Frederick Thornton Peters

Frederick Thornton Peters, VC , DSO , DSC & Bar (September 17, 1889 - November 13, 1942) was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Frederick Thornton "Fritz" Peters was 53 years old, and a captain in the Royal Navy during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:

Operation Reservist (part of Operation Torch, the Allied landings in French North Africa) was an attempt to capture Oran Harbour, Algeria and prevent it from being sabotaged by its French garrison. The two sloops HMS "Walney" and HMS "Hartland" were packed with British Commandos and soldiers of the 6th US Armored Infantry Division.

On 8 November 1942 Captain Peters, commanding in "Walney", led his force through the boom towards the jetty in the face of point-blank fire from shore batteries, the sloop "La Surprise", and the destroyer "Epervier". Blinded in one eye, he alone of 11 officers and men on the bridge survived. "Walney" reached the jetty disabled and ablaze and went down with her colours flying. Captain Peters and a handful of men managed to reach the shore, where they were taken prisoner. "Hartland" came under fire from the French destroyer "Typhon" and blew up with the loss of half her crew. The survivors, like those of "Walney", were taken prisoner as they reached shore.Captain Peters was also awarded the U.S. Army Distinguished Service Cross for the same actions. The citation, issued in Allied Force Headquarters General Orders No. 19 of November 23, 1942, stated that "Captain Peters distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy during the attack on that post. He remained on the bridge in command of his ship in spite of the fact that the protective armor thereon had been blown away by enemy shell fire and was thereby exposed personally to the withering cross fire from shore defenses. He accomplished the berthing of his ship, then went to the forward deck and assisted by one officer secured the forward mooring lines. He then with utter disregard of his own personal safety went to the quarter-deck and assisted in securing the aft mooring lines so that the troops on board could disembark. At that time the engine room was in flames and very shortly thereafter exploded and the ship turned on its side and sank."

The survivors were released on November 10 1942 when the French garrison surrendered. In the meantime, the French systematically destroyed the harbour facilities at Oran: Operation Reservist was thus a complete failure.

Captain Peters was killed in an air crash three days later. Mount Peters near Nelson, British Columbia, where his mother lived in her last years with the family of her daughter Helen Dewdney and her husband E.E.L. Dewdney, was named in his honour in 1946.

Fritz Peters' parents were Frederick Peters (Premier of Prince Edward Island 1891-1897) and Roberta Hamilton Susan Gray (daughter of John Hamilton Gray who was Premier of P.E.I. at the time of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864). Two of Fritz's brothers died in action on the Western Front in World War One -- John Francklyn Peters in April 1915 and Gerald Hamilton Peters in June 1916. In addition to his service with the Royal Navy (which he joined in Esquimalt, B.C. in 1905 at age 16), Fritz worked with British Naval Intelligence and advised Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Russian spy Kim Philby noted his admiration for Naval Intelligence instructor "Commander Peters" in his book My Secret Life.

Further information

Killed on 13 November 1942 in a Sunderland seaplane which crash landed in Plymouth Sound, at the entrance to the Royal Navy's Devonport Dockyard, Nr. Plymouth Devon. No bodies were recovered after the crash. Grave/memorial at Name on Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Hampshire, England. Panel 61. Column 3.

External links

* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/theartofwar/valgal/valour/INF3_0472.htm Captain F.T. Peters] in "The Art of War" exhibition at the UK National Archives
* [http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/secondwar/citations/peters PETERS, Frederick Thornton at Veteran Affairs Canada]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7678152 Find-A-Grave website has a photograph of Frederick Thornton Peters]
* [http://www.legionmagazine.com/features/victoriacross/06-03.asp Legion Magazine Article on Frederick Peters]