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Estate of Fritz Peters Valued at £254

April 27, 2013

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by Sam McBride

I recently was notified by ancestry.com that they had an image of the probate record of Capt. Frederic Thornton Peters.

Fritz left an estate of 254 pounds, most of which probably went to pay off loans and debts. The record says the probate went to Rosalind Varley (wife of Cromwell Hanford Varley), which confirms that she was executor (or executrix, as she described herself in a letter to Fritz`s mother) of Fritz`s will. Rosalind Varley said in her letter that she would forward Fritz`s personal effects to his family in Canada when the war was over and sea transport was safe. I recent had an enjoyable phone chat with Rosalind`s daughter Juliet who had many happy memories of Fritz`s regular visits to the Varley home.

The probate went through on Feb. 1, 1943 and was registered at the Llandudno registry in north Wales. They listed the Peters address as: care of the United Service Club, Pall Mall, London, which was the address he noted in his March 1942 letter to his sister Helen Dewdney, the last correspondence the relatives received from him. That same address was also on passenger lists for several voyages Fritz took in the years between the wars.

The date of death in the record was November 13, 1942, further confirming information from the Admiralty Office of Fritz`s date of death in a flying boat crash in Plymouth Sound

Fritz Peters Book Recognized with P.E.I. Heritage Award

February 28, 2013

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On Tuesday, February 19, 2013, Sam McBride, author of “The Bravest Canadian — Fritz Peters, VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars”, received a Heritage Award at the annual awards night of the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Authority.

The presentations were made at the Carriage House at historic Beaconsfield House in Charlottetown. The Honourable Robert Henderson, Tourism and Culture Minister handed out the awards.

The Heritage Award Citation reads: “Born in Charlottetown in 1889, Frederic Thornton “Fritz” Peters was one of the most decorated soldiers in Canadian history. Over the course of two wars he won siz awards for valour, including the Victoria Cross. Since he’s from here, many Islanders know the bare bones of his story, at least the part about winning the Victoria Cross. One of his great-nephews, Sam McBride, knew there was much more of the story to tell. In The Bravest Canadian: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars, McBride explores Peters’ life and career through family correspondence and presents a detailed examination of the battles he fought in. The result is an excellent history of one of the Island’s fascinating figures. In recognition for his work in creating The Bravest Canadian, we are pleased to present a Heritage Award to Mr. Sam McBride.”

Exploring Fritz Peters Sites in Charlottetown

February 28, 2013

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Capt. Frederic Thornton “Fritz” Peters, VC, DSO, DSC and bar, DSC (U.S.), RN was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on Sept. 17, 1889.

He lived in Charlottetown until moving at age eight with his family to Victoria, British Columbia in late spring of 1898. Many of the houses, churches and government buildings of his era are still going strong today.

At top are are images of St. Peters (Anglican) Church, where the Peters family worshipped, and Fritz attended school classes. The collage includes a black and white photo taken in about 1920 of the First World War memorial plaque in the church that includes the names of Fritz’s brothers John Francklyn Peters and Gerald Hamilton Peters, as well as his cousin Arthur Gordon Peters. A photo to its right taken last week shows the additional plaque below which has names of Island men who lost their lives in World War Two, including Fritz Peters.

The photo collage below shows Province House at the time of the Charlottetown Conference in September 1864, including Fritz’s maternal grandfather, Col. John Hamilton Gray, who is the bearded man in the middle, holding a scroll in one hand. Other photos are of Province House today, along with a very impressive war memorial.

P.E.I. Heritage Award and Book Signings in Charlottetown

February 10, 2013

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Letter announcing the Heritage Award.

By Sam McBride

I was very pleased last week to receive notification from the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation that they are giving me a Heritage Award in recognition of my book The Bravest Canadian – Fritz Peters, VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars. I will receive the award at the Annual Heritage Awards Ceremony at the Carriage House at Beaconsfield in Charlottetown on Feb. 19, 2013.

