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FG Peters . British Army FG Peters served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Capt. Frederick Thornton Peters VC, DSO, DSC.. Royal Navy HMS Walney from British Columbia, Canada (d.13th Nov 1942) Frederick Peters was killed in action on the 13th of November 1942, aged 53. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial in Portsmouth.
He was the son of Frederick and Bertha Hamilton Peters, of Nelson, British Columbia, Canada.
The citation in the London Gazette of 14th May, 1943, reads : "For valour in taking H.M.S. Walney, in an enterprise of desperate hazard, into the harbour of Oran on 8th November, 1942. Captain Peters led his force through the boom towards the jetty in the face of point-blank fire from the shore batteries, a destroyer and a cruiser. Blinded in one eye, he alone of the seventeen officers and men on the bridge survived. The Walney reached the jetty disabled and ablaze, and went down with her colours flying."
Captain Peters survived this action and was taken prisoner by the French. He was released several days later and, on 13th November 1942, he was returning to England on a Sunderland Flying Boat when it crashed. He did not survive.
Mount Peters, near Nelson, British Colombia is named in his honour.
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Pte. Frederick Peters . British Army 2nd Btn. Royal East Kent Regiment from Chatham, Kent My granddad Fred Peters was nearly 36 years old and in the Army Reserves when he got his call-up papers. He joined the BEF and is listed as arriving in France on 11th Sept 1939. From my research, the 2nd Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) joined the 131st Infantry Brigade in early May and took part in The Battle of France from 10th May 1940. He is listed as a Prisoner of War on 11th July 1940. Like so many other POWs, he didn't talk much about his wartime experiences. However this is a summary of what we do know:
He and another soldier were captured trying to escape on a German motorbike they "borrowed". He was transferred to Stalag XXB, Marienburg on 1st November 1940. We do not know much about his time there apart from the fact he was sometimes sent to work at a local farm, where the farmer treated him decently.
Early in 1945 he and the other POWs were forced to march for hundreds of miles. Again, he didn't go into great detail but he did say they were so desperate for food that they dug up root vegetables from the frozen ground to survive. He had a scar on his back after a German soldier hit him with his rifle because he stopped to go to the toilet. He also told how he collapsed towards the end of the march and was put in a wheelbarrow and pushed for miles by his mates to save him from falling behind, a deed which he said saved his life.
He was liberated by American soldiers in mid-April 1945 and landing back in England on 28th April 1945. After being demobilised, he returned to his job in Chatham Dockyard.
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Gordon Peters . Royal Air Force 460 Sqd. Gordon Peters served as a navigator with 460 Sqd.
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Ldg.Wren. Gwendoline Alice Peters . Women's Royal Naval Service HMS Glendower from Leatherhead My mother, Gwen Peters, joined the WRNS on 6th November 1941 having originally applied to join in December 1940 but rejected as her teeth were in poor condition. She joined at HMS Pembroke and after 3 weeks was transferred to HMS Glendower as a writer (typist). She was promoted to Leading Wren on 31st May 1943 remaining at HMS Glendower until April 1944. She was then drafted to HMS Monck at Largs in Ayrshire. On 1st October 1944 she was drafted to HMS Eaglet where she worked in the Liver Building until she was re-drafted to HMS Nightjar (RNAS Inskip) until her discharge on 21st May 1946.
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P/O. H. N. Peters . Royal Air Force 90 Squadron (d.22nd June 1943) 90 Squadron Royal Air Force, Bomber Command, Stirling Mark 3 serial number EE887 WP-T. With a seven man crew took off from West Wickham at 2345 hrs on 21st June 1943 on a bombing mission to Krefeld, Germany. The aircraft was shot down in the early hours of 22nd June by a night fighter, later identified as the German fighter ace Hauptmann H.J. Jabs, and crashed at Hoogwoud North Holland with the loss of all of the crew. Crew members were: - Pilot Officer H.N. Peters Royal Australian Air Force
- Sergeant D.J. Davies Royal Air Force
- Sergeant David Gillis Royal Air Force Volunteers Reserve
- Sergeant E. Bradshaw Royal Air Force
- Sergeant B.A. Abraham Royal Air Force
- Sergeant A.S. Andrews Royal Air Force
- Sergeant R.R. Law Royal Canadian Air Force
All are buried in Bergen General Cemetery in the Netherlands.
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Hans H. Peters . Luftwaffe It was early morning in October 1944 on an airbase in Cottbus, Germany.
It was still dark outside, when suddenly the runway lights were switched on.
We were stunned as a Boeing Fortress B17 landed on the airfield. The aircraft rolled out but the runway was to short and so the B17 slided with the front landing gear in a waterless ditch. We could see that the crew (5 or 7 people, I can't quite remember)came out and fled. But they were captured after a short while. One crew member made it to a small forrest where he was found injured on the next morning. After he was medically attended he and his crew members were hauled off to Cottbus city.
