style is intensely personal and refreshingly uninhibited and he always recorded his close observation of everything around him: the landscape, the birds, the flowers and the stars. Indeed, he knew the stars so well that he could tell his direction and the hour of the night when only the smallest segment of the heavens might be visible. Are not these the qualities of the Complete Traveller and the Complete Mountaineer?
He had other interests. He was a keen gardener and an understanding lover of paintings. He achieved a high degree of proficiency and artistry in photography both with a cine camera and with still pictures.
Of all men, one thought Freddy Spencer Chapman the most indestructible. His sudden and premature end was a great shock to his many friends and a sad loss to us all.
Quelle: Alpine Journal Volume 77, 1972, Seite 291-293


Geboren am:
10.05.1907
Gestorben am:
1971