Spr Gordon Tennyson Peaker, 4th Fd Coy

Spr Gordon Tennyson Peaker
Spr Gordon Tennyson Peaker's Headstone in Agira Canadian War Cemetery
Background 

Gordon Tennyson Peaker was born in London, Ontario, the son of Charles Peaker, a widower and father of seven boys and two girls. He attended the Brick Street Public School and worked for Dean Russell Drug Stores in London. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Engineers in London on 19 June 1940 and taken on strength of the 2nd Pioneer Battalion in Camp Borden on 15 July with the rank of Sapper and the trade of Pioneer. Two of his brothers also served in the Armed Forces during the war.

Gordon arrived at the newly relocated Engineer Training Centre at Camp Petawawa on 2 December 1940 for advanced training and proceeded overseas from Halifax on 6 April 1940 with No. 1 Road Construction Company. On 6 October 1942, he was admitted to No. 14 General Hospital for treatment. When he was released on 19 November, he was posted to the 4th Field Company stationed in Robertsbridge, East Sussex. By 14 June 1943, he was granted the qualification of Carpenter, Group ‘C’.

From the time he joined the 4th Field Company, training focused on preparing to invade Europe. They did not know where or when, but they knew they would be among the first and would be landing by sea. The training was rigorous and covered combined operations, mountain warfare, bridging, mine and booby trap clearance, small arms, route repair and construction, field craft and small arms practice. There was even some rudimentary German language training.

In June 1943, the Company was in Scotland and had just completed three weeks of mountain warfare when they took part in an amphibious landing exercise on the west coast of Scotland. They were issued tropical clothing and trained to waterproof their own vehicles. By this time, the whole division was on edge with tensions rising and rumours spreading about where and when they would see action. Would it be Greece? Crete? Sicily? No sooner was the exercise completed than they were issued tropical clothing and loaded onto ships for a week-long amphibious landing exercise and carried out an assault landing from landing craft. On 30 June, all troops were embarked wearing tropical clothing when they were told the 1 st Canadian Division was now part of Montgomery’s 8th Army and were headed to Sicily.

Ten days later, on 10 July 1943 and after a concentrated naval and air attack along the landing beaches, the 1st Canadian Division landed at Pachino along the southeast coast. The 1st and 3 rd Field Companies landed in the assault with the 1st and 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigades. The 4th Field Company followed up with the 3rd Brigade later that afternoon.

The company soon found itself in action moving up and over the central mountain range that ran the length of the Island. They took their first casualties on 12 August when Spr was killed while on patrol with the Royal 22eme Régiment (the Vandoos). The first few days were fast, but the pace slowed when the 1st Division encounter German troops for the first time near the town of Grammichele on 15 July. From then on, with the hulking shape of Mount Etna always on their right, the demands for engineer work along narrow mountain roads blocked by obstacles, mines, craters and destroyed bridges increased. The common theme in Sicily had the enemy on the high ground dominating any movement by the attackers in the valley. With the hulking shape of Mount Etna always on their right, they cleared the mines and obstacles left by the German defenders, built bridges and new routes and diversions forward, almost always under some sort of enemy observation and fire.

The last Canadian operation of the Sicilian campaign was crossing the Simeto River protecting the British 78th Division’s objective of Adrano. The 4th Field Company was supporting the attack by the Vandoos and the West Nova Scotia Regiment. The infantry achieved their objective easily and the defenders left the village. However, although the crossing itself had been bloodless, the work on the approaches had not. The banks of the river were heavily mined and the retreating enemy shelled the area sporadically to cover their withdrawal. War Diary of the 4 th Field Company reported that three sappers had been killed; Sappers Campbell and Turner were killed in action, Sapper Peaker died of wounds that same day at 5 Field Ambulance, and Sappers Cameron and Biggs were wounded.

Sapper Gordon Tennyson Peaker is buried in the Canadian War Cemetery in Agira. He was 24 years old.

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