Major General Timothy Frederick Cape, CB, CBE, DSO
1915–2003
Tim Cape had a long and distinguished military career serving from the late 1930s through World War II and, later, holding a variety of positions in the postwar period until his retirement in 1972. Born in Vaucluse, in New South Wales, he was the youngest of three children whose family could trace its heritage to a line of British colonists dating back to 1817. Tim Cape’s father was a New South Wales volunteer in the Boer War of 1899–1902 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his service in South Africa. In the mid-1930s, Tim Cape joined the Australian Army and graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in December 1937. The then Lieutenant Cape was commissioned in the Australian Staff Corps and allotted to the Artillery.
Although he retained a lifelong interest in all matters pertaining to artillery, his service with the guns was short. He served with the 1st Heavy Brigade at Georges Heights in Sydney and was one of two officers tasked with establishing the 13th Heavy Battery on the approaches to Port Moresby in 1939. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, he raised the Anti-Tank Wing of the School of Artillery at Puckapunyal. For his work at the School of Artillery and his later New Guinea service, he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
In February 1942, Tim Cape was posted to Headquarters Sparrow Force in Timor, then part of the Dutch East Indies. After the fall of the Dutch East Indies to the Japanese, he operated for several months behind Japanese lines before being ordered to return to Australia. For his services in Timor he was Mentioned in Dispatches. In October 1942, as a lieutenant colonel, Tim Cape was posted to Headquarters New Guinea Force and tasked with the responsibility of establishing an effective offensive air and air logistic support capability. He did much to overcome the chaotic nature of air operations in New Guinea and served later in Borneo in a similar capacity. For these services, he was awarded the DSO and the US Bronze Star.
After the war, he was part of the British Occupation Force in Japan before receiving an appointment to the British School of Combined Operations. Subsequently, he was posted as an instructor to the British Army Staff College at Camberley and later attended the United Kingdom Joint Services Staff College. In the 1950s, he attended the Imperial Defence College in London, thus completing an extensive military education.
In Australia, General Cape was Commandant of both the Officer Cadet School at Portsea and of the Australian Staff College. He commanded Central Command before his promotion to Major General in early 1965. In the second half of the 1960s, he held the appointments of General Officer Commanding Northern Command and Master General of the Ordnance before his retirement in 1972. At the time of his retirement, he was a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and a Companion of the Order of the Bath. In retirement, Tim Cape worked as a consultant for a number of defence-related companies. He travelled widely, was a member of many clubs, societies and associations, and served as President of the ACT Branch of the Royal United Services Institute as well as becoming its National President.
General Cape’s career was shaped by his wartime service, and his interest in training and materiel matters. He was also influenced by a lengthy involvement in the higher levels of United Kingdom military education. He was involved in many of the significant organisational changes to both the Army and the Defence Department during the post–World War II era. These changes included the professionalisation of the Regular Army in the 1950s and 1960s, and the establishment of functional military commands, of the Australian Defence Force and a single ministerial department. General Cape possessed a strong sense of service, worked well with people from a wide range of backgrounds, and retained an open mind to new ideas and outlooks. Although gregarious in outlook, he could also be incisive and had a rare ability to identify the core of any issue. He played a major role in the Australian Army of his era.
Major General John Hartley (Retd)