If all goes as planned, I will be in Charlottetown from Sunday, Feb. 17 until Sunday, Feb. 24. I have arranged to do book signings in Charlottetown at the Bookmark Store on Queen Street on Friday, Feb. 22nd at noon, and then at the Indigo Store at 465 University Avenue on Saturday, Feb. 23rd from 1-3 pm. In addition to book promotion activities, I plan to do further research on the Peters and Gray ancestors.

As part of the cross-Canada trip, I will be in Cranbrook Feb. 13-14, Ottawa Feb. 14-17, Ottawa again Feb. 24-26, and Cranbrook again Feb. 26-27. In Ottawa I plan to visit, and conduct research, in the Canadian War Museum and the National Archives, and visit bookstores and Ottawa-based veterans’ associations.

Once again, many thanks to the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation for the prestigious Heritage Award.

Biog readers with suggestions for book promotion events should contact me either through this blog, or by emailing sammcbridebc(AT)gmail.com.

“The Bravest Canadian — Fritz Peters, VC” Reviewed in Naval Association of Canada’s Starshell magazine

February 9, 2013

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The Winter 2012-2013 edition of Starshell, the national magazine of the Naval Association of Canada, features a review of “The Bravest Canadian — Fritz Peters, VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars”.

The latest issue of Starshell can be viewed through the link http://www.navalassoc.ca/starshell.

Many thanks to Mike and Starshell editor Cdr (Ret’d) George Moore for helping spread word of the book on a nation-wide basis.

Interestingly, an article on Capt. Frederic Thornton Peters, VC, DSO, DSC and bar, DSC (U.S.), RN in Starshell magazine in 1992 was titled “The Bravest Canadian of Them All”. This was one of the sources that were the basis for the title of the new biography of Fritz Peters released in November 2012.

Memorable descriptions of Frederic Thornton “Fritz“ Peters

January 17, 2013

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“His courage was massive, like his shoulders.” – United Press war correspondent Leo Disher

“He was strikingly calm, almost annoyingly so”. – Leo Disher

“Completely without fear, dedicated to duty or his own interpretation of it, and tough as old rope.” – Commander David Joel, RN

“His determination, his courage, his unquenchable gaiety” – British war correspondent A.D. Divine

“(Oran) was a desperate adventure against appalling odds and it was only Fritz’s grim determination and heroism against these odds which enabled the Walney to be berthed alongside the jetty“. – Commander Cromwell Varley, DSO

“Danger never had any bearing for him, and engaging the enemy was the one thing he lived for.“ – Rear Admiral Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton

“This Oran business was Peters all over. A first-class man.” – Admiral A.M. Peters (no relation)

“He had faraway naval eyes and a gentle smile of great charm… Our trainees came to adore him“. – Kim Philby, who served under Peters in 1940 in a British Secret Intelligence Service spy school.

“A typical Elizabethan gentleman adventurer.” – Paymaster-commander S.W. Saxton, RN

“His courage was of a caliber which realized danger even if fear was unknown to him. – S.W. Saxton

“Where duty lay, so was his set purpose, and no sacrifice was too great to carry out that duty to its end.” – S.W. Saxton

“I have not yet met anyone who did not love him or admire him.“ – S.W. Saxon

“I propose that the bravest Canadian may well have been Frederic Thornton Peters, RN”. – Commander (ret.) F.J. Blatherwick

Memorable Quotes of Frederic Thornton Peters

December 18, 2012

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Capt. Frederic Thornton “Fritz” Peters wasn’t just a man of action. As evidenced in his letters home and in the quotes below, he was well-read, knowledgeable of history, articulate and had a wry sense of humour.

“ It is not given to every man to be so fortunate as to fight for his country.”
– September 1914

“I have a deep and I hope true love of Canada and perhaps some small idea of its future greatness and an undying firm belief in the absolute need of unity in the Empire.”
– 1916

“I pray God I fall in the same manner with my face to the enemy.”
– 1916, after the death in battle of his brother Gerald.

