Royal Navy, Service no. D/KX 102769
Born: 1921. Son of Tom Capper and Florrie Wilson
Killed in action: 10th December 1941, in Italy, aged 20
Story
Cyril was the only son of Tom Capper and Florrie Wilson, of Ledston Luck. He was formerly connected with the 1st Kippax Troop of Boy Scouts, and he had been in the Navy for 2 years before he was killed on board HMS Repulse.
HMS Repulse and the new Battleship the Prince Of Wales, were among the fleet sent by Winston Churchill to deter expected Japanese aggression. The ships and their escorting destroyers arrived in Singapore on 2 December 1941. At 00:50 on 10 December, Admiral Philips received a signal of enemy landings at Kuantan and correspondingly altered course so that he would arrive shortly after dawn. The Japanese sighted the British at 02:20, reported their position, and fired five torpedoes, all of which missed. Based on this report the Japanese launched 11 reconnaissance aircraft before dawn to locate the Navy. Several hours later 86 bombers from the 22nd Air Flotilla based in Saigon were launched carrying bombs or torpedoes. A Japanese reconnaissance bomber spotted the British at 10:15 and radioed in several reports. The pilot was ordered to maintain contact and to broadcast a directional signal that the other Japanese bombers could follow.
The first attack began at 11:13 when 250 kilograms (551 lb) bombs were dropped from eight Japanese Bombers. The Prince of Wales battlecruiser was straddled by two bombs, then hit by a third which penetrated through the hangar to explode on the armoured deck below. This inflicted a number of casualties. Anti-aircraft fire damaged five of the Japanese bombers, two so badly that they immediately returned to Saigon. In the ensuing attacks, HMS Repulse was skilfully handled by her captain, Bill Tennant, who managed to avoid 19 torpedoes as well as the remaining bombs. However, Repulse was then caught by a synchronised pincer attack by 17 Mitsubishi G4M torpedo bombers and hit by four or five torpedoes in rapid succession. The gunners on the Repulse shot down two planes and heavily damaged eight more, but the torpedo damage proved fatal. At 12:23, Repulse listed severely to port and quickly capsized with the loss of 508 officers and men. The destroyers Electra and Vampire rescued the survivors, including Captain Tennant. Cyril Senior who was on board gave an account of the event:
“During the next lull, one of the gun’s crew, Dave Lissaman, asked if he could give me a spell on the headphones. I handed them over to him, and he sat in the gunlayer’s seat where I had been sitting. Within minutes of our changing places another plane, which had come in from a different angle, flew alongside machine gunning and Dave received a direct hit in the forehead from one of the bullets and became the first casualty on our gun crew. When the order to abandon ship had been given one of our gun crew by the name of Fred Strong, who came from Manchester, said to me “Stay with me when we get in the water Yorky, will you? Because I can’t swim a stroke”. I replied that I would and immediately started to prepare for going over the side. I looked at Fred, he was still wearing all his gear plus boots and tin hat. I said to him “Look you can’t swim, make it a bit easier by stripping off most of your gear.” He commenced to do this by taking off his boiler suit and folding it neatly, in true Royal Marine fashion, placing it on top of his boots. We slid down the side of the ship together, but after I surfaced, I could find no sign of Fred. I swam away from the ship, and was in the water for two hours and thirty-five minutes, until I was eventually picked up by HMAS Vampire, and amazingly, it was none other than Fred Strong who helped me aboard once he’d scrambled up the netting! Sadly, Fred was later killed, during the fighting prior to the fall of Singapore.”
Stoker Capper was at first believed to be a survivor, but his parents then received notification he was missing. A penfriend of Cyril’s sister, teaching English in Singapore, sent Christmas and New Year Best wishes before the Repulse (pictured below with its crew) was sunk.
Cyril Capper is listed on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 52, Column 3.
Kippax Roll of Honour 