This incident is affirmed by some other still living colleagues of mine. After 60 years.
One of my colleagues could tell, that the Cottbus tower has confirmed that a B17 has sent a mayday call after it was under fire by german flak and that one crew member was injured. So the tower decided to switch on the runway lights.
I am wondering if anyone of the crew is still alive and can tell some more about the circumstances how and why they landed in Cottbus.
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J Peters . British Army Royal Armoured Corps J Peters served with the Royal Armoured Corps British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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James Peters . United States Air Force I would like to contact any relative of Jim Peters who died whilst returning from a bombing raid over Germany. Whilst carrying out the raid on a city, which saw most ferocious bombing, the plane was hit but managed to turn and whilst flying home was attacked, broke up and fell into the sea. Jim has now gone to the light after helping many others.
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Pte. James Peters . British Army 4th Btn. Border Regiment from Whalley, Lancashire
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Spr. James Joseph Peters . British Army 1st Field Squadron Royal Engineers from Doncaster Jim Peters served with 1st Field Squadron, Royal Engineers and was held in Stalag20B.
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JC Peters . British Army Kings Liverpool Regiment JC Peters served with the Kings Liverpool Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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F/Sgt. Kenneth George Peters . Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 207 Sqdn. (d.2nd March 1943) F/Sgt Peters was a member of the crew of Lancaster ED533 EM-N which was lost on the night of 2nd/3rd March 1943. The full crew were:
Sgt R Isaacs, RAFVR
Sgt R Brown, RAFVR, Flt. Eng.
F/O GA Bissett, RAFVR
F/S KG Peters, RAFVR
Sgt WO Shelley, RAFVR, Wop/AG
Sgt JW Webster, RAFVR
F/O FB Hawkins, RAAF
The Lancaster had taken off at 1833 from Langar to lay mines in French waters. It was presumed lost over the sea. Sgt Brown, whose body was washed ashore on 27th May 1943, is buried in the Department of Basses-Pyrenees at Biarritz (du Sabrou) Communal Cemetery. The others have no known grave and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. F/O Bisset was a graduate from Aberdeen University.
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KN Peters . British Army KN Peters served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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LD Peters . British Army 12th Lancers LD Peters served with the 12th Lancers British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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P/O. Raymond Albert "Buck" Peters DFM.. Royal Air Force 486 Sqd. from New Zealand (d.30th Dec 1943)
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Cpl. Robert Tudor Peters . British Army from Skegness Robert Peters was a driver in an 8th Army tank regiment.
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F/Sgt. Andreas Petersen DFM.. RCAF 166 Sqd. Danish air gunner Andreas Petersen, RCAF, served with 166th squadron in 1944. He was rear gunner on I. Item, and in 1985 he published a book -in danish - about his time in the RCAF, (Natbomber - ISBN 87-00-85782-3). Here's the list of the crew as taken from his book. (surnames missing for those of the crew he was no longer in touch with in 1985)
Pilot, Flying Officer W.I. Warmington, RAF;
Navigator, Flying Officer J.F. Clark, RAF;
Bomb aimer, Flight Sergeant Jack, RAAF;
Wireless operator, Sergeant Don, RAF;
Flight engineer, Eric, RAF;
Mid upper gunner, Bill, RAF;
Rear gunner, Flight Sergeant Andreas Petersen, RCAF
In 1985, W.I. Warmington was a flight instructor in Wanganui New Zealand, and John F. Clark a retired bank manager, (Midland bank) somewhere in Yorkshire.
Arrival date is listed as April 27th 1944. On June 7th, Andreas Petersen had one confirmed kill, an ME410 night
fighter shot down on an operation against the German supply lines near
Versailles. On August 1st, 1944, the crew finished their tour of operations, having narrowly avoided being transferred to a Pathfinder squadron. In November, 1944, the following medals were awarded to members of the crew:-
W.I. Warmington - DFC;
Jack F. Clark - DFC;
Andreas Petersen - DFM.
After the tour ended, Andreas Petersen was transferred to RCAF Mountain
View, where he served as an instructor for the air gunners who were to
go on in the post-war permanent RCAF staff. During his time there he was
promoted to Pilot Officer.
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Pilot Lawrence "Pete" Petersen . US Navy VP-103, B-24 Fleet Air Wing 7 I was a US Navy Pilot, Fleet Air Wing 7, VP-103, B-24. Stationed at Dunkeswell, 1943-45. Shot down February 14, 1944, credited with one JU-88. Two crew members perished in crash, one more in life raft, awaiting rescue. In a dog fight Sept. 12th, 1943, off the north coast of Spain (Bay of Biscay) we crashed as well, this was not entered in any record book. Credited with 2 JU-88's.
