Frederic Thornton Peters

Early Life

Frederic Thornton “Fritz” Peters was the son of Frederick Peters, the first Liberal premier of Prince Edward Island (1891–97), and Roberta (Bertha) Gray, the youngest daughter of Father of Confederation Colonel John Hamilton Gray, a Conservative premier of the colony (1863–64) before Confederation. Peters attended St. Peter’s School, run by the Anglican Church, until 1898, when the family moved to Victoria, British Columbia.  

Peters’ family nicknamed him Fritz because he was obsessed with the military from an early age, much like the clichéd image of a Prussian. Peters’ desire to be a soldier was inspired by his grandfather, Colonel Gray. In Victoria, however, he became interested in a naval career as he watched warships of the Royal Navy steam by his home. Peters was also given tours of the nearby naval base at Esquimalt and RN ships.

In 1900, Peters was sent to private schools in England. He joined the RN as a cadet in 1905 and went to sea as a midshipman with the Channel Fleet. Peters then saw service on gunboats and destroyers on the China station at Weihai. He was promoted sub-lieutenant on 30 July 1909 and lieutenant on 30 Jan 1911. Peters retired in 1913 and worked briefly for Canadian Pacific Railway ships in the British Columbia interior.

First World War

When the First World War broke out in August 1914, Fritz Peters rejoined the RN and served on destroyers. In January 1915, he was in HMS Meteor during the Battle of the Dogger Bank when the ship’s engine room was hit by shellfire from the German cruiser Blucher.

Peters’ quick actions saved the lives of two sailors. For his gallantry, he received a Mention-in-Dispatches and the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Peters was the first Canadian to be awarded the DSO during the war.   

Peters went on to command four warships. While in command of the destroyer Christopher, he rescued the crew of a sinking Q-ship (a heavily armed civilian vessel that concealed its armament until a German submarine came within range). In 1918, Peters received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for his “exceptional initiative, ability and zeal” during antisubmarine operations and attacks on enemy U-boats. (See also Canada and Antisubmarine Warfare in the First World War.)    

Between the Wars

Fritz Peters remained in the navy after the war and was promoted lieutenant-commander on 26 March 1920. He retired that year and spent many years growing cocoa in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana). He also manufactured specialized pumps for midget submarines developed by an RN friend. While he was on the retired list, Peters was promoted commander on 17 September 1929.

Second World War

Fritz Peters rejoined the RN when the Second World War broke out in 1939 and took command of an antisubmarine flotilla of trawlers. His ships sank two German U-boats, resulting in the award of a bar to his DSC in June 1940. He became an acting captain that year and worked in various staff positions. In August, Peters was appointed commandant of a school for training spies and saboteurs.

In 1942, the RN appointed Peters to command a dangerous mission during Operation Torch, the codename for the Allied invasion of North Africa. Using two 2,000-ton former US Coast Guard cutters, renamed HM Ships Walney and Hartland, his task was to secure Oran harbour in Algeria and take over its port facilities before it could be sabotaged by its Vichy French garrison. For this mission, Peters had to disembark about 400 American and British troops.

The landings of American troops on the beaches west and east of the port at 1:00 a.m. on 8 November were virtually unopposed. But when HMS Walney (with Peters aboard) and Hartland crashed through a boom of logs, chains and barges across the harbour entrance about two hours later, the French were fully alerted. They reacted with heavy fire from shore batteries and warships anchored in the harbour.

Peters and HMS Walney pressed on up the narrow harbour with Hartland following, despite suffering heavy casualties from point-blank fire. When Peters reached the jetty, despite Walney being disabled and ablaze, he assisted with the mooring lines so the soldiers could disembark.

Then Walney blew up and went down with its colours flying; Hartland was also sunk. Peters was blinded in one eye, but he and a few others survived and were picked up out of the water by the French. When Vichy forces surrendered to the Allies two days later, Peters and his comrades were released.

On Friday, November 13, Peters boarded a Royal Australian Air Force Sunderland flying boat to fly to Britain for medical treatment and to report on the operation. As it approached England, the Sunderland encountered strong headwinds, heavy fog and instrument failure. It crashed into Plymouth Sound, flipped over and broke up. The pilot found Peters alive in the water and tried to swim with him to a breakwater, but about an hour later Peters died and his body slipped beneath the waves.

For his heroic actions in leading the assault force at Oran, Peters was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. The Americans also awarded him their DSC, the highest honour they could give a foreigner.     

Memory

Fritz Peters has no known grave, since his body was never recovered. Instead, he is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, along with almost 15,000 other Commonwealth naval personnel from the Second World War. Mount Peters, northwest of Nelson, British Columbia, was named after him in March 1946.