Chapman was 25 years old, and a corporal in the 3rd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment, British Army during the Second World War when the following action took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 2 April 1945, near the Dortmund-Ems canal, Germany, Corporal Chapman's section came under heavy machine-gun fire from German units dug in and concealed, causing many casualties.