PEAT, James
| Service Number: | Officer |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1914, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 44th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | South Yarra, Victoria, Australia, 1887 |
| Home Town: | Boulder, Kalgoorlie/Boulder, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Melbourne Grammar School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Mine surveyor |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Belgium, 27 June 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
Westhof Farm Cemetery Plot I, Row D, Grave 4 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Boulder Roll of Honor, Boulder Roll of Honour Board, Kalgoorlie St John's Anglican Church Honour Roll, Melbourne Grammar School WW1 Fallen Honour Roll, Mosman Park Memorial Rotunda |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Officer, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Nov 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ascanius, Fremantle | |
| 2 Nov 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 11th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Ascanius embarkation_ship_number: A11 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 11th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 6 Jun 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Captain, 44th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Suevic, Fremantle | |
| 6 Jun 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, 44th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Suevic embarkation_ship_number: A29 public_note: '' | |
| 27 Jun 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Captain, 44th Infantry Battalion |
The dud shell
Cyril Longmore, in his book 'Eggs-a-cook!', tells of one of the officers of the 44th, Captain James Peat, who collected a ‘dud’ German gas shell and kept it in his tent until one night he heard it fizzing; having seen a Bairnsfather cartoon about fizzing shells he very quickly hurled it as far away as he could.
Submitted 14 May 2017 by Stan Woods
Biography contributed by Stan Woods
In his book "Eggs-A-Cook: the story of the Forty-Fourth", Cyril Longmore tells of one of the officers of the 44th, Captain James Peat, who, having undergone gas training, collected a "dud" German gas shell one evening. Taking it back to company headquarters to write a report on it he suddenly heard it fizzing, and could see a white liquid seeping out near the nose cone, so, having seen a Bruce Bairnsfather cartoon about fizzing shells ('... you can generally hear 'em fizzing a bit first if they are a goin' to explode') he very quickly hurled it as far away as he could.
Biography contributed by Sharyn Roberts
JAMES PEAT who was killed in action in France on 27th June 1917 was the son of Mr. W. Peat. He was born in 1887 and was at the School in 1902 and 1903 and then returned to Western Australia. He went in for mining, and held an important position at the Ivanhoe Gold Mine at Boulder when he enlisted on 17th August 1914 and embarked for the front in November 1914 as Lieutenant in Machine Gun Section of the 11th Battalion.
He became ill at Lemnos in April and returned to Australia in August 1915. Early in 1916 he joined 44th Battalion, being promoted
to Captain on lst March, and arrived in France on 27th November 1916. He took part in operations at Armentieres and Messines, and was killed in action at Gapaard.
He was buried at Keirvie Egluse Military Cemetery.
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