Bert Peters

Albert Otto "Snowy" Peters (8 August 1908 – 13 June 1944) was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1] He was nicknamed "Snow", "Snowie" or "Snowy", for his very thick straight fair hair.

For the American music composer, see Bert Peters (composer).

Bert Peters
Personal information
Full name Albert Otto Peters
Nickname(s) Snowy
Date of birth (1908-08-08)8 August 1908
Place of birth St Arnaud, Victoria
Date of death 13 June 1944(1944-06-13) (aged 35)
Place of death Bay of Biscay, off German submarine U-270
Height 177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 77 kg (170 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1920-29, 32-34 Wonthaggi
1930–1931 North Melbourne 17 (3)
1935 Cranbourne
1936 Hastings 8 (unknown)
1937 Dromana-Rosebud (combine)
1938–1940 Sorrento 46 (unknown)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1931.
Career highlights
  • 1940 Sorrento B&F *1938-40 Sorrento playing captain-coach
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

The son of Carl Erich Theodore Otto Peters (1872–1950),[2][3] and Harriet Cordelia Peters (1874–1970), née Bond, Albert Otto Peters was born at St Arnaud, Victoria on 8 August 1908.[4] Eric drove gold mine trains in St. Arnaud before and after serving in the Boer War. When Snowy was young Eric relocated his big family to Wonthaggi some 378 km to drive coal engines. Eric and Harriet are buried in Wonthaggi Cemetery.

Bert married Ruby Anzac Kernot (1916–68) a fisherman's daughter of Tooradin in September 1939. She died in Queensland aged 52.[5]

Football career

Bert was one of seven North Melbourne players to make their league debut in the opening round of the 1930 VFL season.[6] By the end of the year he had played 12 games and he added another five in the 1931 season, which would be his last.[7] In each of his 17 appearances for North Melbourne, Peters finished on the losing team. This included a 168-point loss to Richmond at Punt Road Oval.[8] The 199 points conceded by North Melbourne in that game remained a league record until 1969.[9]

Bert spent the remainder of his football career on the Mornington Peninsula. He captain-coached Mornington Peninsula Football League club Sorrento from 1938 to 1940 and led them to the finals in each of those years, including the 1940 grand final against victors Somerville-Baxter.[10][11] Before coming to Sorrento, Peters played for Dromana District in 1937,.[12] Prior clubs were Wonthaggi up to 1930 then again 1932-34 then Cranbourne (1935) and Hastings (1936).

Military service

Bert was working as a teacher in Red Hill South, Victoria when he enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force in 1941.[13][14] He came to England in June 1943 for operational training.[15] His first posting was to the No. 455 Squadron RAAF and then the No. 53 Squadron RAF, which were based in Cornwall.[15]

Death

On 13 June 1944, Peters was a navigator on board the No. 53 Squadron's B-24 Liberator BZ818/C which had been sent to the Bay of Biscay to perform an anti-submarine patrol.[15] The plane was shot down by German submarine U-270, with all crew members killed.[15][16][17]

Bert's body was never recovered. He is commemorated at the Air Forces Memorial, at Runnymede,[18] and by a gumtree in Wonthaggi and on a plaque with his wife at All Saints Church Tooradin and another plaque in the Peace Garden at the Red Hill Consoldiation School organised by ex-pupil and later Shire of Flinders President, Keith Holmes.

See also

Footnotes
  1. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia Of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 9781920910785.
  2. Private Eric Peters, The Australian Boer War Memorial, Anzac Parade Canberra.
  3. Deaths: Peters, The Age, (Thursday, 12 October 1950), p.2.
  4. Nominal Roll.
  5. Tooradin: Wedding Bells, The Dandenong Journal, (Wednesday, 27 September 1939), p.9.
  6. "Geelong v North Melbourne - Sat, 3-May-1930". AFL Tables. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  7. "Bert Peters – Games Played". AFL Tables. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  8. "Richmond v North Melbourne - Sat, 9-May-1931". AFL Tables. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  9. "AFL Tables – Game Records – Progression of Highest Score". AFL Tables. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  10. "Football". Mornington Standard. Frankston, Vic. 12 April 1940. p. 6. Retrieved 27 September 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "Sorrento's Great Effort". Frankston and Somerville Standard. Frankston, Vic. 6 September 1940. p. 6. Retrieved 27 September 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "Peninsula Football Progress". Frankston and Somerville Standard. Victoria. 3 June 1938. p. 6. Retrieved 28 September 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. Service Record.
  14. "Reported missing, now believed dead". Mornington Standard. Frankston, Vic. 14 June 1945. p. 1 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "P09119.002". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  16. "Roll of Honour – Albert Otto Peters". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  17. Tooradin Airman Missing, The Dandenong Journal, (Wednesday, 19 July 1944), p.1.
  18. Flying Officer Albert Otto Peters (408874), Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

References
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