Major General Sir John Edward Capper, KCB, KCVO (7 December 1861 − 24 May 1955) was a senior officer of the British Army during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century who served on the North-West Frontier of British India, in South Africa and during the First World War, where he was instrumental in the development of the tank.

He was the older brother of Major General Thompson Capper, who was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in late 1915.

An experienced engineer, Capper was involved in numerous building projects during his years in India and pioneered the development of airships in Britain.

Although Capper was sometimes described as pompous and possessing poor communication skills, earning the nickname "Stone Age" for his attitude towards the ideas of junior officers in the Royal Tank Corps (later the Royal Tank Regiment), he nevertheless played a vital role in the development and deployment of armoured vehicles in the British Army.

[1][2][3] A capable engineering officer, Capper served in India and Burma for most of the first 17 years of his career, principally employed on military and public construction projects.

He returned to England in June 1902,[5] following the end of hostilities the previous month, and on 22 August 1902 was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the October 1902 South Africa Honours list.

At about the same time the Balloon Factory was split off and moved to a new site nearby at Farnborough and, on Templer's retirement, Capper also became its Superintendent and was given the brevet rank of full colonel.

Promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general later that month, Capper was first made deputy inspector of the lines of communications[16] before being given the post of chief engineer to the III Corps.

[19] Capper remained in command of the division for the next 18 months, including periods of heavy fighting in 1916 at the Battle of the Somme, in which his son John was killed in action serving with the Royal Artillery.

Capper's job at the Tank Corps was to shape the organisation of the unit into an efficient battlefield force, improve mechanical reliability and develop effective tactics.

It was in this role that Capper was given the nickname Stone Age, as his subordinates considered him to be unwilling to accept new innovations in tank tactics.

[1] In fact, Capper was an able tactician who worked with Colonel J. F. C. Fuller to develop a plan for a large scale armoured assault on German lines in 1919 (known as Plan 1919): his subordinates' prejudices were based on Capper's rigid adherence to the military hierarchy and his consequent failure to communicate his ideas to those below his rank.

[1] For his services as director general of the Tank Corps, Capper was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in June 1917.

[1] During the Second World War, Capper joined the Hampshire Home Guard and remained on duty with the unit until 1943.