100 Days of Heroes: Soldier Victor Capstick’s remains were never recovered

GEORGE Town man George Capstick’s son was registered at birth as “Victorian Archibald John”, but by the time he joined the army in 1914 he was just Victor.

MERCURY TASMANIA, 100 DAYS OF HEROES Sapper Victor Capstick is remembered at tree 64 on the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue

GEORGE Capstick registered the birth of his son with the George Town Council in the summer of 1889-90.

The registrar noted the name of the boy as Victorian Archibald John, but by the time he joined the army in 1914 he was just Victor.

He was the second youngest of six children and after leaving school he worked as a labourer. In February 1914 he married Edith Scripps and they were living at 35 Runnymede St, Battery Point, with their son Basil when Victor enlisted with the 3rd Field Company Engineers.

MORE 100 DAYS OF HEROES:

SICKNESS STRUCK AS JAMES FISHER SAILED TO WAR

DOUBLE THE PAIN FOR WICKINS BROTHERS’ MUM

He left on the troopship Berrima at Christmas, 1914, and like many soldiers, Victor wanted to see the sights the different ports had to offer on the way to the Middle East.

This was not always possible, and on January 12, 1915, he was charged with being absent from the ship for one day without leave. He was fined ten shillings ($1) and lost a day’s pay.

Soon after arriving in Egypt, his unit was sent to the Suez Canal to construct trenches and floating bridges.

They also took part in the landing at Gallipoli, from where Victor was evacuated in June 1915 with a bout of influenza. He later rejoined his unit and remained at Gallipoli until it was abandoned.

Family gathered at the tree for Victor Capstick on the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue in August 1918.

On July 22, 1916, Australian troops were preparing for battle at Pozieres, France, and the men of the 3rd Field Company Engineers went forward to dig communication trenches and strongpoints.

The Germans had been expecting the attack and intermittently fired shrapnel, high explosive shells and phosgene gas-shells at the Australians.

The exact circumstances of Victor’s death at age 27 are not known, and his remains were never recovered. His name appears on the memorial to those missing in action at Villers-Bretonneux, France.

Victor’s older brother William enlisted with the New Zealand army and was killed in action in March 1918, and Victor’s wife Edith died in Hobart in 1924. Their orphaned son Basil lived until 1976.

Sapper Victor Capstick is remembered at tree 64 on the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue and on honour boards at the Hobart Town Hall and Holy Trinity Church.

Sapper Victor Capstick’s plaque on the Soldiers’ Memorial Avenue