Ajax Veterans Street Dedication: Lachlan Drive

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Street Name: Lachlan Drive
Name of Veteran: Peter Graham Lachlan Aug. 5, 1920-Dec. 11, 2012
Rank: Midshipman
Ship Served: HMS Ajax
Date of Service on Ship: 1939
Year of Visit/Dedication:
Veteran or Family Visit:
Veteran of the Battle of the River Plate: Yes
Died at Battle: No

Peter Graham Lachlan was only nineteen at the time of the Battle of the River Plate and was posted on the bridge of the Ajax. He served as a midshipman at the time and by 1940 was promoted to sub-lieutenant.

After the Battle of the River Plate Peter was primarily posted on smaller ships involved in convoy escorts and anti-submarine work. He also worked in Combined Operations that coordinated Army and Navy activities during amphibious landings. These were landings in the Mediterranean on Sicily and at Anzio. The French awarded him the Croix de Guerre for his work on the campaign to recapture the island of Elba.

In 1942 Peter married Catherine Prudence, an Officer in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (W.R.N.S or Wren). They met in Londonderry, Northern Ireland where she worked in Signals and where his ship, HMS Scimitar, was posted while on convoy duty in the Atlantic. Together they had three children; Nicola, Simon and Genevieve.

Peter’s last command was HMS Fife. She was a County Class Anti-Aircraft destroyer, and very modern for her time. He retired as a Captain.

After retirement Peter was offered a variety of jobs but opted to work for The John Lewis Partnership, a major retail outfit in the U.K. He enjoyed painting, gardening and family life. He and Catherine owned a house on the Spanish island of Majorca which they enjoyed very much.

Recently they “downsized” to a small apartment in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, off Portsmouth & Southampton in the south of England. Peter developed a series of cancer related problems and died December 11, 2012. Catherine died the previous week.

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