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Peter was the son of Marcus Calder ANDERSON & Sarah Jane LILLY and was born on the 7th of January 1878 in 41 Cannon Street, Pt Adelaide, SA.
His full name was Peter Calder ANDERSON.

His parents were married on the 9th of April 1877 in West Terrace, Adelaide, SA.

His father was the son of Peter ANDERSON & Margaret CALDER and was born on the 9th of July 1843 in Papigoe, Wick, Caithness, Scotland.
His mother was the daughter of Denis LILLY & Ellen CELTY and was born in 1850 in Fermanagh, Ireland.

Peter was the eldest child born into this family of 6 children.

His father had arrived in South Australia with his brother Peter on board the David McIvor on the 7th of November 1861.

His mother arrived in South Australia with her sister.

His father Captain Mariner and had previously served as a seaman on board the Princess Alice in 1872 and the Lady Emma in 1874 and after Peter’s parents married they made their home at 41 Cannon Street, Pt Adelaide.
On completing his schooling Peter gained employment as a wharf labourer.

His father died on the 9th of April 1895 in their home in Cannon Street and they buried him the following day in the Cheltenham Cemetery; Section E, Drive B, Path 32, Site Number 78.

Peter met Miss Florence Lottie GOVETT and they welcomed a child; Peter Marcus, on the 25th of March 1910.

Peter and Florence married on the 21st of September 1910 in St Paul’s Church, Pt Adelaide, SA.
Florence was the daughter of Charles Samuel GOVETT & Elizabeth Alice May Lillian HOARE and was born on the 23rd of July 1890 in Alberton, SA.

They made their home at 1 Crozier Street, Pt Adelaide, which was a little wood and iron house and they welcomed Mary Sarah Elizabeth, into the family on the 25th of July 1911.

Later the same year Peter joined the South Australian Garrison Artillery at Fort Largs.

John Charles was then born on the 1st of April 1913, followed by Florence, on the 27th of June 1915.

At the age of 38, Peter enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 3rd of January 1916 in Adelaide and allotted the service number 2279 and posted to C Company, 2nd Depot Battalion at Exhibition Camp.
On the 16th of January he was posted to B Company, 1st Depot Battalion and then transferred to the 32nd Battalion, 4th Reinforcements.

Sadly, just prior to his embarkation his little daughter Florence died on the 9th of February 1916 and they buried her in the Cheltenham Cemetery.

The following month Peter embarked from Adelaide on board RMS Mongolia on the 9th of March 1916, disembarked in Egypt in early April and transferred to the newly raised 48th Battalion

Back home in Australia, Florence gave birth to their last child; Hughie James, on the 30th of April 1916.

Peter served in France and was hospitalised with Influenza and after spending more than 3 years overseas, he embarked from England on the 12th of May 1919 and disembarked in Adelaide on the 29th of June.

Peter returned to his wive and young family and met little Hughie for the first time.
Peter was discharged from the AIF on the 13th of August 1919 and gained employment as a labourer.

On the 31st of October 1931 Peter was admitted into the Adelaide Hospital, unfortunately Peter died in the hospital 2 days later, on the 2nd of November.

His funeral left his home 2 days later, on the 4th of November and he was buried in the Cheltenham Cemetery; Section FX, Drive A, Path 25, Site Number 85N.

ANDERSON — THE FRIENDS of the late Mr. PETER ANDERSON (late 48th Battalion, A.I.F.), are respectfully informed that his Funeral is appointed to leave his late residence, No. 1, Crozier Street, Dockville, on WEDNESDAY, at 2.30 p.m., for the Cheltenham Catholic Cemetery.
F. W. MOORE, Undertaker,

Florence then married George THOMPSON on the 1st of October 1932.

With the outbreak of WW2, Peter’s sons enlisted;

(1) Peter enlisted on the 29th of June 1940 and served with the 2/48th Battalion (SX7067), which was the same Battalion as his father Peter.
Peter was awarded the Military Medal for bravery & devotion at Tobruk.

(2) John enlisted on the 14th of March 1941 and was posted to the 43rd Battalion (S24069), but never embarked.

(3) Hughie enlisted on the 21st of May 1940 and served with the 2/27th Battalion (SX3096).
He was wounded on the 30th of November 1942 and died from his wounds the following day in Papua New Guinea and was re buried in the Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery; Section A, Plot 6, Row D, Grave 8.

