This Peter King was an outstanding British military man.
Peter King (British Army officer)
Peter Frank King (b. Caxton, Cambridgeshire, 30 October 1916, d.
Lake Wahapo, near Whataroa, New Zealand, 12 December 1962) was a
British Commando in World War II, who was commissioned in the field
and awarded the Military Cross. He also served in Korea with the
New Zealand Army, being awarded the Distinguished Service Order in
1951. King died in a car accident in 1962.
King joined the Dental Corps in March 1939 and served as a
non-technician, excelling as a weapons instructor. He spent two
years in this role, rapidly becoming a drill sergeant at the Dental
Corps’ depot, but then applied to transfer to a fighting unit. This
was refused. King was so frustrated that he and another soldier,
Pte Leslie Cuthbertson, then 20 and from Newcastle-upon-Tyne took
matters in their own hands; they planned and executed an unofficial
and unauthorised raid on occupied France.
King emigrated to New Zealand in 1946 and worked as a factory
manager in Christchurch and as a bushman at Otautau, Southland.[3]
He joined the New Zealand Army in November 1950 for war service in
Korea (Kayforce).
In November, 1951, King—now a Captain with the 16th Field
Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery—and a signaller, Gunner Derek
Rixon, manned a forward artillery observation post (OP) for New
Zealand artillery supporting a company of The King’s Own Scottish
Borderers on Hill 355. The first large scale Chinese attack was
broken up by the guns but, when their OP’s communications were cut,
the two men joined in the close-quarters defence of the hill, each
becoming wounded. After two hours, the position was abandoned and
Rixon carried King to safety. For his “tenacity, commitment and
courage”, King was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and
Rixon received the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his “fine
example of courage, commitment and comradeship while fighting
alongside his officer”. King was described as “the genius of gunner
observers” by a Scottish infantryman.
From July to September 1952, King commanded 161st Battery before
his return to New Zealand.
Out of the Army, King returned to the South Island, working at
Te Anau as a trail guide. Late in 1954, he was selected to join the
United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan in
Kashmir and he was commissioned as a Major in the regular Army.
Between 1956 and 1959,[5] King served on the Kashmir cease-fire
line based at Srinagar.
King married Dorothy Woodham Graham on 18 April 1959 at
Blenheim; she was a postmistress and daughter of the well-known
alpine guide Alec Graham. The couple subsequently had a son and a
daughter. He retired from the Army in 1960 and worked for the New
Zealand Forest Service at Otautau before being appointed as the
first Chief Park Ranger of Westland National Park in 1960.
Peter King drowned on 12 December 1962. He was travelling to a
meeting in Hokitika when his car, out of control, went into Lake
Wahapo, South Westland. He is buried at Whataroa, South
Westland.