THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE - Screaming Bill

Captain W. S. (Bill) Jaeger (born 1922 and died 1995)

The Lone Tree in October 2005

click to enlarge

24th October 2005

Hi Valerie,

Captain Bill Jaeger

There was a Captain Bill Jaeger who worked for the shipping company London & Overseas Freighters. The age would be about right.

For a variety of reasons, he was known throughout the company as "Screaming Bill". He was very tall and the spitting image of Fidel Castro.

He was definitely from the south of England but not sure where - he wasn't the "So where are you from, Bill?" sort of bloke. I'll try and find out.

Best wishes, John.

John Trotter, Brisbane, Australia.

11th Noember 2005

Hi Valerie,

Well, here it is - all about Captain Jaeger.

I have attached a bit of a write up, please feel to edit if it's too long. Also some photos - including one of the Man Himself on a page from the LOF News - unfortunately, I don't know how to cut out all the unwanted stuff - I know you're so clever with all the computer stuff that you can sort it out. I included photos of the ships in case you're interested but feel free to drop them if it's getting too big.

Could you send me a photo of the bench, showing it on Cissbury Ring as Karen Jones from NUMAST would like to see it (not that I won't be pointing her in the direction of your site, of course).

Hope it is all of interest to you. Talk about there being six degrees of difference between everyone - I don't think there's that many, do you? Life is so full of coincidences.

Best wishes, John.

John Trotter, Brisbane, Australia.

Captain Bill Jaeger

Valerie came across a bench on Cissbury Hill, dedicated to a “Captain Bill Jaeger (1922-1995)”, commemorating his work in the conservation of the Sussex Downs. Having known a Captain Bill Jaeger with the shipping company London & Overseas Freighters Ltd, I was, of course, immediately galvanized into action when Valerie expressed curiosity about the identity of Captain Bill.

LOF’s Captain Jaeger was elected president of the Mercantile Marine Service Association (a sort of Master Mariner’s union) in 1982, so I thought this would be a good place to start. It turns out that the MMSA has since been amalgamated with other seafarer organizations and is now known as NUMAST. I contacted NUMAST and soon received a response from a very helpful lady, Karen Jones. She originally worked for MMSA, knew Captain Jaeger well and was able to confirm that he was born in 1922, died in 1995 and lived in Worthing, Sussex. Problem solved!

From old copies of the in-house magazine “LOF News” I was able to glean the following: Captain W.S. Jaeger joined LOF in 1956, having previously worked for the famous “Bank Line”, and was appointed Master in 1961. He had an illustrious career with the company and his last ship seems to have been “London Earl” in 1982, trading between Argentina and the Black Sea. By that time, LOF along with many other British shipping companies was in severe decline.

London Earl

My encounter with “Bill” (not that I would have dared call him that!) was in 1976 aboard the cargo ship “London Bombardier”.

London Bomardier

We had been in the Persian Gulf for about 4 months and were anchored off Bahrain waiting to load aluminium ingots for Japan. One morning I was chatting with the 3rd Mate on the bridge when all of a sudden we heard loud shouting from outside. We went to the bridge wing and looked over – there, standing in a small boat and wearing a navy blue gaberdine, was a six foot six carbon copy of Fidel Castro, waving his arms about and bellowing for the gangway to be lowered. “Oh no,” cried the 3rd Mate, “it’s Screaming Bill!” It turned out that the incumbent Captain was being relieved due to illness.

“Screaming Bill” was Bill’s nickname throughout the company – it shouldn’t be too hard to imagine why. He was quite stern, certainly an “old school’ Captain and occasionally eccentric. This is not to say that he wasn’t extremely competent. He terrified the deck staff but many of his antics were a source of amusement to the engineers whom he more or less ignored.

By contrast, Karen Jones’ memories from a different perspective, are of a “kind, lovely man” with whom she remained friends for many years

Captain Jaeger was a forthright man and would have been a fierce proponent for any cause he espoused. In an article about a service at St Paul’s commemorating the Falklands War, he didn’t mind commenting on the shabby, “salt encrusted” uniform worn by Prince Phillip! I’m sure he earned his commemorative bench.

RIP, Screaming Bill.

John Trotter.

November 2005.... the view to the north to Chanctonbury Ring on the horizon.

Here are Katie and Suzie looking for the ghost of the great man at his bench. November 2005

November 2005.

Aerial photograph by Grahame Algar of nearby Lancing in the summer of 2005

Boxing Day 2005

Dear Valerie,

Screaming Bill Jaeger

I have only today been told about your website.

A friend of my mother's had found it and passed the details on to me today.

Although my mother knew of this nickname, I have only just found out that my father was known as "Screaming Bill"!

