did to the others on the railway was pretty horrifying". After three-and-a-half years incarceration, he was freed following the Japanese capitulation in August 1945 and the subsequent liberation of prisoner-of-war camps in the Pacific. On 6 October, Peeler embarked for Australia aboard HMS Highland Brigade; he arrived in Melbourne fifteen days later. Back in Australia, he learned that his son, Donald, by his second marriage, had been killed in action on the island of Bougainville on 31 December 1944, while serving with the 15th Battalion. Donald Peeler was posthumously mentioned in dispatches for his "distinguished service in the South-West Pacific Area". Warrant Officer Class II Walter Peeler was discharged from the Second Australian Imperial Force on 12 December 1945. Later life and legacy Peeler resumed his duties as custodian of the Shrine of Remembrance on his discharge, guiding visitors around the memorial. In the 1961 Queen's Birthday Honours, his "long and dedicated service" at the Shrine was recognised with the award of the British Empire Medal. He retired three years later at the age of 76, stating: "It's time I had a rest." In 1966, Peeler was interviewed for a newspaper article; when queried on his Victoria Cross exploit, he recalled: On 23 May 1968, Peeler died at his home in South Caulfield, Victoria. Survived by his second wife, Kathleen, his first wife Emma pre deceased him in 1964, and his four remaining children, one by his first wife and three by his second, he was buried in Brighton Cemetery. Kathleen died the following year. Peeler is commemorated in the Victorian Garden of Remembrance, and a soldiers' club in Casula, New South Wales, bears his name. His Victoria Cross and other medals are on display in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Notes References External links 1887 births 1968 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian prisoners of war Australian World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Australian recipients of the British Empire Medal World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Burma Railway prisoners Australian shooting survivors Military personnel from Victoria (Australia) Burials in Victoria (Australia) People from Castlemaine, Victoria