Major General Sir Thompson Capper, KCMG, CB, DSO

  • Maj Gen Sir Thompson Capper, KCMG, CB, DSO - Taken by Peter Hinde 15 Nov 2019

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Reference WMO/268236

Address:

The Royal Memorial Chapel

Chapel Square

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Camberley

GU15 4NR

England

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Status: On original site
Type: Non freestanding
Location: Internal
Setting: Inside a building - public/private
Description: Board/Plaque/ Tablet
Materials:
  • Stone Marble
Lettering: Incised
Conflicts:
  • First World War (1914-1918)
About the memorial: Memorial to Major General Sir Thompson Capper, KCMG, CB, DSO, late East Lancashire Regiment. Son of William Capper (a civil servant with the Bengal Civil Service ) and Sarah Capper (daughter of industrialist William Copeland). Husband of Winifride Mary Capper of 67 Portland Court, Marylebone, London. Married In 1908. Educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College. Gentleman Cadet at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Commissioned into the East Lancashire Regiment 9 Sep 1882. Employed on home service for the next ten years. Promoted to Captain 22 Apr 1891. Attended Army Staff College. Posted with his Regiment to India. Saw his first action in 1895 when his regiment was part of the force sent to the Indian-Afghan border to relieve a trapped British force in Chitral. Three years later he was again in action as an advisor to an Egyptian unit of the Anglo-Egyptian army under Horatio Kitchener which travelled down the Nile in the final campaign of the Mahdist War. Fought in the battle of Atbara and was at the culminating Battle of Omdurman. Served in the Second Anglo Boer War. Was at the defeat of Spion Kop and participating in the relief of Ladysmith in early 1900. He remained in South Africa engaged in guerilla operations against the Boer forces until the armistice of May 1902, commanding a flying column in the Cape Colony. Promoted to Major 5 Dec 1901. Awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the Queen's South Africa Medal with six clasps and the King's South Africa Medal with two clasps and was twice Mentioned in Despatches. After his return to the UK at Southampton on the SS Dunottar Castle in July 1902, he was appointed Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General (DAAG) on the divisional staff of the 1st Army corps at Aldershot, and then became a professor at the Staff College, Camberley from December 1902 to 1904. He was then posted to the Staff College, Quetta in India as commandant. In 1906 he was promoted to temporary Brigadier–General. In 1910 his work at the staff college was recognised with the award of the Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the King's Birthday Honours. In 1911 he was transferred from India to Ireland, where he commanded the 13th Infantry Brigade until 1913. During early 1914, he was briefly the Inspector of Infantry but was then promoted to Major-General and took over command of the 7th Division, which deployed on 6 Oct 1914 to Zeebrugge just as the German forces began to push into that area as part of the "Race for the Sea". Initially forced back, his division covered the Belgian withdrawal to the Yser and then held the line near the town of Ypres. For the next two months, the 7th Division was embroiled in bitter fighting at the First Battle of Ypres, when they were crucial in stopping the German advance but lost over 10,000 men. For the service he and his men provided during the battle, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in early 1915. In late Sep 1915, the division fought in the Battle of Loos. He was visiting the frontline on the second day to view the enemy from captured trenches but was struck by a sniper's bullet and died the following day in a casualty clearing station aged 51 years. He is buried in front of grave II. A. in Lillers Communal Cemetery, Lillers, Departement du Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.
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In memory of Major General Sir Thompson Capper, KCMG, CB, DSO. Killed in action at Loos September 27th 1915 while commanding the 7th Division.

Thompson Capper

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