[3][9] He was seconded to the Egyptian Army and saw service with the Dongola Expeditionary Force in 1896,[10] and was mentioned in despatches,[11] then in the Sudan in 1897 and 1898, where he was dangerously wounded and his horse killed under him by a spear.

[14] Peyton fought next in South Africa, 1899–1900, where he served with Alexander Thorneycroft's mounted infantry, was promoted major and brevet lieutenant colonel,[15] again mentioned in despatches,[16] and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps, but his service was cut short by illness and he was invalided back to England.

[4][24][25][26] Peyton returned to England in 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War and took up a new post as GSO1, or chief of staff, of the 1st Mounted Division, a Territorial Force (TF) formation.

[4] Peyton then commanded the Western Frontier Force in Egypt in 1916, leading an expedition against the Senussi and re-occupying Sidi Barrani and Sollum, again being mentioned in despatches.

[3][30][31][32] For rescuing the shipwrecked British prisoners of HMS Tara from Bir Hakkim (by a force of armoured cars led by Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster) he received the special thanks of the Admiralty and was again mentioned in despatches.

[3][33] In May 1916, after success as a combat commander, Peyton was transferred to the Western Front to become the military secretary to General Sir Douglas Haig.

[52] After his wife's death in 1901, Peyton remarried in 1903 with Gertrude, daughter of Major-General A. R. Lempriere and the widow of Captain Stuart Robertson of the 14th Hussars.

[3] In 1921, Peyton's daughter Ela married Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edward Daymonde Stevenson KCVO (1895–1958) and she died in 1976, leaving one son.

[52] Peyton's son-in-law was Gentleman Usher of the Green Rod, 1953–1958, and Purse Bearer to the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1930–1958.