Regiment: Machine Gun Corps 30th Battalion
Service No: 113743
Date & place of birth: January to March 1890, Petworth
Date & place of death: 24 February 1919 (aged 29), Sangatte, France
Family background
Corporal William Caplin was the son of Daniel and Sarah Jane Caplin. Daniel was a lamplighter in 1901 and an estate labourer living in the Shimmings in 1911. William was the eldest of five and had two sisters and two brothers. It has not been possible to track William down in 1911.
Military service
Corporal William Caplin was a private in the Royal Sussex before becoming a corporal in the Machine Gun Corps. He entered the Theatre of War on 17 August 1915.
Death and commemoration
William is recorded as dying on 24 February 1919 on the Commonwealth War Grave Commission website, when he would have been 29. He is buried in Les Baraques Military Cemetery, Sangatte (near Calais) and was awarded the British, Victory and 15 star medals.