CHALMERS, Peter
| Service Number: | 1815 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 March 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 38th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mysia, Victoria, Australia, 28 June 1893 |
| Home Town: | Mysia, Loddon, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Mysia State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in action, Belgium, 13 October 1917, aged 24 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Mysia State School No 1899 Honor Roll , Mysia War Memorial School, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 25 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1815, 38th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Aug 1916: | Involvement Private, 1815, 38th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: RMS Orontes embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 16 Aug 1916: | Embarked Private, 1815, 38th Infantry Battalion, RMS Orontes, Melbourne |
Help us honour Peter Chalmers's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Thomas and Elizabeth CHALMERS, Mysia, Victoria
Military Medal
'On 4th October 1917, East of YPRES, he displayed conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in action. He worked with his Brother [1816 T.M. CHALMERS] throughout the whole of the Brigade Operations, acting as Stretcher Bearers. Both displayed great gallantry in carrying wounded and both continued their work without intermission for nearly fifty hours. Their devotion to duty was a fine example to all other stretcher bearers, whom they organised and supervised throughout. Stretcher-bearing under the conditions which prevailed was a most arduous task calling for bravery and perseverance beyond the ordinary.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 95
Date: 27 June 1918
Biography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Peter Chalmers was one of three brothers from Mysia, Victoria, who enlisted in the AIF during the Great War. Two of them won Military Medals for bravery in the field, and two of them lay unburied in the fields of France and Flanders.
They were born and raised at Mysia, near Boort, in Victoria. A farming locality really, it still only had a population of 26 in the 2021 census.
Peter’s older brother, 2598A Pte. David Alexander Chalmers 7th Battalion AIF had been killed in action near Mouquet Farm on 20 August 1916, aged 25.
Peter enlisted on the same day as his brother Thomas, and they were given consecutive regimental numbers in the 38th Battalion. They joined their unit at the front in late 1916.
The two brothers seemed to work as a team at stretcher bearing and they were both awarded a Military Medal for their work at the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October 1917 for “great gallantry in carrying wounded and both continued their work without intermission for nearly fifty hours.”
Peter never got receive his medal as he was killed in action only nine days later. It was reported that the shell which killed him, also wounded his brother Thomas, as they were carrying a wounded man on a stretcher.
Although Peter was buried in the field with a map reference, his remains were lost after the war.
His brother Thomas was evacuated to England wounded, and was returned to Australia on account of the death of his two brothers, on the authority of the GOC AIF, General Birdwood.
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