PEELER, Walter
| Service Numbers: | 114, VX8345 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 February 1916, Leongatha, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer Class 2 |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Barker's Creek, Victoria, Australia, 9 August 1887 |
| Home Town: | Richmond (V), Yarra, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Unknown |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Natural Causes, Caulfield, Victoria, Australia, 23 May 1968, aged 80 years |
| Cemetery: |
Brighton General Cemetery, Victoria Lawn H Plaque 36 |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Canberra John Hamilton VC Pictorial Honour Roll, Keith Payne VC Memorial Park, North Bondi War Memorial, Winchelsea WWI Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 114, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, Leongatha, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Jun 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 114, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Wandilla, Melbourne | |
| 6 Jun 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 114, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
| 30 May 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 3rd Pioneer Battalion | |
| 7 Jun 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 114, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, Battle of Messines, GSW to right cheek | |
| 4 Oct 1917: | Honoured Victoria Cross, Broodseinde Ridge | |
| 12 Oct 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 114, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, Third Ypres, GSW right arm | |
| 30 Jul 1918: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 3rd Pioneer Battalion | |
| 10 Dec 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 114, 3rd Pioneer Battalion |
World War 2 Service
| 27 May 1940: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Warrant Officer Class 2, VX8345, 2/2 Pioneer Battalion |
|
|---|---|---|
| 27 May 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Warrant Officer Class 2, VX8345 | |
| 12 Dec 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Warrant Officer Class 2, VX8345, 2nd/2nd Pioneer Battalion |
Help us honour Walter Peeler's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Robert Wight
Peeler, Walter (1887–1968)
by Anthony Staunton
Walter Peeler, soldier and custodian of the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne, was born on 9 August 1887 at Barker's Creek, near Castlemaine, Victoria, eighth surviving child of William Peeler, a farmer and miner from Tasmania, and his English-born wife Mary Ellen, née Scott. His education is not recorded but he worked on his parents' orchard at Barker's Creek, then at Thompson's Foundry, Castlemaine, and in the Leongatha district. He married Emma Hewitt, on 10 July 1907 at the Congregational parsonage, Castlemaine. They had five children but although they separated in the early 1920s they were never divorced and she predeceased him in 1964.
Peeler enlisted as a private in the Australian Imperial Force on 17 February 1916 and embarked with the machine-gun section of the 3rd Pioneer Battalion in June; he was promoted lance corporal on 6 November in France and was slightly wounded by shell-fire during the battle of Messines on 7 June 1917. Peeler was one of twenty-four Lewis-gunners of the 3rd Pioneers who were attached for anti-aircraft duties to the 37th Battalion for the assault on 4 October on Broodseinde Ridge, Belgium.
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/peeler-walter-8011 (adb.anu.edu.au)
Biography contributed by VWM Australia
Honours and Awards - Recommendation VC
On 4th October, 1917, East of YPRES, L/Cpl. PEELER was No. 1 of a Lewis Gun team attached to 37th Infantry Bn. Australian Imperial Force.
At zero hour he moved forward with the first wave of the assault and after covering about 100 yards encountered an enemy party in a shell hole who were sniping at the advancing troops.
This N.C.O immediately rushed the position and accounted for nice enemy troops and cleared the way for the advance. This happened on three separate occasions and each time he accounted for a number of the enemy.
During operations he was directed to a position from which an enemy machine gun was being fired on our troops. He located and killed the gunner and remainder of the enemy party ran into a dugout close by. From this shelter they were dislodged by a bomb and ten of the enemy ran out. These were disposed of by L/Corpl. PEELER.
On the morning reffered to, this N.C.O actually accounted for over thirty of the enemy. He displayed an absolute fearlessness in making his way ahead of the first wave of the assault and the fine example which he ensured the success of the attack against a most determined opposition.
Recommended by:-
O.C., 3rd Australian Pioneer Bn.
G.O.C., 3rd Australian Division
G.O.C., 2nd ANZAC Corps.
G.O.C., Second Army
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