“A death in action — surely if we are judged for the vast eternity by this brief mortal span — must be something.”
– 1916

“There is only one thing — the King and Empire.”
– 1916

“Death is nothing compared to dishonour.”
– 1917

“Forget all you saw or heard in the last war. This is hell, but I still have my sword sharpened.”
– after the Battle of Narvik, 1940

“I am probably going to be killed, but it’s worth it.”
– October 1942

“This is my meat. I don’t feel my best until I smell the smoke of battle.”
– steaming towards Oran, Algeria. November 7, 1942

Nelson Star article on “The Bravest Canadian — Fritz Peters, VC”

December 18, 2012

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The image above is from “The Vurb” culture insert of the Nelson Star on Dec. 14, 2012. To see the full article, go to http://www.nelsonstar.com/news/183103291.html?c=y&curSection=/&curTitle=BC+News&bc09=true

Book launch event December 15th at Touchstones in Nelson, B.C.

December 5, 2012

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Sam McBride, author of “The Bravest Canadian – Fritz Peters, VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars” will launch the book in Nelson, British Columbia on Saturday, December 15^th.

He will be in the lobby of the Touchstones Nelson – Museum of Art and History at 502 Vernon Street in Nelson from 1 pm to 3 pm.

While Capt. Frederic Thornton “Fritz” Peters never lived in Nelson himself, his mother Bertha Gray Peters and his sister Helen Dewdney and her family resided in Nelson from 1929 to 1969. Previously, they lived in the nearby West Kootenay communities of New Denver, Rossland and Trail as Helen’s husband Ted Dewdney was transferred around the region to manage branches of the Bank of Montreal.

After Capt. Peters’ death in an air crash near Plymouth, England in November 1942, a delegation from President Roosevelt and General Eisenhower came to Nelson in February 1944 to officially present the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross medal he earned for action in the harbour of Oran, Algeria to his mother Bertha Gray Peters as next-of-kin.

In 1946, a mountain on the west edge of Nelson was named Mount Peters in his honour. Since then, Helen Dewdney’s children and descendants have donated a number of artifacts and photographs to the museum and archives in Nelson, mostly related to the Hon. Edgar Dewdney, builder of the Dewdney Trail, who was Ted Dewdney’s uncle and legal guardian after Ted’s parents died when he was 11.

70 Years Ago Gen. Eisenhower Awarded U.S. DSC to Capt. Frederic Thornton Peters

November 28, 2012

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ABOVE: Nov. 29, 1942 letter from Eisenhower (Peters Family Papers).

In the letter above, dated Nov. 29, 1942, Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, overall commander of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, advises the British Admiralty that he is awarding the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross to Acting Captain Frederic Thornton “Fritz” Peters of the Royal Navy.

The letter was forwarded to Peters’ mother as next-of-kin as a memento of her son who tragically died when the flying boat transporting him back to England crashed in heavy fog in Plymouth Sound in the evening of Nov. 13, 1942. It was likely sent to Mrs. Peters in 1943 by either Adm. A.M. Peters (no relation to Fritz) or Adm. Sir Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton, both of whom served terms as Secretary of the Admiralty and wrote letters to Mrs. Peters in response to her inquiries after Fritz’s death. While A.M. Peters was a casual acquaintance of Fritz, Dalrymple-Hamilton was a longstanding friend and naval colleague who was a fellow student with Fritz at Cordwalles Boys School in Maidenhead in the 1901-1904 period. The letter was retained by Mrs. Peters and her descendants, and is part of the Peters Family Papers on which the new book “The Bravest Canadian — Fritz Peters, VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars” is based.

In the letter Eisenhower applauds Peters for “extraordinary heroism during the attack on Oran, Morocco in the early morning of 8 November 1942”. It is interesting that Eisenhower mistakenly says Oran is in Morocco, when it is actually the second largest city of Algeria. This may have just been a clerical oversight, or it may be a reflection of Eisenhower’s poor knowledge of North Africa geography.

It is also interesting that Eisenhower says Gen. Lloyd Fredendall, in command of the Centre Task Force to capture Oran in Operation Torch, had made the recommendation for Fritz’s American DSC medal. Fredendall strongly disliked his British allies and encouraged his staff to mock them with fake English accents. At the time this letter was written, Eisenhower was still a strong supporter of Fredendall, but in February 1943, after the humiliating defeat at Kasserine Pass, Fredendall was replaced as commander of II Corps by Gen. George S. Patton, and sent back to the States.

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