Military

At the age of 38, Peter enlisted into the 1st AIF on the 3rd of January 1916 in Adelaide and allotted the service number 2279 and posted to C Company, 2nd Depot Battalion at Exhibition Camp.
He listed his wife, of Crozier Street, Pt Adelaide, as his next of kin.

On the 16th of January he was posted to B Company, 1st Depot Battalion and then transferred to the 32nd Battalion, 4th Reinforcements.

Peter embarked from Adelaide on board RMS Mongolia on the 9th of March 1916 and disembarked in Egypt in early April.

On the 19th of April Peter was transferred to the newly raised 48th Battalion at Serapeum.
The 48th Battalion was raised in Egypt on the 16th of March 1916 as part of the "doubling" of the AIF. Roughly half of its new recruits were Gallipoli veterans from the 16th Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia.

The 48th Battalion became known as the "Joan of Arc" (the Maid of Orleans) Battalion because it was "made of all Leanes" - it was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ray Leane, his brother was the adjutant, and several other relatives were scattered throughout the battalion.

Three days later they marched 5 miles to the railhead where they underwent drill, musketry, artillery formation training and outpost duty.
Every day the monotonous routine of training went on, and every day Egypt's sun grew hotter. Whatever could be done to lessen the discomfort of that awful heat was done. Mess sheds were erected to which they could escape from the muggy, overpowering atmosphere of the bell tents.

On ANZAC Day they marched to the banks of the Suez where they celebrated their first ANZAC DAY when swimming sports were held. The ANZAC’s of the unit wore some red ribbon on the day to mark them out as veterans from the new lads.
On the 5th of May they marched from their camp at the railhead to Habieta, which was 12 miles from the Canal, where they took over the front line trenches in anticipation of a Turkish attack.

There was plenty of hard work, for in the constantly shifting sand the trenches had to be revetted with sandbags. Every sandstorm that blew across the desert, filled up the trenches again until one could scarcely trace the outline of them in its shining surface and then the monotonous work of clearing them recommenced.
Old wire entanglements long constructed had been covered and recovered and rendered useless for their purpose by the surging sand. These had to be made formidable once more and further reinforced.

On the 19th of May they moved back to their camp at the railhead and here preparations for France began in real earnest.
Five days later they moved to the Staging Camp in Serapeum and took part in night operations held by the 4th Division, before returning to their camp.
On the night of the 27th they marched to Serapeum and then on the 1st of June they entrained for Alexandria, arriving at 9:30am on the morning of the 2nd.

The following day, at 9am they sailed for Marseilles on board HMS Caledonia, disembarked on the 9th of June entrained immediately for the north of France.
The train journey lasted from 5pm on Friday till Monday morning.
They travelled in cattle trucks with 30 men assigned to each truck, and every man had with him his bulky pack and equipment.

They detrained at Bailleul and marched into billets at Merris.
The barns and outhouses in which they slept were very draughty, whilst for the remainder of the month of June the weather was cold and rain fell almost constantly. It was in marked contrast with the climate which they had left at the beginning of the month, and many of the men were soon suffering from colds.

Here training was resumed immediately and Officers and men went off to different schools of instruction in bayonet fighting, bombing and sniping. Here shrapnel helmets were issued for the first time and they received their first instruction in the precautions to be taken against gas and how to use the mask.

Finally on the 3rd of July they marched towards the sound of the guns until they arrived at Doulieu where they billeted for the night. Next day the march was resumed and the river Lys was crossed at Sailly. That night they had their first experience of German shrapnel bursting high and ineffectively over their heads as they entered the village of Fleurbaix.
Here they were engaged as a support Battalion for the next 8 days until they were relieved by the 54th Battalion and moved back to Doulieu and then to Merris.
On the 14th they entrained to Doullens and then marched 15 miles to Berteaucourt where they remained until the 28th when they marched 15 miles to Toutoncourt.
The following day they moved to Harpoville and then moved to Brickfields, near Albert.

Three days later they moved to Tara Hill where they bivouacked.
From this high ground they watched an intense bombardment by their artillery. The whole valley beneath them was lit up by blinding flashes of fire and the big guns thundered all around them.
The monster howitzer at Albert every now and then fired its massive shell, which travelled slowly over their heads with the noise of a passing train.
Near to the ridge the field batteries constantly barked and great volumes of smoke swept along the valley, whilst the air was filled with acrid –smelling fumes.

