Photo of plaque M525BPhoto of co-located plaques M525, M525A and M525BPhoto of Martin Walters accepting the plaque as the great grand nephew of Private Peter Brandt. Photo: D. Nicolson.
Rank
Private
Service number
1891
Unit
51 Battalion
Cause of death
Killed in Action
Place of death
Messines, Belgium
Date of death
10 June 1917
Age
42
Plaque number
M525B
Co-located plaques
M525 - SGT Bertram Poulton
M525A - PTE Edward Brown
Dedicated by
Great Nieces on 18 May 2019
More information

Biography presented during plaque dedication:

Private Peter Brandt was born in the district of Gulgong, New South Wales, to Louisa and Alfred Brandt, in a family of seven sons and a daughter.

He grew up in Gunnedah, New South Wales where his father was a publican. When he was 9 years of age, his father died in an accident. His mother married again when Peter was 12 years of age but his stepfather died of illness just two years later.

It is not known where Peter attended school. He moved to Western Australia in about 1903. At the time of his enlistment in the AIF in February 1916, he was working as a labourer at Menzies in the Eastern Goldfields.

Peter was allocated to the 3 Reinforcements of 51 Battalion and left Fremantle for England in July 1916 on board HMAT Seang Bee. After further training he joined his unit in France in December 1916.

In the first few months of 1917 the Battalion was engaged in heavy fighting, including the capture of the town of Noreuil.

In June, 51 Battalion was engaged in a major assault on the town of Messines in Belgium and suffered heavy casualties from the enemy shelling of their lines.

Private Peter Brandt, service number 1891 of 51 Battalion, was killed in action on 10 June 1917 at Messines, Belgium. He was 42 years of age.

He was buried alongside a canal near Ypres but the gravesite was lost. His name is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium.

His plaque is placed alongside those of Private Edward Huxley Brown and Sergeant Frederick Bertram Poulton, who were in the same 51 Battalion and died on the same day.

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