CAPPER, George Horace
| Service Number: | VX65245 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 October 1941, Royal Park, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Independent Brigade Group Ordnance Workshops |
| Born: | Kensington, South Australia, 28 August 1924 |
| Home Town: | Mount Gambier, Mount Gambier, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Motor mechanic |
| Died: | Illness whilst a Prisoner of the Japanese , Borneo, 21 March 1945, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Panel 27, Labuan Memorial |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Labuan Memorial, Labuan Federal Territory, Malaysia |
World War 2 Service
| 24 Oct 1941: | Enlisted Private, VX65245, Royal Park, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Oct 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX65245 | |
| 25 Oct 1941: | Involvement Private, VX65245 | |
| 16 Feb 1942: | Imprisoned Malaya/Singapore | |
| 21 Mar 1945: | Involvement Private, VX65245, 27th Independent Brigade Group Ordnance Workshops, Prisoners of War |
Help us honour George Horace Capper's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography
George Horace Capper was not born on 28 August 1922 in Liverpool, England (as he claimed on enlistment (recordsearch.naa.gov.au)). He was born on 28 August 1924 in Kensington, South Australia. He was the son of George Alfred Capper a returned WW1 serviceman and his English war bride Mabel Blanche Capper (nee Slade).
George Horace Capper's mother Blanche died in 1933 when he was 9 years old of tuberculosis. His father had shot through when Blanche first became unable to look after George Horace and his siblings. The story related by George Horace' cousin Ray Wallage goes as follows.
As she lay dying in the Northfield TB Hospital Ward Blanche Capper was comforted by somebody from the Catholic Church. With her husband having left her and her kids she decided or was persuaded to put her children in the care of the Catholic Church and upon her death George Horace and his sister Irene were sent to Catholic children's homes. Irene was sent to Melbourne where by writing notes on paper wrapped around stones which she threw over the Home's fence a kindly neighbour eventually contacted her Grandmother Faith Capper in Murray Bridge, South Australia. Faith spent a considerable amount of money on a legal challenge to Irene's custody which was eventually successful but George Horace was gone, fostered out.
When the Second World War bagan George Horace Capper, very much underage enlisted in South Australia under a false name only to be discovered at Woodside Army Training Camp when it turned out that one of his drill instructors was a former foster father.
Kicked out under age George Horace decided to enlist in Melbourne, altering his age by two years and giving his birthplace as Liverpool, England knowing it was less likely to be checked under the War conditions in England at the time.
"...VX65245 Private George Horace Capper, 27th Brigade Ordnance Workshop, Australian Army Ordnance Corps. He was one of over 2000 Allied prisoners of war (POW) held in the Sandakan POW camp in north Borneo, having been transferred there from Singapore as a part of B Force. The 1494 POW's that made up B Force, were transported from Changi on 7 July 1942 on board the tramp ship Ubi Maru, arriving in Sandakan Harbour on 18 July 1942. Private Capper, aged 22, died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 21 March 1945. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial Panel 27." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)
Click images to start slideshow.