Jack Spiers was educated at the Christian Brothers' High School in Dunedin

He enlisted from school and served with the Regular Force 1949-77(?)

He is featured in the display Scars on the Heart 1939 to present at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The signage reads: "Jack Spiers went to Korea in 1952-53 and was attached to the Mortar Platoon of 3 Battalion Royal Australian Regiment. He took part in the heavy fighting along the 38th Parallel defending Point 355 against Chinese attacks. He was 21 years old when he returned to New Zealand after the Armistice in 1953."

His obituary: " A regular soldier, he enlisted in the army on leaving school in 1949. During his military career, he saw service overseas, as well as stints in New Zealand. He rose through the ranks from Private to Major. His army career took him from 1952-1953 to the Korean War where, while attached to the 3RAR (Royal Australian Regiment) , he was mentioned in despatches. The years 1961-1964 saw him with the 1 NZ Regiment in Malaya and in 1970-71 he was in Kashmir as a military observer in the United Nations Military Observer force. In 1975, he retired from the Army and became a Real Estate Agent working on the North Shore. However, as a civilian, he was an active participant in military events, including being MC for a number of years at the Auckland City Councils' 11 O'clock Anzac Day Service, MC at the Museum's 1999 Armistice Day service, a member of the Takapuna RSA and Armoury volunteer. He provided material for the Korean and Peacekeeping displays in Scars II, and is profiled there...."

He served as a mortar fire controller on attachment to the Third Battalion Royal Australian Regiment where he distinguished himself by his extraordinary cool and accurate direction of mortar fire while under fire during the repulse of mass attacks and was "Mentioned in Dispatches". He was appointed Commander of the Reconnaissance Platoon in the First Battalion, the New Zealand Regiment, commanded by the then Lt. Colonel Les Pearce, which served in Malaya from 1961-63. Active patrolling on the Thailand-Malaya border was followed by secondment to the Headquarters, 17th Gurkha Division in Borneo, where he was highly commended . He also served as a UN observer in Kashmir.

Items and a photgraph are on display in the exhibition gallery Scars on the Heart 1939 to present, in both the Korean and Peacekeeping sections, Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Photo of Capt J.M. Spiers in The Officers, 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Regiment (Malaya 1962) AWMM