With the Canadians fighting at Vimy, the Scots on the Scarpe, the Newfoundlanders at Monchy and the Australians at Bullecourt, a battle which began so brilliantly ended dismally.
John Peaty is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Royal Historical Society. He holds a PhD and MA in War Studies from King’s College London, where he also attended the intelligence studies programme.
He served on the Committee of the British Commission for Military History for many years in the post of International Secretary. He is a founder member of the Royal Air Force Historical Society. He is a Fellow of the Society for Army Historical Research, on whose Council he served for many years as the Chair of the Templer Medal book prize. He is the Convenor of the Historical Military Mapping Group and a Council member of the British Cartographic Society, a founder member and a Committee member of the Royal Engineers Historical Society, a member of the National Army Museum’s Research and Collections Advisory Panel and a life member of the University of London’s Institute of Historical Research. He has lectured widely to both specialist and non-specialist audiences, both in the UK and overseas. He has published articles, chapters and essays.
He worked at the Ministry of Defence for many years, including at the Army Historical Branch, the Defence Evaluation & Research Agency and Defence Intelligence. He was closely involved with the British Army’s commemoration of the centenary of the First World War. He has guided both military and civilian groups around battlefields across the globe.
