WW1 hero continued as policeman with wooden leg after limb was blown off on battlefield

An heroic British police officer continued fighting crime for 17 years with a wooden leg after having his limb blown off in World War One, it has emerged.

PC Frank Peters had his left leg amputated in a field hospital after a gun battle months before the end of the war in 1918.

He was one of thousands of police officers who put their careers on hold to fight the Germans during the Great War.

Incredibly, after the war, PC Peters re-joined West Midlands Police and carried on working on the beat for a further 17 years ­ despite only having one leg, before dying on December 11, 1956, aged 69.

Today as part of the force’s commemoration of officers who fought during the war, his daughter-in-law, Patricia Peters, spoke about the dedicated bobby.

The 93-year-old, who married PC Peters’ son Frank Jr in 1953, said: ‘He once gave a drunkard a dip in a horse’s water trough when he kept playing up.

‘I think that brought him round to his senses! I’ve heard stories about Frank’s police career but, like many ex-servicemen, he rarely spoke about what he saw in battle.’

Patricia, from Hollywood, Birmingham, said: ‘My husband had the utmost respect for his father. There couldn’t have been a better role model.

‘He walked with a slight leaning but I had no idea he had a wooden leg and didn’t become aware of it for some time.

‘In fact, I think the first time I realised was some ball bearings fell out of his leg when we were out walking.

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‘He never really talked about the time he spent fighting in the trenches but my husband told me that a German POW helped carry him to safety when he was shot.

‘I do know he spent time convalescing in Birmingham’s Highbury Hall after his injury and, to pass the time, even took up needlecraft.

‘I’ve still got throws and covers he made back then.

‘They are so delicate, intricate, it’s hard to believe a big man like him stitched them.

‘Policing was his passion, though, and when he was fit enough to return to Oldbury as a PC he jumped at the chance.’

PC Peters was born in 1887 and served worked as a farm labourer before joining Worcestershire Constabulary ­ which later became West Midlands Police - when he was 22.

When war broke out he signed up as a reservist ­ juggling army training with beat policing ­ until joining the Coldstream Guards in June 1917.

He left for the Western Front in France just days after marrying wife May.

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Documents uncovered in the West Midlands Police museum show how Private Peters came close to death having been shot during a gun battle in August 1918.

The original certificate stamped 'United States Army Base Hospital No.13' in Boulogne and dated September 11, 1918 stated: ‘Certified that the left leg of Pte, 22302 Peters F. 1st Coldstream Guards has been amputated just above the knee, owing to Gas Bacilli infection, following gun-shot wound received in action on the 23-VIII-1918.’

The tough beat bobby returned to his police division following the war and continued patrolling the West Midlands until he retired with an 'exemplary' record on June 9, 1935.

Dave Cross, curator at the museum, said: ‘Most PCs who returned from action with injuries were retired and handed civilian police roles on the same pay.

‘But no doubt the then Chief Constable of the Worcestershire Constabulary saw this ram-rod straight PC in front of him, close to six feet tall, passionate about policing and thought, ’m not letting this man go.’

‘It’s not clear exactly what duties the returning PC Peters took on but we believe he ran the Oldbury police station front desk much of the time ­ but with someone of his commitment I wouldn’t be surprised if he still carried out beat patrols.

‘Everybody would have known Frank as the PC with one leg he would have been a character but, ultimately, a figure who commanded great respect.

‘After all, this is a man who served the public as a PC, then his country in the bloody Great War and, despite being seriously injured, was determined to get back into policing.

‘It’s hard to imagine what this man went through. He was quick to volunteer for his country, suffered a terrible injury and was operated on in a field hospital.

‘There was no anaesthetic on the battlefield. Amputee patients had to grit their teeth and bear it.’

Despite losing his leg his discharge note recorded his height as exactly six foot, almost three inches taller than stated on his enrolment form 25 years earlier.