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R Petersen . British Army R Petersen served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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F/O William Joseph Petersen . Royal New Zealand Air Force B Flight 102 Squadron
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Pte Alfred Hector Peterson . New Zealand Army Nz Infantry 22nd Motor Btn from New Plymouth, New Zealand (d.3rd Dec 1942) Alf was my Dad's cousin and Dad remembers seeing him off to war as a 10 year old. Alf was captured at Olympus Pass in Greece in his first action of the war approximately 16 April 1941. He was held as a POW at Stalag 18a. On the 3rd of December 1942 he was killed by a sentry. He is buried at Klagenfurt War Cemetery in Austria.
Apparently there is a Red Cross report from January 1943 that mentions Alfs death, it states that an inquiry was under way, but Alf was supposed to have threatened a sentry. There must have been more to it, as after the war a murder investigation was carried out.
I have a newspaper clipping sent to his mother, but it has no date. The clipping tells that the sentry responsible for killing Alf received a sentence of 17 years for his murder after being tried by the United Nations War Crimes Commission. An accomplice was still on the loose and believed to be in the Mediterranean area.
If anyone knows more or knew Alf I'd be interested to hear from them.
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Rmcs. Douglas S. "Pete" Peterson DFC.. Uniteds States Navy Squadron VB-110 from Aitkin, MN My father, Doug Peterson, served in VB-110 from June 1943 to June 1944, with his last mission (25th) flown on D-Day over the beaches of Normandy. He was the Radioman/Navigator on a PB4Y-1 Liberator bomber, in the squadron that Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. served in. Although he wasn't in Kennedy's crew, he flew several checkout flights with him to train new Radio/Navigators. Of all the stories he told me over the years, the one that intrigues me most concerns a patrol he flew in which his crew shot down a German ME109 using a depth charge.
Their normal mission profile consisted of flying 50ft above the water searching for German subs on the surface of the water using the radar installed where the ball turret was usually located. Their patrol area was in the Bay of Biscay, and on this particular patrol, they were not very long into the mission when my father picked up two blips on the radar approaching them from the coast, at a high speed. He informed the skipper that two "bogeys" were pursuing them, and they would soon be under attack.
Knowing that they were all alone, and no match for two fighters, the pilot quickly devised a plan to try to take the fighters by surprise. He knew that intercept attacks usually consisted of two fighters flown by one experienced pilot, and one less experienced (for training purposes I suppose). The experienced fighter pilot would lead, with the rookie trailing to watch his technique. The bomber pilot also knew that if he could get the fighter to come down low to make his attack, and if he timed it right, he could get the fighter with the huge geyser produced by an exploding depth charge. So, he headed out to sea to draw the lower ranged fighters away from their base, and ordered a depth charge set for zero depth, and told the tail gunner to tell him precisely when he could see the fighter open up with his guns. He reasoned that the range of the fighters guns, calculated with their airspeed, and the time it would take for the depth charge to go off, would be just right to catch the fighter in a geyser. Very soon the tail gunner shouted out that he could see the fighters, and that they were two ME109's closing fast on their tail. A moment later, he shouted that the first fighter was firing his guns, and the skipper dropped the depth charge. As the depth charge hit the water, and they passed by, it exploded, sending a hundred foot wall of water up in front of the pursuing fighter. The German pilot never knew what hit him. His wings were torn off and he crashed into the sea. The rookie pilot trailing him lost his nerve and turned for home.
If there is anyone out there that has any more information about this, I would love to hear from you. I've searched all over the internet looking for any record of this incident, but haven't had any luck.
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Flt Lt G. E. Peterson . Royal Air Force pilot 76 Sqd.
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John Peterson . Canadian Army from Ontario, Canada John Peterson was my mother's boyfriend in September 1945. She lived in Crydon England. They met at an ice skating rink nearby. His parents were of Swedish extraction and were farmers from Ontario, Canada. He was in the Royal Canadian Army and was sent on manoeuvres to the Continent where they lost touch.
Not a lot to go on but we would love to know what happened to him and where he is.
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Malcolm Albert Peterson DFC, CdG.. Royal New Zealand Air Force No. 138 Squadron from Wellington, NZ I know so little about my father Malcolm Peterson's war record. I have his log books and I know he trained to be a pilot in Blenheim NZ before travelling via Canada to Britain where he first joined 51 Squadron in Sept 1941, during which time he flew on bombing ops over Europe. Following that he joined No. 138 Squadron in January 1942, and this is where the information becomes sketchy because his logbook states 'ops as ordered', rather than mentioning towns which were bombed as happened during the time with 51 Squadron. I think this is when he was with SOE flying out of RAF Stradishall.
