I remember being at the Army Apprentices College, Arborfield when Peter arrived there. We were both 'Permanent Staff' and Peter was Officer Commanding 'D' Company. A very intelligent man, he was always happy and smiling, but if you upset him you knew about it! He got himself a 50cc moped because the Officers Mess was quite a walk and from then on you could see Peter coming for miles, you didn't need to hear the bike. As yellow was the 'Company colour' he went and got himself a bright yellow crash helmet. He was very proud of it, as well as the 'Mars Bar' wrapper we had mounted for him to affix to the handlebars. God bless, Peter.

We’ll always remember our time with Peter fondly- stories of his time following the Cricket in Australia in particular. Rest in peace Peter, it was truly wonderful to have been a small part of your remarkable life.

We remember Uncle Peter with much fondness - Hilary and I remember different things about Uncle Peter - I remember the looking forward to, for weeks before Christmas, to this favourite uncle slated to arrive on BOAC or Quantus for the Christmas holidays in Bermuda. When he came, he was up at 6am singing and preparing himself for the MidOcean golf course! He put us through our paces to rehearse, Gilbert and Sullivan’s, “I am the very Model of Modern Major General” with him, and tried to teach us how to put out on the lawn. Hilary remembers him fixing a wonderful dog food sandwich which he mistook for pate after coming home starving from his beloved golf! He also was charged with locating Hilary’s wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses at Laura Ashley’s and bringing them with him to the event, we prayed his plane would not be delayed! Lovely memories of a kind uncle- Hilary and Julia (Bermuda nieces)

Simon and I would always look forward to uncle Peter going on holiday. This meant that he would leave his Sunbeam Alpine at our house, we lived close to Heathrow Airport. Our Dad was in charge of keeping the battery charged up. He did this, as you can imagine, as often as possible 😂. Simon and I would fight to get the passenger seat. Happy Days ❤️

My first memory of Peter was of this rather exotic and dashing army officer, driving up in a green sports car when he came to Milford Haven to visit. I must have been about four at the time. There were many such visits during childhood where Peter came to stay and regaled us with tales of far flung places and I wonder if that is what inspired the wanderlust in me. He shared his time with the family all over the world and as such brought us together and allowed us to make connections we might not otherwise have shared. Kind, generous and funny he was also extremely persuasive especially when it came to the kitchen. He perfected the art of persuading me to demonstrate various dishes to him but this invariably ended up with I’m just off to golf or I’m just off to the “pharmacy” and with his sweetest smile “What time will it be ready?”. Like others I fell for it every time. He supported so many of us in the family in very many different ways, whether a bed for the night on the way to the airport, an ally in decision-making, a purveyor of goodies when he travelled and most importantly someone we could depend on. He never forgot a birthday, he made us all feel special and in his own inimitable way looked after us when we needed it. Peter, we will miss you and are hugely grateful for everything you have done. Rest in Peace dear Uncle.

We moved into King’s Yard 20 years ago and, of course, the first person who greeted us was Peter, anxious to know who we were and all our life story. In the ensuing time we came to love Peter, his foibles, stories and eccentricities. In the early days he invited us both to play golf with him at the Berkshire, an unforgettable experience. Never had we seen the game played at such speed, we now know how special forces feel yomping over Dartmoor at high speed! Despite this, and in sharp contrast to ourselves, Peter always came away with more golf balls than he started with, he had an unerring sense of where he might find balls, hence the hundreds which now adorn his garage and garden shed His love of gadgets was legendary, matched only by his aversion to reading the instructions, so I was frequently called upon to set up his latest purchase. Unfortunately the marketing of most of these items was much more effective than their actual performance but this never deterred Peter. King’s Yard was very important to Peter, he loved living there and he enhanced the lives of all his neighbours. He will be very sadly missed, we will not see his like again. Rest in Peace Peter and thanks for everything.

