The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3746) Private Arthur Peters, 49th Battalion (Infantry), First World War

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial every day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (3746) Private Arthur Peters, 49th Battalion (Infantry), First World War.

3746 Private Arthur Peters, 49th Battalion
DOW 9 August 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 1 August 2013

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Private Arthur Peters.

Arthur Peters was the third son in his family from Aldgate, South Australia, to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. His two elder brothers, Edward and Roy, had enlisted within weeks of the outbreak of war and gone to Gallipoli with the 16th Battalion. Both men were wounded in May 1915, Edward seriously enough to be sent back to Adelaide. When Arthur heard that his elder brother was unable to continue in the war, he asked his parents to let him go and take Edward's place.

And so Arthur Peters enlisted in August 1915 at the age of 18 with the consent of his parents. Although originally posted to the 16th Battalion like his brothers, he spent some time in pioneer battalions and was eventually transferred to the 49th Battalion as a part of the reorganisation of the AIF.

In June 1916 he was sent to France to fight on the Western Front. The first major action of the newly-formed 49th Battalion was near the French village of Pozières. While holding the front line in this heavily-shelled sector of the Somme, men of the battalion were expected to repair their trenches and dig communications saps. This they did to good effect, but because of the heavy shelling they took a number of casualties in the process. Arthur Peters was one of three men to be wounded on 9 August. His wounds were so severe that he died at the 12th Australian Field Ambulance in the field.

Roy Peters, the brother wounded with Edward on Gallipoli, was wounded a second time just days after Arthur died. He went on to recover and fight at Bullecourt in April 1917, where he went missing. He was presumed to have been killed in action in the confusion of that intense battle. Only Edward survived the war, after years in hospital in South Australia, but he never worked again.

The names of Arthur and Roy Peters are listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, along with more than 60,000 others from the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Arthur Peters, Private Roy Peters, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.