Private Frederick Richmond Strafford Peters
Frederick Richmond Strafford Peters was born on 17 April 1889 at 10 Seaview Avenue, Dublin, the second of two children of English-born parents, accountant (later manager of a shipping office) Joseph Peters and his wife Rachel Anne (née Strafford). Frederick was employed as a clerk at the Hibernian Bank in 1906. By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at 53 Main Street, Mohill, County Leitrim, and working as a bank official.
Peters enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 5 November 1914 (No.1341). On 17 November 1915 he embarked for France with F Squadron, which at the time was serving as divisional cavalry to the 33rd Division.
In June 1916 F Squadron combined with C Squadron and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons Service Squadron to form the 2nd North Irish Horse Regiment, serving as corps cavalry to X Corps until September 1917, when the regiment was disbanded and its men transferred to the infantry. Peters was one of 70 men given the job of conducting the regiment's horses to Egypt, to be handed over for use by mounted units there. They embarked from Marseilles on board HMT Bohemian on 25 August. After a month at Alexandria they returned to France, via Italy. On 5 October 1917 they arrived at the 36th (Ulster) Division Infantry Base Depot at Harfleur for infantry training, and after just a few days were posted to the 9th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers – which had been renamed the 9th (North Irish Horse) Battalion – joining it in the field at Ruyaulcourt on 12 October. Peters was issued regimental number 41578.
He was wounded in the lower left leg during the Battle of Cambrai, probably on 22 or 23 November during the attack on the village of Moeuvres. At the end of August 1918, after his wound had healed sufficiently, he was transferred to the Army Pay Corps (No.22532).
On 19 February 1919 Peters was discharged, being no longer physically fit for military service (para 392 (xvi), King's Regulations). He was granted a pension as a result of his wounds.
Following his discharge Peters returned to his home at 53 Hollybrook Road, Clontarf, Dublin, and resumed work as a bank official. On 23 June 1920 he married Edith Elizabeth Bradley at the Clontarf Church of Ireland Parish Church. He died at 52 Dorchester Park, Belfast, on 7 April 1973, and was buried in the City Cemetery.
His name is recorded on the Clontarf Parish Church Roll of Honour (below).
Image sourced from the Irish War Memorials site.
This page last updated 19 March 2024.