Reminiscences My earliest memory of Peter is a visit to North Wales when I was about five and he presented me with a furry Koala bear which became my go to comforter for many years to come (I still have it 60 years on). He did something similar when my second child was born and gave her a pink elephant that she still treasures. After my father died, Peter made it his duty to support and check up on our family. He would arrive from wherever he was posted with the Royal Artillery to great fanfare- an exotic creature in the wilds of North Wales with his leather overnight bag and Sunbeam Alpine sports car. He would take us children out into the field while my Mother cooked dinner. I think he was supposed to entertain us. Entertainment involved a quick fire general knowledge quiz (we always disappointed) and if dinner was running late, a Welsh version of ‘ten green bottles’, Oes Gafr Eto? involving a song about a goat that had not yet been milked. We sang that round over and over again until summonsed for dinner. My Mother always pushed out the boat for his visits -tinned grapefruit for his breakfast and Vesta Beef Curry or local duck for supper- little realising that when he said he loved duck he was referring to Peking duck as experienced in Hong Kong, not a chewy locally sourced mallard Peter used to come to Parents day at Millfield and enjoyed mixing with other parents and guardians. He fell into conversation with an amiable man.”What do you do in life? ‘ asked Peter. “I’m an actor” was the response. “ oh” said Peter, “that must be a rather perilous profession’, not recognising Sean Connery! Peter was a great chronicler of family news and kept disparate parts of the family spread all over the world in touch with each other. He maintained links with Australia/ Bermuda/ Canada/ Dubai and many other places in worldwide . He regularly reported births deaths and marriages and everything in between. Peter was part of my life all of my life. He thought that he wanted to live in an annexe next to us and for years enjoyed this fantasy, but the honest truth was that Kings Yard was the only place that ever really felt like home, and with the support of wonderful neighbours, friends and carers he was able to do so right up until the end. Peter often referred to me as his favourite niece. I basked in this glory until I met his favourite niece in Wiltshire, and his favourite niece in Dubai, along with the favourite nieces in Australia and in Bermuda… and as an adult I came to understand that this was just his way of trying to make us all feel special. That is the kind of man he was.

I have a lifetime of wonderful memories of Peter, too many to recount. Peter was my very, very dear uncle and I am his eldest niece. He was just a 17 y.o. “boy soldier” when I was born. During my nomadic life as a child in a British Army family, separated from extended family, Peter had the habit of popping up unexpectedly wherever we were in the world, to my absolute delight. He brought fun, laughter and happiness into my rather isolated childhood. He had the ability to connect with children, to tune in to our feelings, and so he made us feel interesting and special. Although I have lived in Australia for 60 years, Peter always remained part of my life, through his two yearly trips to watch the Ashes matches in Oz or by way of my regular visits to stay with him in Ascot. Peter was always a “gadget man”, drawn to any invention or idea that promised to solve a problem with 100% success! Mum and I were pressed into service to help Peter with his problem: hundreds of rabbits which had burrowed into his prized lawn. Applying the method described in the gadget mag, we strung lengths of string in rows across the lawn and then hung tea-bags impregnated with an anti-bunny chemical at regular intervals along the lengths of string. (harmless to other animals but supposed to make rabbits rapidly decamp to find water). We laughed til we cried when Peter mournfully described the result, and I quote: “the bunnies are holding the Olympic high-jump using my string to perfect their Western Roll technique!”. Over the past years, especially the Covid period, Peter and I kept in contact via his iPad. It was a present from my cousin Sheelagh - the best gift Peter had ever had, he said, as it allowed him to much more easily keep in contact with everybody in his life. So one final, and very recent memory I would like to share is about Peter and his iPad: I received an email from Peter early afternoon in Perth, Western Australia, a few months ago. Subject heading: “HELP!”Peter explained it was about 3.30am in Ascot and his iPad would just NOT stop playing music, even with the lid closed, and could I please advise him how to shut it up! I emailed him step-by-step instructions for powering down an iPad and then re-starting it later. I heard nothing for some hours until an email arrived thanking me, with just one word in caps: “SUCCESS!”. He and I were at opposite sides of the world but we were just a few screen taps away. I will miss you so much Peter. Love always from your niece, Ann.

Dear Peter You were our neighbour in Ascot for six years. How we loved your tales (some tall) and your eccentricities. You often stood at our joint garden gate in full military stance saying - Permission to Enter -! My late husband Jens and I loved you dearly as did our daughters Georgina and Stephanie My prayers for you are sincere and full of love. You will be so missed Maureen Arpe Aberdeen

Thank you for setting up this memorial to Peter. We hope that you find it a positive experience developing the site and that it becomes a place of comfort and inspiration for you to visit whenever you want or need to.

I am I and you are you, whatever we were to each other that we still are. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? Life means all that it ever meant, it is the same as it ever was.