On the 5th of August the operation order was issued which told them that their next task would be on the ridge, which they had seen burn like Mt Vesuvius on the preceding night.
They moved by single file though Sausage Valley and onto Pioneer Trench, Chalk Pit, Corps Avenue and Tramway Trench.
That night the Battalion was finally in position and in the front trenches were men digging for their lives. Shrapnel was bursting over their heads and high explosive shells stove in their wretched parapets.
Here they were tasked with defending ground captured in earlier attacks by the 2nd Division.

At 5am on the following morning the expected counter attack by the Germans was made.
The position for a time was a dangerous one and it looked as if the Germans would not only regain the ground but also make easy capture of a few prisoners.
But luckily with the unit on the left flank was a soldier who had a good head for an emergency, Jacka V.C. of the 14th Battalion.
With a small body of men he cleverly attacked the enemy from the rear even as two platoons of the support company of the 48th rushed forward.

During these 2 days of intense fighting Peter and the 48th Battalion endured what was said to be the heaviest artillery barrage ever experienced by Australian troops and they suffered 598 casualties.

When they were relieved it was not a Battalion that marched out of the trenches but more like a jaded, tired, worn out working party making their way to the rear before dawn after a night spent in digging a jumping off trench for some fresh advance, but presenting such a picture of war worn weariness as no working party has ever shown
One by one they filed down Pioneer Trench along the sunken road and back again through Sausage Gully.

After 5 days of rest, before they had recovered from the trials of Pozieres, they were required to defend ground captured during a battle near la Ferme-du-Mouquet (Mouquet Farm).
This they completed from the 12th-15th of August and the following morning they were relieved and stole away from the trenches in the dense fog of the early morning.

Near to the Windmill, in Sausage Valley, lay the dead of the 48th Battalion.
They were buried with what brief ceremony the circumstances allowed. Some were buried where they had fallen, for the living had the first claim and the transport of the wounded was in itself all too difficult.

Others were buried near the Chalk Pit, where something of the uniformity of peace time was given to their last resting place.
Later on, when conditions allowed it, more permanent organization was introduced into the great irregular burying ground that contained the dead of so many Australian units.
On the slope of Pozieres Ridge was erected a monument to the many known and unknown Australians who slept there.
When nearly two years afterwards the tide of battle, which had receded far from the Ridge, again swept over the land enveloping Pozières and the country around, the enemy, so unaccustomed to respect anything sacred or profane, nevertheless respected that monument to the memory of the men who so withstood him.

On the 15th of August they moved the old brickfields again, where they bivouacked for the night and then march the following morning through a downpour of rain to Warloy.
Three days later they moved to Hérissart and the next day they marched through the rain, in sodden clothes and boots oozing with mud, to Berteaucourt.
Here they remained until the 23rd of August when they marched to Talmas, Rubempre and onto Vadincourt, where they were visited by General Birdwood.
Albert was their next destination and they took up a position in reserve at La Boiselle.

On the 30th of August at 8pm they moved forward to the thigh deep mud trenches at Mouquet Farm. They had received no reinforcements to make up the great losses they had suffered and now only numbered about 300 rifles. Luckily the counter attack from the Germans never eventuated and Peter and the 48th mad their way back to Albert after a few days.
By the 8th of September they had moved to Proven and marched into Connaught Camp, near Popperinghe and then they moved to a camp near Renninghelst and then to La Clytte on the 21st. After a week they relieved the 26th Battalion in the front line for a fortnight.

They then entrained for the Somme on the 26th of October and detrained at Longpre and marched to Vaux. Dernancourt was their next destination for training where they encountered snow and frost that lasted 3 weeks.

On the 17th of December they entrained for Flesselles, continued training, and spent Christmas 1916 here before moving to Dernancourt, Fridourt, Brazentin and then to Flers on the 7th of January 1917 and into the front line near Miraumont.
Their next moved was to Brazentin Camp for rest and reorganisation before they moved to Albury Camp where they were employed on railway and road work before moving into the reserve line on the 9th of February.
On the 15th they were relieved and moved to Townsville Camp and the following day they moved into the front line in Bulls Trench.
They remained here for 10 days before being relieved and moved to Becourt Camp.

They then moved to Henecourt Wood on the 1st of March for training and after 3 weeks here they moved to Shelterwood Camp, near Fricourt.
Five days later they moved to Eaucourt-sur-Somme and then on the 1st of April they moved to Biefvillers-les-Bapaume, where they carried out fatigue work.
Seven days later they relieved the 52nd Battalion in the front line at Noreuil and they were then scheduled to attack Bullecourt on the 10th.
In a hastily planned operation, and for the first time on the Western Front, the assault was to proceed without a supporting artillery bombardment. Instead tanks, being used for the first time by the British 5th Army, including the 4th Australian Division, were to lead the attack.

