Biography Peter James Isaacs
Peter Isaacs was born in the Isle of Wight, UK on 24 March 1941. He was commissioned into the British Army’s Northamptonshire Regiment in 1960 and saw service as a Platoon Commander in Germany. He was granted a five year commission in the Australian Army and joined 1RAR (Pentropic) at Holsworthy in January 1963. He commanded 19 Platoon, E Company until promoted to G3 at Battle Group HQ in 1964. He was married at the Holsworthy Garrison RC Chapel in October 1964 and his first son was born in nearby Liverpool NSW.
When 1 RAR reorganised to deploy to South Vietnam in 1965, Peter applied to join AATTV and attended the pre-deployment courses, but was then told he would remain with 5RAR to prepare to replace 1 RAR in 1966. He was appointed Adjutant in late 1965 and served with the Battalion as Adjutant and Assistant Operations Officer for the whole of the Battalion’s 1st tour in South Vietnam. He returned to the UK after serving as an Instructor at the National Service Officer’s Training Unit at Scheyville in 1967-8.
Peter took up soldiering again in 1975 and joined the Sultan of Oman’s Armed Forces; serving firstly as a Rifle Company Commander and then as Battalion Second in Command during the Dhofar War. He was badly injured in a mine blast whilst recovering a fellow soldier from a mined area in October 1976. After hospitalisation in the UK, he returned to duty in Oman albeit minus one leg above the knee and blinded in one eye. He subsequently worked for the Omani Government in the UK for a further nine years. Since 1986, Peter has been a Director of several international security companies, has managed United Nations Land Mine clearance programmes in Angola, Bosnia- Herzegovina and Tajikistan and European Union funded Border Management & Counter Narcotics programmes in Central Asia and Northern Afghanistan. In more recent years he has been the Director of Operations for a British Security company providing armed guards at US Military Forward Operating Bases and diplomatic missions in Afghanistan. He retired in October 2016.
Decorations: (Australia) Mentioned in Despatches 1966
(Sultanate of Oman) Commendation for Brave Conduct 1976