Little is known about his early life, not even his approximate birthdate, but he was probably from the village of Longueval in the Somme region of Picardy (scene of much heavy fighting during the Somme battles in 1916).
In this letter, he writes: "Although enemy and sometime deeply hurt by the ridiculous tone of your home press, I feel it a human duty to communicate these sad news. Capt. Peel was killed in action near Longueval and died, as it seems by the wounds received, without suffering."
Sited opposite the Delville Wood South African Memorial and designed by Sir Herbert Baker, Delville Wood cemetery is located just off the D20 that runs between Longueval and Guillemont (11 km east of Albert), France and contains 5,523 burials of which two-thirds are unknown.
On D-Day he arrived at Ranville, France by glider and was wounded by sniper fire two days later at Longueval (2).