Ernest Capon was the fourth son of Mary and Charles, born in Melton on 7th March 1891. In 1911, he was working on his father’s farm. On 22nd March 1912, he joined the Suffolk Yeomanry in Ipswich.

When war was declared, the Suffolk Yeomanry were part of the Eastern Mounted Brigade, billeted in and around Woodbridge. They remained in the area undergoing training until 25th September 1915, when the Suffolk Yeomanry boarded the White Star Line’s requisitioned ship, the SS Olympic (sister ship to the Titanic), bound for Gallipoli in Turkey. As they passed Gibraltar to enter the Mediterranean Sea they had a close encounter with a German U-boat which was avoided due to the speed the SS Olympic was sailing. The Olympic reached the Dardanelles safely in a mere eight days, considerably quicker than expected.

The Suffolk Yeomanry disembarked on 10th October on lighters and were landed on Anzac Cove. Their time in the Dardanelles was short lived and, two months later on 8th December, they were withdrawn and sent to Alexandria in Egypt.

Their time in Egypt was spent bolstering the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force presence in the area in order to protect the Suez Canal from the Turks. It was on 5th January 1917 that the battalion underwent a reorganisation and became the 15th (Yeomanry) Battalion Suffolk Regiment.

In April 1917, they were on the move again to join the fighting in Palestine and, throughout the year, Ernest and his battalion took part in the Second and Third Battles of Gaza, including the Capture of Beersheba, the Capture of Jerusalem and the defence of Jerusalem.

On 1st May 1918, Ernest and the 15th (Yeomanry) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment boarded the HMT Leasowe Castle, arriving in Marseilles on the 7th. From here, the battalion went by train to Noyelles in France. Through June and July, the battalion was held in reserve, undergoing training for the vastly different warfare they had been used to in Palestine.

On 9th July, they were finally deployed to the front at the Amusoires-Haverkerque line, which became known as the “Amusing Haversack Line” by the men, on the River Lys. Here they remained until 24th July when they were relieved and sent to billets before a move south, to Maricourt on the Somme.

On the 10th September, their orders were to take the village of Templeux-Le-Guerard and some well-defended quarries nearby. Zero hour was at 05:30 and, in darkness and pouring rain, the battalion advanced, capturing their first objective by 07:30 and taking over five hundred prisoners in the process. It was in this attack that another Melton man, William Beaden, was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.

From this point until the end of the war in November, Ernest and the 15th Suffolks were involved in the push for the Hindenburg Line, chasing the retreating German army. Ernest was discharged from the 15th Suffolks on 6th March 1919, when he returned home to Melton. He married Ruby Pretty in 1922 and, in 1939, they were living at Binsted Wyck, near Alton in Hampshire where Ernest was working as a Farm Bailiff. For his war service, Ernest received the 1914-15 Star and the British War and Victory Medals.

Ernest died, aged ninety, on 29th March 1981 in Dyfed, Wales.