Decimus Lewis Peters was born in Neath on 16 December 1870, the son of Evan Lewis and Mary Ann Jones.

According to his grandson: He was named after his grandfather, Decimus Lewis, who served in the Rifle Brigade (95th Foot) in Spain during the Napoleonic War, fighting at the Battle of Barossa and at the Siege of Terrifa (19 Dec 1811) where he was shot/injured in his thigh and was subsequently pensioned off.

Few records of his childhood have survived although in the 1881 census, Decimus along with his brother Phillip, were living with an aunt and uncle at 10 Castle Street, Neath.

In 1890, at the age of 20, Decimus married Susan Arnold in Neath and they went on to have 9 children. Such a large family appears to have placed a lot of financial pressure on the family several records over the following 15 years make reference to issues with debt.

By the time of the 1901 census, Decimus is shown living with Susan and 4 children at 61 Marion St, Llangeinor Gawr Valley. At the time he was working as a Colliery Trimmer.

A number of different documents describe Decimus. Whilst they are not all consistent, it appears that he was between 5’8 and 5’9 tall with dark brown hair, brown eyes and sallow complexion . He also had an anchor tattooed on his right forearm.

In the 1911 census, the family had moved back to Neath and were living at 6a High Street. Decimus was now working as a Labourer under the Neath Corporation.

In line with the other members of the Brigade, Decimus would have been mobilised in August 1914, leaving Neath shortly after. With the exception of some brief periods of leave between August 1914 and November 1915, he would not have returned to Neath until December 1918 when he was discharged.

Decimus appears to have been closely involved in Rugby in the Neath area. He is included in a photo of the Neath United Demobilised Soldiers RFC, known locally as the Taffy Team as a non playing member in the 1918/19 season (along with several other members of his family) and a further unidentified picture of a rugby team (where his grandson was the mascot).

Decimus rejoined the Territorials in June 1920. At that time he gave his occupation as Caretaker and address as 3 Gold Street.

Sadly, Decimus’s wife Susan passed away in 1924 and no other records have been identified until his death.

Decimus died in hospital at the age of 78 following an accident in May 1949. The accident was later described in the Neath Guardian: Decimus Lewis Peters, a 78-year-old widower, of Sydenham Terrace, Penydre, Neath, who was struck down by a bus on May 6th on the Main County Road, near the Neath General Hospital, where he died later.

Decimus Lewis Peters was buried on 9 May 1949. Again, the Neath Guardian reported it: The funeral of Mr. Decimus Peters, aged 78, of Cattle Street, Neath, who died at the Neath General Hospital two days after an accident outside the hospital on May 5th, took place at Llantwit Cemetery on Wednesday of last week…. Mr Peters was a native of Neath and was one of the oldest members of the Neath branch of the British Legion.

Decimus Peters enlisted in the 1st Welsh (Howitzer) Brigade as a Gunner on 6 April 1908 and was given the Service Number 237. Unfortunately, very few official records have survived relating to his service. However, a number of photographs have been passed down through his family, and by linking these, the surviving official records and the Brigade History, it is possible to piece together much of his service.

Decimus joined the Brigade in the first wave of recruits at its’ time of formation (just a week before). Given that he was already 38 at the time he joined up, it is also possible/likely that he transferred from the old Glamorgan RGA volunteers.

He had also previously tried to join the Welsh Regiment in 1891 but was discharged after only 4 days due to defective vision in the right eye, an attribute critical for any infantry soldier.

Decimus and his family lived in Neath, the home of the Left Section (2 guns) of the 2nd Glamorgan Battery. It is therefore reasonable to assume that he was a member of this unit right through to the start of the War.

Along with the rest of the Brigade, Gunner Peters was mobilized at the start of the war, initially travelling to Shrewsbury in late August 1914 and then Northampton shortly after where they trained until December 1914. Just before Christmas, they moved to Cambridge where they remained until May 1915 when they moved to Bedford.

His Medal Index Card confirms that he, along with the rest of the Brigade, travelled from Southampton to Le Havre on 22 November 1915. From there they moved to the Somme area, where they underwent further training, including a period in the front-line South-East of Albert (an area that marked the southern edge of the Somme battlefield just 6 months later).

Just before Christmas 1915, the Brigade withdrew from the front-line and in January 1916, received orders to rejoin the rest of the 53rd Welsh Division in Egypt.

Two photographs of Decimus in Egypt have survived so it is reasonable to assume that he travelled there with the rest of the Brigade in February 1916. The first is in a group shot titled ‘Briton Ferry Boys in Egypt 1916’ which was most likely taken between March and May 1916 and the second is a personal portrait.

Given that he was also given a new service number in 1917 from a batch of numbers associated with the Brigade, it is also likely that he remained with the Brigade throughout the Egypt campaign, being involved in Suez Canal Defences (1916), the 3 Battles of Gaza and march into Jerusalem (1917) and the subsequent push through the Judean Hills.

However, it appears that Gnr Peters did not complete the campaign with his comrades as he was discharged sick on 7 December 1918, 4 months before the rest of the members of the Brigade were discharged. Records show that he was discharged from No.9 Reserve Battery, suffering from Malaria, Arthritis and Defective Vision.

For his service during the Great War, Gunner Decimus Peters was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. He also received the Silver War Badge recognizing that he was honourably discharged due to sickness.

Like many of his former comrades, Decimus rejoined the Territorial Artillery on 26 June 1920 at the age of 49 and served for a further 3 years, receiving the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal in Nov 1921. He was finally discharged on 25 June 1923 and interestingly, on discharge his rank was given as Bandsmen.

His son, Phillip, had also joined in 1920 at the age of 16 years, 8 months. A surviving family photo shows the 2 of them on camp, Decimus is wearing his medal ribbons and Phillip appears to be a Trumpeter (a common role for younger recruits).

Two of Decimus’s sons served in the Regular army. Phillip remained in the Royal Artillery whilst Decimus Junior was a drum major in the Welsh Guards. A photo of Decimus senior with Decimus junior in uniform shows him wearing his 4 medals.