Driver Douglas Roy Capps, aged just 23, was among the many young men of the Medway Towns whose lives were cut short in the earliest and most desperate days of the Second World War. Serving with the Royal Army Service Corps, he was part of the vital logistical network that kept the British Expeditionary Force supplied during the retreat through Flanders in May 1940.
The Royal Army Service Corps was responsible for transport and supply: moving men, equipment, fuel, and ammunition. Although not a front-line combat arm, its personnel frequently worked under fire and in rapidly collapsing operational conditions during the retreat to the Channel ports.
The date of his death, 27 May 1940, places it at the very height of the evacuation of Dunkirk – known as Operation Dynamo. Although the precise circumstances are unknown, contemporary reports state that Douglas died of wounds received on a ship while returning from Flanders. This suggests that he may have boarded the evacuation vessel uninjured, but was subsequently wounded during the passage, later succumbing to those injuries during the hazardous Channel crossing, as thousands of troops were brought back to England under constant threat of enemy attack.
Douglas was the only son of Richard and Augusta Capps of “Thekla”, Bourneville Avenue, Chatham. Educated at the Cathedral Choir School and later at The King’s School, Rochester, he was remembered not only for his studies but also for his prowess on the cricket field, where his powerful hitting left a strong impression on his peers. In civilian life, he was employed as a clerk by the Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham Gas Company, where he was well liked by colleagues and known throughout the Medway Towns for his striking height and warm character.
Douglas was laid to rest at Dover (St James’s) Cemetery, among many who fell during those critical weeks of 1940. His headstone bears the moving inscription: “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN” – a simple yet powerful tribute.
Unusually for a man of his age of the time, Douglas had left a will, and probate was granted at Llandudno on 4 November 1940 to his father, Richard Capps, assistant superintendent at the Post Office. His effects amounted to £351 5s 2d, the equivalent of tens of thousands of pounds today. Though little detail of his wartime service or his final hours survives, Driver Capps’ story reflects that of so many: a young man of promise, community, and character, whose life was given in the service of his country at a moment when the outcome of the war was still far from certain.
Driver Douglas Roy Capps lies buried in Dover (St James’s) Cemetery
