Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

The youngest of seven children, Peter was born in 1923 in Myanmar to James Horatio Utting (b1880 in Yorkshire, England) and Elna Haswell (b1886 in Mynamar). James (a Master Mariner and River Pilot) and Elna married in Rangoon, Burma in 1908 and lived in Myanmar where James was a River Pilot until arriving in Fremantle WA with their children in 1936 on board the Narkunda. The family settled at Cottelsoe in Fremantle WA, and James and his six sons served in WWII - Richard and Peter were KiA.

Peter was a student - seventeen and a half years of age with interests that included swimming, cricket, football and boxing - when he enlisted in the RAN in March 1941 and served as an Ordinary Seaman on HMAS Leeuwin and HMAS Cerberus before being promoted to Able Seaman on board HMAS Australia on 13 August 1942. Peter was KiA on 6 January 1945 when HMAS Australia was damaged by a Kamikaze aircraft in the Lingayan Gulf in the Philippines - 23 crew were killed and 30 wounded. The Daily News (Perth Monday 29 January 1945; p3) wrote ' He told his parents that he was afraid the war would be over before he would have a chance of action against the Japs. He was trained at Flinders Naval Depot, was then posted to HMAS Australia and saw plenty of action. In his last letter, written on December 28, he wrote that the Captain had approved of his application to begin studies in science at a university. Apparently he was to be relieved after the Australia's last engagement, in which he was killed'