From July 1942 there was a stint at No. 10 OTU Abingdon followed by one at No.24 OTU Honeybourne, and on 14th February 1943 a crash at RAF Greenham Common, where the aircraft was totally destroyed. There were no injuries sustained by the crew, but my father was very badly injured and out of the war for 10 months. He recuperated at Stretton Hall, Staffordshire where he met my mother who was a nurse there. There seems to have been a long period of training when my father returned to the war, and finally he joined No. 692 Squadron in Feb 1945.
He was awarded the DFC and also the Croix de Geurre avec palme for his war efforts.
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S/Sgt. Roy Peterson . United States Air Force 567th Bomb Sqdn. 389th Bomb Group My grandfather was a POW at Stalag Luft 1 for about seven and a half months after his B24 Liberator bomber took anti-aircraft fire over Koblenz in late September/early October 1944. Five of his ten crew were killed that day. He and his radio operator were captured together.
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L/Sgt. William Peterson . British Army 7th Btn. Green Howards (Yorkshire Regiment) from Thornaby on Tees (d.20th July 1943) William Peterson was killed in action on 20th July 1943 days after surviving the battle for Primosole Bridge.
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Flt.Sgt John Stanley Peterswald . Royal Air Force 44 Rhodesia Squadron 5 Bomber Group from Australia My father was shot down in March 1945. He was a POW and took part in the Long March. He escaped briefly and was recaptured by a local farmer who handed him and two other back to the German military. The first Allies they saw on liberation were a convoy of Americans with Patton in the lead jeep, who announced he was there to liberate them.
I have his log book. He was shot down on his 19th mission.
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RQMS. Malcolm "Lofty" Petfield . British Army 1st Btn. South Lancashire Regiment from Ripon Malcolm Petfield "Lofty" as he was best remembered joined the ATC 1942 at 17 yr old , he trained and flew the Sopwith Camel. In his time with the unit he won the Heavyweight Boxing Championships. He left the ATC due to eye problems and joined the Navy and trained at HMS Arthur (land based training "ship").
When the call came for troops for D Day he went to the local recruiting office which was set up in a village hall in Ripon .
A Yorkshire man in the South Lancs Regiment, I asked him how he became to be in a Lancashire Rgt , he told me "there was a large picture frame on the wall and I liked the badge"!!.
He did a few weeks basic training in Scotland and then onto D Day .He landed at 7.25am on the 6th June . His words : "We landed and I was that frightened I just kept running forward , where too didn't matter I just followed the lads in front" ,As it was he and some others went to the right and ended up getting split up from the rest of the Btn, the Btn made it to Hermanville by 9am ,my father and the others made it back to the Btn mid afternoon.
On the 8th June they were sent down to reinforce Pegasus bridge, spent time around the villages of Plumetot, Mathiau, Cresserons, Giselle woods skirmishing constantly with the Germans. They ended to the east of Caen at 2 chateaus named Chateau la Londe and Le La Londel, they took the first without much of a problem.
The other unfortunately caused them to have massive casualties, they were brought back to Hermanville for R&R, regrouped with the East Yorkshire and returned back to the Chateau only again to suffer more heavy casualties .
After the fall of Caen he returned to England 24hrs R&R and rejoined the Btn. He went up into Holland, Venray and then onto Germany where he was part of the occupation force. During his time in Berlin he guarded Rudolph Hess and Albert Speer, during this time he went on a troop ship to Tripoli to bring back war criminals for trial at Nuremberg.
When the 1st Btn amalgamated with the 2nd Btn he ended up in Trieste as part as BETFOR , during his time at Lazarette he met a young lady in Muggia called Elvera Massari who he married and was happily married too for 54yrs up until he passed away.
My father stayed on as a Regular up until the 60's, during his time he was the undefeated Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the British armed forces Played Rugby which we still have many trophy's and medals for his sporting activities, he served in major conflicts preceding WWII and was at one point attached to the Parachute Regt. He never spoke in detail about his time during WWII , I alway's remember him saying to me "If any man say's he wasn't frightened , he's a liar. There are not words that would even start to describe what it was really like, apart from we were frightened to death"
When I took him back to his first Normandy Anniversary (it was 45yrs later), I asked him where abouts he actually was in the battle area, he could never point to a specific area , but would say "we were some where around here, you didn't take much notice of where you were, you were concentrating on staying alive and doing what you'd been sent to do"
When I took him down to Sword Beach at 7.25 on the 6th June (the time he landed), he walked away from me, and for the first time in my life I saw my father actually shed tears, this was a shock for me, because he was not normally the emotional type, or he kept it very well hidden.
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