General James Lochhead Jack DSO always called him Peter. General Jack records Palmes as having been killed on 31st July 1917. "And so, on an unforgettable morning, cold grey dawn of the 31st of July, in battle dress, with bayonets fixed, buttons dulled and the polished helmets coated with a thin skin of mud to be less visible, 2nd Battalion The Prince of Wales' Own West Yorkshire Regiment, under Captain John Philip Palmes M.C., with perfect discipline and undimmed courage, passed from me in a few minutes through the quaking shell holes into the hurricane of the battle." (General Jack's Diary 1914-1918 edited by John Terraine). On Macheke War Memorial. On Haileybury College War Memorial
MC LG Sup 6 September 1915 pg. 8841 - "For conspicuous gallantry on 9 August, 1915 at Hooge. He was in charge of a wiring party which came under heavy artillery fire while working in the open, and, by his coolness and fine example, encouraged his men and enabled the work to continue." MID LG Sup 1 January 1916 pg. 37