Anyway, Captain Bill Jaeger MN was my father. I am one of his four children and was born and brought up in Worthing. We spent our childhood in Offington and often walked on the Downs up tp Cissbury Ring or went blackberrying along the bridlepath towards the Ring from Warren Road.

Dad wasn't often around as he spent his working life as a mariner on cargo and, mainly, oil tankers so was away for many months at a time.

It was mainly due to my Mother's efforts that we spent much of our childhood on the Downs. We all had the chance to learn to ride and my sister and I were pony mad girls riding from Granny Francis' Offington Hall Stables ( where I also spent many weekedns earning a free ride to the field on Findon Road) and from Ivy Arch Stables on Stable Lane, Findon, where we learned much from Miss Edna Seaward. So we both know the Downs around Findon very well indeed.

Of course my memories of my father are rather different from those who worked in his crews.

He did have a short fuse but was also great fun and would be a strong supporter for a cause in which he believed.

When he retired from the sea he involved himself in a number of local causes, mainly in conservation and the countryside.

He was deeply concerned that what he saw as the obsession with road building and the use of roads for almost all freight movements was short-sighted and would be regretted. Hence his opposition to the proposed route for the A27 through the South Downs. He spent very many hours attending the Public Enquiry, preparing responses and publicising the case against this route.

In this he and his colleagues in the "STOP" group were successful, along with many
other groups and individuals.

My father was not anti-car, indeed he loved classic cars and car racing. He was concerned that the car should be the servant of people and not allowed to dominate by ill thought out and irreversible road construction and transport policies.

He advocated the use of sea and rail for freight as a more environmentally sound means of transporting goods.

He also advocated the use of local shops and suppliers to reduce food miles and unnecessary transportation of goods and livestock from one central point to another
and back again.

My father was brought up in Shoreham, attending Shoreham Grammar School. His mother was widowed when my Dad was very young. She brought up Dad and his sister Joan by herself. Dad spent all his spare time around the many ships in Shoreham Harbour and was always destined to go to sea. He saw himself through Merchant Navy College and became a Cadet Officer.

Eventually he became a Master and was the Senior Master with LOF when he retired - a self-made man.

His great interest was navigation across the oceans and across the great land masses. He was very involved in the Institute of Navigation.

Of his family: my mother, one brother and I still live here in Worthing. Our only regret was that Dad didn't live to see the decision to make the South Downs a National Park: he would have been cock-a-hoop at that!

We were delighted that the National Trust agreed to a plaque being placed on what we think of as "Dad's Bench" up on Cissbury. We do visit there when walking our dogs and are proud of our Dad's contribution to preserving that view and scenery which could otherwise have been lost forever, becoming just another noisy dual carriageway.

With best wishes,

Honor J Byford, Worthing, West Sussex.

28th December 2005

Dear Valerie

Thank you for including my father in your website.

My sister has written enough already and hopes to show the website to Mum.

My cousin Margie in USA ( one of his sister's two daughters ) read it too on Christmas Day when we told her about it.

He loved the Downs as did all our family.

Best Regards

Julia Jaeger

20th January 2006

Hi Valerie

Bill Jaegar

l was very interested in your web site as l sailed at one time with Bill Jaeger.

I joined the London Loyalty in 1956 as 3rd mate, Bill was First Mate and the Captain was Capt Williamson, all three of us were from Worthing and l also attended Shoreham Grammer School although a lot later than Bill.

This is not very startling information or very useful but possibly slightly interesting.

Regards John Bond

22nd February 2006

Valerie,

You are writing like an Arboriculture Expert!

Are you hiding your light...?

Your breadth of knowledge always astounds me - I now "take it for granted"!

(Don't go and get all wet!)

Peter.

Peter Archbold, Ashburton, South Island, New Zealand.

The ascent made by the amateur intrepid adventurers through mud and mire.

The final lap of the gruelling ascent up the slippery steps.

Katie indicates the outline skeleton and formation of the tree through the wind and biting gale

"This is the one.... well, what is it then... you should know?"

"Dunno".

Suzie barks through the wind, "Send him my outline, it's much better".

Now suffering from severe frostbite, I take off my gloves once more to take an image of the sodden base of the mysterious tree to help with the ID.

Trunk of sodden tree.

Close-up of buds (always in twos) sprouting in readiness for the Spring.....swaying in the wind .....to assist with my final identification.

A thorough search of the nearby windswept ground showed it was barren with no sign of spent acorns or nuts.... nor leaves to help me with identification. A sudden inspiration made me search around the very base of the tree where the twigs were sprouting ....and I discovered stuck to the ground some miserable remnants of shrivelled, blackened and moulding specimens from last autumn.... These were five lobed and abut five inches across.