Frederick Thornton Peters
Encyclopedia
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, DSC & Bar
Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
(September 17, 1889 - November 13, 1942) was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
recipient of the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
forces.
Frederick Thornton "Fritz" Peters was 53 years old, and a captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:
Operation Reservist
Operation Reservist
Operation Reservist was an Allied military operation during World War II. Part of Operation Torch , it was an attempted landing of troops directly into the harbour at Oran....
(part of Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
, the Allied landings in French North Africa) was an attempt to capture Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
Harbour, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and prevent it from being sabotaged by its French garrison. The two sloops
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
HMS Walney
HMS Walney (Y04)
HMS Walney , launched in 1930 as USCGC Sebago, was a Banff class sloop. She was transferred to the Royal Navy in 1941 and lost in 1942 in Operation Reservist, an attack on Oran that formed part of Operation Torch...
and HMS Hartland were packed with British Commandos, soldiers of the 6th US Armored Infantry Division and a small detachment of US Marines.
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. Besides him, 13 ratings survived Walney sinking. The destroyer 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.
Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Army, for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree...
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, while coming back to Britain. Mount Peters near Nelson, British Columbia
Nelson, British Columbia
Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the extreme West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Known as "The Queen City", and acknowledged for its impressive collection of restored heritage buildings from its glory days in a regional silver rush,...
, 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
Frederick Peters
Frederick Peters was a lawyer and Prince Edward Island politician, who served as the sixth Premier of Prince Edward Island.-Early life and career:Peters was born in Charlottetown and educated at King's College in Nova Scotia...
(Premier of Prince Edward Island
Premier of Prince Edward Island
The Premier of Prince Edward Island is the first minister for the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. They are the province's head of government and de facto chief executive.The current Premier of Prince Edward Island is Robert Ghiz.-See also:...
, 1891–1897) and Roberta Hamilton Susan Gray (daughter of John Hamilton Gray
John Hamilton Gray (Prince Edward Island politician)
John Hamilton Gray was Premier of Prince Edward Island from 1863 – 1865 and one of the Fathers of Confederation...
who was Premier of P.E.I. at the time of the Charlottetown Conference
Charlottetown Conference
The Charlottetown Conference was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from the colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation...
of 1864). Two of Fritz's brothers died in action on the Western Front in World War I—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
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
.
British double agent Kim Philby
Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a high-ranking member of British intelligence who worked as a spy for and later defected to the Soviet Union...
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 in thick fog, at the entrance to the Royal Navy's Devonport Dockyard, Nr. Plymouth Devon. In spite of efforts by the pilot, Flt Lt Wynton Thorpe RAAF, who held on to him for ninety minutes in the water, he was dead when the rescue launch reached them. Grave/memorial at Name on Portsmouth Naval Memorial, HampshireHampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, England. Panel 61. Column 3.
External links
- Captain F.T. Peters in The Art of War exhibition at the UK National Archives
- PETERS, Frederick Thornton at Veteran Affairs Canada
- Find-A-Grave website has a photograph of Frederick Thornton Peters
- Legion Magazine Article on Frederick Peters