Profile

PETERSON, Peter William Alfred
(Service number 20935)

Peter William Alfred Peterson
Aliases Alfred
First Rank Sergeant Last Rank

Birth

Date 17/04/1881 Place of Birth Oamaru

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment P.O. Dargiville
Occupation Joiner (for Mr J Wiggins, Dasrgiville)
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Married
Next of Kin Mrs Marian A. Peterson (wife), 12 Bay Street, Petone
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 18th Reinforcements, J Company
Date 11 October 1916
Transport HMNZT 67 Tofua
Embarked From Destination Plymouth, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns Western European
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date 15 April 1918 Reason No longer physically fit for war service on account of illness contracted on activeservice (debility following pluerisy)

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 16 February 1955 Age
Place of Death Otahahu
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery
Memorial Reference
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Peter William Alfred (Alf) Peterson, born in 1881 at Oamaru, was the eldest son of Norweigan parents Peter and Matilda Jane (née Imrie) Peterson. The family appear to have moved to Timaru by 1886 when Alf's younger brother William was born. They appear to have subsequently moved on to Winchester, before returing in late 1889.

Alf was admitted to Timaru Main School in November 1889, the admission roll noting his previous school being Winchester. It appears though that the family though continued to be very mobile though as Alfred left Timaru Main School, destined for Napier, on 25 March 1891.

By the time the First World War came around, Alf had already served in the South African War (service no.7343). He was married and was working as a joiner for a Mr Wiggins in Dargiville prior to enlisting and emarked on HMNZT 67 Tofua as a Sergeant with J Company,18th Reinforcements, New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

Alf served for one year and 348 days in the Western European front, before being discharged on account of illness contracted on active service. He was awarded the British War and Victory Medals for his service. Alf's brother Percy also served, having enlisted with the Australian Imperial Forces. Alf and Percy's youngest brother Frederick Creighton Peterson (biorn after the family left South Canterbruy) also served, but tragically was killed in action in France in 1918.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [27 April 2021]; NZ Defence Force Records (Archives NZ) [27 April 2021]; SCRoll Web submission by L Hargreaves, 21 April 2021 and subsequesnt emails with Tony Rippin 24 & 27 Aoril 2021

External Links

Related Documents

Researched and Written by

Tony Rippin, South Canterbury Museum

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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