"The Bravest Canadian -- Fritz Peters, VC" Receives P.E.I. Heritage Award

Just returned from Charlottetown, where I was honoured to receive a prestigious Heritage Award from the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation at their annual awards ceremony on February 19th at historic Beaconsfield's Carriage House.

The award was for my book "The Bravest Canadian -- Fritz Peters, VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars", about my greatuncle Capt. Frederic Thornton Peters, VC, DSO, DSC and bar, DSC (U.S.), RN, who was known by the nickname "Fritz" to family and friends.  The citation for the Heritage Award described the book as "an excellent history of one of the Island's most fascinating figures."

While in Charlottetown for a week I had book signing sessions at the Bookmark and Indigo book stores, with each event selling about 20 "Bravest Canadian" books.  I also did a reading and Powerpoint presentation at the Hotel on Pownal, and did several media interviews, including Karen Mair for the CBC Radio "Mainstreet" show and Bruce Rainnie of the CBC TV "Compass" show.  For the next week or so, the TV interview aired on February 25th can be viewed on the CBC Charlottetown web site through the link http://www.cbc.ca/compass/.  The interview is about half-way (15 minutes) through the Compass show.

I also took the opportunity to visit St. Peters Cathedral, where the Peters worshipped and where Fritz had school classes.  Fritz Peters has the disinction of being the only P.E.I.-born recipient of the ultimate award for valour, the Victoria Cross.  Born in 1889, he moved to British Columbia with his family in 1898, joined the Royal Navy in 1905, and spent his adult years either in Gold Coast colony in Africa, in England, or serving abroad with the Royal Navy and the Secret Intelligence Service.  He has the distinction of being the only Canadian to receive multiple awards for valour in both world wars.

"The Bravest Canadian" Tells Story of War Hero Capt. Frederic Thornton Peters, VC, DSO, DSC and bar, DSC (U.S.), RN

A new book tells the story of one of Canada’s most decorated – and least known -- military heroes, Capt. Frederic Thornton “Fritz” Peters, VC, DSO, DSC and bar, DSC (U.S.), RN.

Previous attempts at biographies of Peters were stymied by a lack of information in official records, but The Bravest Canadian – Fritz Peters, VC: the Making of a Hero of Two World Wars by Sam McBride is based on a treasure trove of recently-discovered personal letters that reveal his personality, motivations and zest for battle.   They also answer many questions about his mysterious life, including service with Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, exploits in the Gold Coast colony of west Africa in the inter-war years, three stints of Royal Navy service over a 37-year period, and his tragic death in a flying boat crash returning to England after miraculously surviving heavy fire from all directions when he led a charge into the Vichy French-held Algerian port of Oran.

Published by Granville Island Publishing, The Bravest Canadian was launched in bookstores in Canada and abroad in November 2012.

Book release coincides with 70^th anniversary of Peters’ Victoria Cross award

November 8, 2012 marked the 70^th anniversary of the Allied invasion of North Africa, code-named Operation Torch.  The invasion of Vichy French territory was the first large combined operation of British and American forces, and would prove to be a turning point in the war against Nazi Germany.   The initial targets of the invasion were Oran and Algiers in Algeria, and Casablanca in Morocco. 

Fritz Peters’ courage in leading an attack by two converted Coast Guard cutters through barriers and inside Oran harbor at 3 a.m. on Nov. 8, 1942 in the face of point blank fire from French shore batteries and moored warships was honored with the highest awards for valor offered by Britain and the United States.

The surrender of the last Nazi forces in North Africa in May 1943 secured Allied shipping lanes in the Mediterranean and gave the Allies bases for subsequent invasions of Sicily, mainland Italy and France. 

Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1889, Peters moved with his family in 1898 to Victoria, British Columbia, where he lived until joining the Royal Navy in 1905, aside from time in England at naval prep school.   The Peters family resided in Oak Bay and then Esquimalt before moving to Prince Rupert.

Peters was determined to live up to his family’s tradition of military leadership and courage in battle, going back to United Empire Loyalist leaders in the Revolutionary War, and a prominent general of the Crimean War.  Peters’ father, P.E.I. Premier Frederick Peters, was a close grandson of shipping magnate Sir Samuel Cunard, one of the reasons why his son Fritz chose a career in the navy. 

At age 53 in 1942, Fritz Peters was the oldest Victoria Cross (VC) recipient in the Second World War.  Twenty-seven years earlier, in January 1915, he received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) medal, second only to the VC as an award for valor, in the Battle of Dogger Bank in the North Sea.  He was also Mentioned in Dispatches, earned a British Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) in 1918, and then a bar to his DSC in 1940.  His Oran gallantry was recognized with the Victoria Cross and the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross, the highest medal for valor awarded by the U.S. to non-Americans.

In the inter-war years he developed technology for miniature submarines, and was an early user of plastic explosives and time-delay fuses in his work with secret intelligence.  In 1940 he commanded a school for spies and industrial sabotage for expatriates who later returned to their native countries in Occupied Europe to fight the Germans from within. 

Peters’ admirers included Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Allied commander-in-chief U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower, and British naval commander Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham.  However, several of Eisenhower’s American underlings were bitter opponents of Peters in the planning and carrying out of the Oran harbor attack, and blamed him for heavy casualties suffered by U.S. troops.

Tragically, Peters died before he had a chance to tell his side of the story.  Later, British authorities chose to downplay the Oran action to avoid antagonizing the French when they resumed as allies against the Nazis.  Some government documents were destroyed, and others were kept secret for 30 years.  As a result, the personal story of Fritz Peters – recipient of six medals for valor in two world wars – remained a mystery until the author’s discovery of the Peters Family Papers. 


