Peter Dixon enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 3 March 1941 in Melbourne.
As an engineer, Peter was placed at the 3rd Military District's Engineer Training Depot and in May 1941 was transferred to the 1st Australian Independent Company.
Peter was trained at Foster and Wilson's Promontory in Victoria and remembered the professionalism of the British instructors. It was during this time that he made his first and last parachute jump.
In July 1941, Peter sailed on HMT Zealandia to the 8th Military District and was stationed at Kavieng, New Britain.
When the Japanese invaded New Britain, Peter was captured while in his sleeping quarters. He had only just returned from a trip to Manus Island and the enemy's arrival was a complete surprise.
Peter was sent by boat to Japan and was initially put to work in a steel works before later being transferred to Sensuji in the south of Japan. From Sensuji, Peter was transferred to the north of Japan, where he and other prisoners worked in a mine. Peter welcomed the work as a break from the boredom of the prisoner of war (POW) camp. He remembered there being few examples of brutality by his captors.
With news of the end of the war, Peter and others caught a train down to Tokyo after having received relief packages dropped by Allied aircraft. In Tokyo, he boarded HMS Ruler, a British escort carrier, and arriving in Sydney on 10 October 1945.
