John “Jack” Peters – Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), “A” Company, 10th Battalion

Private John “Jack” Peters – Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), “A” Company, 10^th Battalion

Commemoration

Another name commemorated on the Mumbles War Memorial, about whom only limited personal information is known, is John Peters.

Birth and Family

John Peters was born in 1898 in Cardiff, the son of John and Mary Peters, who were living at 6 Brooklyn Terrace, Mumbles.

Military Service

Known as Jack, he enlisted in Swansea and served as a Private with the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), “A” Company, 10^th Battalion, a unit raised as part of Kitchener’s New Army.

Service in Salonika

The 10^th Battalion, Black Watch arrived in the Salonika (Macedonian) theatre in late 1915, forming part of the Allied force supporting Serbia against Bulgarian and Austro-Hungarian advances. The campaign was marked by a prolonged stalemate in difficult mountainous terrain, poor infrastructure, and extreme climatic conditions.

Daily life for the men was arduous. Much of the battalion’s service involved holding trenches, patrols, and working parties, with occasional offensive actions. However, the greatest danger did not come from enemy fire but from disease. The region was notorious for malaria, dysentery, and enteric fever, and sickness caused far more casualties than combat. Primitive camps, swampy ground, and constant exposure to insects made conditions especially severe.

Many soldiers who fell ill were evacuated to hospitals in Malta, which served as a major medical centre for the Mediterranean theatre. Despite treatment, a significant number died there from illnesses contracted while on active service in Salonika.

Death and Burial

Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects

John “Jack” Peters 
Pietà Military Cemetery, Malta
credit - findagrave

According to the Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, Private John "Jack" Peters died from disease on 6^th May 1917 in Malta, the illness having been contracted while serving in Salonika. He is buried at Pietà Military Cemetery, Malta, where many soldiers who died of wounds or illness during the Mediterranean campaigns are laid to rest.