 

Virtual War Memorial helps preserve stories of Canadian heroes

By Sam McBride

                What do you do with memorabilia of relatives who died in the wars of yesteryear?  This is a common problem for many Canadian families, particularly when heirlooms are passed from one generation to the next.

                You find yourself with photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, military documents and all manner of odds and ends, like medals, ribbons and articles of clothing of the deceased ancestor.  What often happens, over time, is that this material just gets thrown out with the trash -- which is understandable from a housekeeping perspective but a real shame because the stories associated with the memorabilia disappear. 

Even if you are settled in a home where you can comfortably store the memorabilia over time, you worry that the relics of relations who died fighting for Canada will not be kept safe.  Who knows what will happen to the material if there is fire or theft, or when passed on to future generations.   In some cases, museums and archives may be interested in displaying and preserving this type of material, but they tend to get overwhelmed with donations of similar memorabilia from other sources.

Capt. Fritz Peters, VC

In the case of my greatuncle Capt. Frederic Thornton “Fritz” Peters, VC, DSO, DSC and bar, DSC (U.S.), RN who won the Victoria Cross and four other major medals for valour through two world wars, his letters and associated material were so valuable and his story so fascinating that I used it as the basis for a biography of him, titled The Bravest Canadian, which comes out in 2012.  Peters, who died in a flying boat crash November 13, 1942, five days after the action in Algeria for which he won the Victoria Cross and the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross, was my maternal grandmother Helen Dewdney`s brother.

In most cases, the descendant does not have sufficient material or the inclination to write a comprehensive biography on a relative who died in battle.  However, one thing you can do to ensure the memorabilia associated with your dead ancestor is not lost to history is to participate in the Virtual War Memorial which is part of the Veterans Affairs Canada web site.  I have contributed scans and digital photographs of a variety of heirlooms to the Virtual Memorial over the last decade. 

Lieut. Gerald Peters

In addition to the page of images on the Virtual Memorial dedicated to Fritz Peters, there are pages for his brother Private John Francklyn Peters, who died at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, and another brother Lieutenant Gerald Hamilton Peters, who died in the Battle of Mount Sorrel in May 1916. Both brothers were serving with the 7^th B.C. Duke of Connaught battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force when they died.

Private Jack Peters

My late father Major Leigh McBride`s side of the family also has relatives with pages on the Virtual Memorial.  His brother and only sibling, Capt. Kenneth Gilbert McBride, died in September 1944 when his vehicle struck a mine on a road near Rimini in central Italy. Like his brother Leigh,  Ken served with the Seaforth Highlander regiment of the Canadian Army in the invasions of Sicily and Italy.  Also, Leigh`s first cousin, Sergeant Flight Engineer Richard Alan Rollins, serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force, died in December 1942 when he was a crew member of a plane on anti-submarine patrol which crashed on takeoff.  I have uploaded more than a dozen items for Ken`s page on the Virtual Memorial, but in Richard`s case the only item I had to post was a newspaper clipping with the announcement of his death, which his aunt (my paternal grandmother) kept in her scrapbook. Still, it was better than nothing, and has led to others (either Veterans Affairs staff or persons outside the family who contribute out of interest and appreciation) posting photographs of Richard`s tombstone and cemetery.

Leigh McBride (left) and brother Ken in 1935

death of Richard Rollins reported 

 

                The link to the Virtual War Memorial is below.  If you have a Canadian relative who died in battle, you should check to see if there are images on the person`s page.  There is an online procedure you need to go through online for submitting images, but it is quite simple and straightforward.  Veterans Affairs does not guarantee they will accept and display all material submitted, but I have never encountered problems in making several dozen submissions over the years.

                It is great to think that images that help tell the stories of the deceased heroes will be available for future generations to see.  It is the least we can do in appreciation of their sacrifice.

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/virtualmem

ancestry charts of Sam McBride of Trail, British Columbia







These charts are based on research I have done on the various sides of the family over the last 20 years.  The chart with photos is from Scrapbooks Plus software and the other one is based on Family Tree Maker.  My family tree information is posted online through ancestry.com, titled SamMcBride59. -- Sam McBride, December 2011

new book on Frederic Thornton Peters, VC

                Captain Frederic Thornton ``Fritz`` Peters, VC, DSO, DSC and bar, DSC (U.S.), RN would rate among the greatest Canadian war heroes on the basis of his gallant exploits in either the First World War or the Second World War. The combination of these accomplishments – including three major honours for valour in each of the wars – give him a special place in the pantheon of Canadian military heroes. 

                Previous attempts to tell Peters` story have been stymied by the lack of a paper trail due to his   involvement in top secret and controversial projects, his detestation of publicity and self-promotion, and never settling for long in one place. The heart of the new book The Bravest Canadian coming out in 2012 is a recently-discovered treasure trove of letters from and about Fritz Peters and his family that give insight into his life experience, what he was thinking, and what made him tick. 

Fritz Peters as 22-year-old Royal Navy officer

               His Maritime establishment family revered war heroes in its ancestry, ranging from Loyalist officers in the Revolutionary War, through the wars and British Empire skirmishes of the 19^th century.  Fritz was expected to live up to this tradition, which he did in spades. He was a loveable eccentric, in the best traditions of the Royal Navy in which he served.

His is a world-wide story, encompassing boyhood on both coasts of Canada, naval service at the romantic China Station, tense battles with German U-boats in both wars, a mysterious career in the spy world, and culminating as leader of a modern-day Charge of the Light Brigade inside an Algerian port against Vichy French guns lined up against him in every direction.

Capt. F.T. Peters, 53, in 1942