Two of the 4th Division’s Brigades, the 4th and 12th, were to advance to the right of Bullecourt, turn left along the Hindenburg trench system and advance until they linked up with men of the British 62nd Division attacking from the other side of the town.
Both formations were then to push through to the rear of the German defences.
When the tanks failed to reach their start line on the morning of the 10th of April the attack was postponed, leaving Peter and his Battalion lying in the snow covered no-man’s-land to hurry back to their own lines.
Dawn was breaking as they retreated under the eyes of the enemy.
The attack did go ahead the following morning on the 11th of April. Again some of the tanks failed to arrive. Those that did either broke down or were destroyed; just one reached the enemy’s first trench.

Without armoured support, Peter and the Australian infantry achieved what was, until then, considered an impossible feat; breaking into the German trenches without a protective artillery barrage.
Within hours though, they faced annihilation.

Exposed on both flanks, cut off from reinforcements by German artillery fire and at risk of being trapped by Germans working their way to the Australians’ rear, the survivors made a break for their own lines.
Less than ten hours after it began, the assault had ended in failure. Some 3,000 Australians had been killed or wounded and more than 1,100 were taken prisoner.
The following night they moved to Bapaume and then entrained for Albert on the 12th and marched to Fricourt.
They began training here before moving to Henencourt Wood on the 17th to continue training before moving to billets at Millencourt 5 days later.

They then moved to Bailleul on the 16th of May where they were engaged in unloading ammunitions.
By June they had moved to Steenwerck and were engaged in digging assembly trenches before moving to La Creche into the front line.
They were in and out of the front line here until the end of June when they moved to Ploegsteert Wood where they were engaged in cable burying and front line rotation.

August was then spent in the front line near the Wambeke River and by the end of August they were at Zuypeene. Then most of September was spent at Greuppe in training before they moved to Ypres.

Their next major battle came at Westhoek & Passchendale Ridge in October.
With three companies forward and one in reserve, they advanced steadily in their sector, taking over 200 prisoners. As the advance stalled on their left, they were caught in a German counterattack and suffered heavily, losing 369 men killed or wounded, out of the 621 men involved.
After Passchendaele, they were withdrawn out of the line throughout the winter, spending Christmas 1917 at Haut Allaines.

Their next moves was to Cavanagh Camp, near La Clytte where they were engaged in working and fatigue parties.
They relieved the 13th Battalion in Crater Dugouts on the 7th of February and after 7 days here they relieved the 47th Battalion at White Chateau, near Hollebeke.
Whilst here, Peter suffered from Influenza and was admitted into the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station at Outtersteene.
The following day he was transferred and admitted into the 14th General Hospital in Wimereux, where he spent the next 3 weeks recuperating.

Peter was discharged to the 5th Rest Camp in Wimereux on the 13th of March and 4 days later he was discharged to the 1st AIBD (Australian Infantry Base Depot) in Le Havre.
After another 4 weeks here he rejoined his Battalion on the 16th of April at Beaucourt.

The previous month, following the collapse of Russia, the Germans had launched the "Spring Offensive", a major operation on the Western Front. As the Allies were pushed back, the 48th Battalion undertook a defensive role around Dernancourt, blocking the Amiens Road.

On the 26th of July Peter gained some rest at the 4th Division Army Rest Camp and was then granted 2 weeks leave to England.
He rejoined his Battalion on the 30th of August at St Vast in training before joining the final Allied offensive around Amiens.

Peter and his Battalion were then withdrawn from the line in mid-September and did not see action again before the war ended on the 11th of November 1918.
When the Armistice was signed they were located at Revelles in training and by the end of November they had moved to Aves-Nelles.
Peter’s last Christmas away from family and friends was spent at Waulsort and they later moved to Nalinnes where they spent March.

On the 21st of March Peter said his last goodbyes to his remaining comrades and marched out, as part of No.19 Quota, for embarkation to England.
He disembarked in England on the 1st of April and proceeded to No.4 Command Depot in Hurdcott.

Peter embarked from England on board HT Port Napier the 12th of May 1919, disembarked in Adelaide on the 29th of June.

Peter was discharged from the AIF on the 13th of August 1919 and awarded the British War & Victory Medals.