George Pearkes

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Pearkes in 1917 during World War I.

George Randolph Pearkes , VC , CC , PC , CB , DSO , MC (born February 26, 1888 in Watford , United Kingdom , † May 30, 1984 in Victoria, British Columbia ) was a Canadian major general and politician . He was a Conservative MP in the Canadian House of Commons from 1945 to 1960 . From 1957 to 1960 he was Secretary of Defense in the cabinet of Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker , then he was Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia until 1968 .

biography

Pearkes emigrated to Canada with his brother in 1906 and settled near Red Deer in the province of Alberta . In 1911 he joined the North-West Mounted Police and was then stationed in the Yukon Territory in the north-west of the country. In 1915 he joined the Royal Canadian Army as a private and was wounded five times in combat on the Western Front . For his bravery he was awarded the Victoria Cross in the skirmishes for Passchendaele during the Third Battle of Flanders in 1917 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

After the end of the First World War , Pearkes remained active as an officer in the permanent armed forces. In the 1920s and 1930s he was stationed as a staff officer in Winnipeg and Calgary and at the Royal Military Academy in Kingston . In 1925 he married Constance Blytha Copeman, with whom he had two children. From 1938 to 1940 he commanded the 13th Military District in Calgary.

During the Second World War Pearkes was promoted to major general and was initially commander of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division stationed in England . In 1942 he spoke out against the ultimately unsuccessful Operation Jubilee against the port of Dieppe , which is why he was ordered back to Canada and was given the management of the Pacific Command. In 1943 he was involved in planning Operation Greenlight , the reconquest of the Aleutians .

Pearkes ended his military career three months before the end of the war. In the general election in June 1945 he was the candidate of the Progressive Conservative Party and became the members of the electoral district Nanaimo in British Columbia selected. In 1949 he was re-elected there, while he was successful in the elections in 1953 and 1957 in the Esquimalt-Saanich constituency.

The Pearkes Building in Ottawa

Prime Minister John Diefenbaker appointed Pearkes on 21 June 1957 to the Defense Minister ( Minister of National Defense ) . As such, he took part in the Conference of Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth of Nations in London in 1957 and two meetings of NATO . He also received Princess Margaret when she visited in 1958 on behalf of the Canadian government. Also in 1958, he recommended that the development of the Avro Arrow fighter aircraft be discontinued.

Pearkes resigned from the federal government on October 10, 1960. Three days later, Governor General Georges Vanier swore him in as Vice Governor of the Province of British Columbia . He held this representative office until July 2, 1968. From 1966 to 1976 he was president of the veterans organization Royal Canadian Legion . For his services as a general and politician, he was named Companion of the Order of Canada in 1967.

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personal data
SURNAME Pearkes, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pearkes, George Randolph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian major general and politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Watford , Hertfordshire , England
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 1984
Place of death Victoria , British Columbia , Canada