Bradfieldian Sir Peter John Smithson Hewett (B 46-50) 6th Baronet was at Bradfield from Jan 1946 to 1950 and in B House. He was a keen pupil who became Honorary Secretary of the Discussion Society, involved with the Shakespeare Society and Games Committee, Senior Under Officer in the CCF and also a Senior Prefect in Jan 1950. He is pictured in the B House Cricket team in Summer 1950, second from right on the back row.

After Bradfield he went to Jesus College in Cambridge from 1950-53 and became a Barrister-at-Law at Gray’s Inn in 1954.

Alongside his life in the UK he was also an acting unpaid sergeant in the Kenya Regiment 1955-6 in the area of Naivasha just outside Nairobi. For his services in Kenya as part of the Kenya Regiment, Peter was later awarded a Military Medal and we learned this from a gentleman from the Kenya Regiment Association this week who is writing a book about the medal holders and made contact with the College.

Peter’s East African medal citation reads:

Private Hewett has served since April 1955, as a district intelligence officer. Since July 1956, he has been in many pseudo gang operations in the forest against armed Mau Mau terrorists. In these operations, which were particularly hazardous, he was conspicuously successful. Operations under his personal leadership resulted in the killing or capture of over 30 terrorists. In one particularly successful series of operations in May and June 1956, which he planned and executed with great skill and daring the whole of the gang of 25v terrorists was captured. He has over a long period shown a particular flair for intelligence work, and it is very largely due to his personal example, cool courage and initiative that the district for which he was responsible has been entirely cleared of terrorists.

Peter later became Registrar of the Diocese of Mombasa in 1962 and later became a judge in Kenya.

Sadly, Peter's son Richard or Rick (B 72-76) shared that they have very few photographs of him from those years and that his medal was one of many items stolen in a burglary back in the early 1960's.

The Orders and Medals Research Society are hoping to get the book published as soon as possible and it will be entitled 'Honours and Awards to the Security Forces and Civilians during the Kenya Emergency 1952-1960' with Hugh Stott as the author.