Lieutenant Colonel Cecil Harry "Jiggs" Jaeger,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(29 April 1913 – 27 September 1970) was a British

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

leader. Jaeger was born in

Elham, Kent Elham () is a village and civil parish in East Kent situated approximately south of Canterbury and north west of Folkestone in the Elham Valley. At the 2011 Census the population included the hamlet of Ottinge and village of Wingmore. Histo ...

,''England & Wales, Death Index: 1984-2005'' the son of a German father, Heinrich Jaeger, and English mother, Mina Pickering. He joined the

King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somers ...

at the age of 14. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in Italy, Greece and Austria, as the bandmaster of the

4th Hussars The 4th Queen's Own Hussars was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685. It saw service for three centuries, including the World War I, First World War and the World War II, Second World ...

. He appeared as a castaway on the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' on 18 November 1968. At that time he was Senior Director of Music in the

Brigade of Guards The Brigade of Guards was an administrative formation of the British Army from 1856 to 1968. It was commanded by the Major-General commanding the Household Division, Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards and was responsible for administ ...

, a post he had held since 1949. He was an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE). He died in

Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

, aged 57.

Bibliography

References

1913 births 1970 deaths People from Elham, Kent Officers of the Order of the British Empire King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry soldiers 4th Queen's Own Hussars officers British Army personnel of World War II British people of German descent Military personnel from Kent British military musicians {{UK-army-bio-stub