Born in England in Watford, Hertfordshire, on February 28, 1888, he was the oldest child of Louise and George Pearkes and attended Berkhamsted School. In 1906, he and his brother emigrated to Alberta, Canada, where they settled near Red Deer. In 1911, George joined the Royal North-West Mounted Police and served in Yukon until the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.[3]
A comprehensive biography of Pearkes was written during his lifetime by Reginald Roy, based on 82 one-to-two-hour tape recorded interviews and considerable primary and secondary sources.[4]
Military career
First World War and Victoria Cross
Pearkes in December 1917
In 1915, Pearkes enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force 2nd Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles; transferring in September 1916 to the 5th Battalion Canadian Mounted Rifles.[5] In the photo obtained from Library and Archives Canada (PA-002310) dated December 1917, Major Pearkes, 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles, is shown wearing the Military Cross service ribbon, but has not yet received the ribbon for the Victoria Cross. He is wearing four wound stripes on his sleeve.
Pearkes was 29 years old, and an acting major during the Battle of Passchendaele when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC):
For most conspicuous bravery and skilful handling of the troops under his command during the capture and consolidation of considerably more than the objectives allotted to him, in an attack. Just prior to the advance Major Pearkes was wounded in the thigh. Regardless of his wound, he continued to lead his men with the utmost gallantry, despite many obstacles.
At a particular stage of the attack his further advance was threatened by a strong point which was an objective of the battalion on his left, but which they had not succeeded in capturing. Quickly appreciating the situation, he captured and held this point, thus enabling his further advance to be successfully pushed forward.
It was entirely due to his determination and fearless personality that he was able to maintain his objective with the small number of men at his command against repeated enemy counter-attacks, both his flanks being unprotected for a considerable depth meanwhile.
His appreciation of the situation throughout and the reports rendered by him were invaluable to his commanding officer in making dispositions of troops to hold the position captured.
He showed throughout a supreme contempt of danger and wonderful powers of control and leading.[6]
During the war, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. Aside from the VC, Pearkes was also awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and the Military Cross (MC).
From 1938 to 1940 he was District Officer Commanding 13th Military District in Calgary. With the opening of hostilities with Germany in the Second World War, Brigadier Pearkes was given command of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, a component of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, which comprised a number of units raised in western Canada.
Second World War
In December 1939, Pearkes, by then age 51, and his staff left for England where the 1st Division, commanded by Major General Andrew McNaughton, was finally concentrated in a single place as a formation.[12] In February 1940 he developed a serious case of spinal meningitis and it was feared that he might die, with the situation becoming so serious that his wife and son were sent to England from Canada. Miraculously, however, he managed to recover and, in fact, met his wife and son upon their arrival.[13]
From left to right: Major-General George Pearkes, VC and C. D. Howe, during memorial service for General James Wolfe, 1 January 1941
In July 1940, after the surrender of France, Pearkes succeeded McNaughton in command of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division.[13][14] n November 1941 Pearkes was asked to assume temporary command of the expanding Canadian Corps, taking the place of McNaughton who was on an extended leave. Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery of the British Army, whose opinions of Canadian officers were crucial in the careers of senior officers overseas in the mid-war period, said Pearkes was a "gallant soldier" albeit one who, in his opinion, possessed, "little brains."[15]
In August 1942 Pearkes was returned to Canada and became General Officer Commanding in Chief Pacific Command, primarily a home defence organization for western Canada. He oversaw defences on Canada's West Coast.[16][17]
The Canadian Prime Minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, talking with Major-General George Pearkes during a visit to the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, 26 August 1941
In 1944, Pearkes was instrumental in suppressing the Terrace Mutiny, a revolt by conscripts stationed in Terrace, British Columbia, resulting from the announcement that conscripts would be deployed overseas. Although successful, Pearkes was extremely critical of the actions that led to it in the first place, stating he had been placed in the "intolerable position of being ordered to enforce a policy which his past experience gained in applying similar policies has proven ruinous to discipline of [troops], and of being in an utterly dishonourable position, and [Pearkes said] that he will NOT issue instructions to his [junior commanders] placing them in an impossible situation."[18]
When it became clear that the government was not considering deploying troops for the fighting in the Pacific, Pearkes requested a change of command, or to be allowed to retire. The Cabinet War Committee eventually decided on the latter, and he retired from the Army in February 1945. He went into federal politics, winning the Nanaimo, British Columbia, riding for the Progressive Conservative Party.
He was Minister of National Defence from 1957 to 1960 under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. In 1958, Pearkes recommended that the Avro Arrow programme be cancelled. In a historic turning point for Canadian aviation, the costly programme was cancelled in 1959 in favour of a less costly reliance on missile defense with NORAD. He resigned from federal politics in 1960.
Lieutenant governor and later life
He became Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia on October 13, 1960, and became one of the few Lieutenant Governors to agree to an extended term, serving until July 1968.
In 1967, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. Pearkes died on May 30, 1984, in Victoria, British Columbia, and is commemorated at the Holy Trinity Cemetery, West Saanich, Sidney, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Section 4 – West. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Family
In August 1925, he married Constance Blytha Copeman. A daughter, Priscilla Edith ("Pep"), was born in 1928 though she died while still a young child. A son, John Andre, was born in 1931.
Legacy
Pearkes' name has been honoured in various ways, including:
He was sworn in as a Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on June 21, 1957. This gave Him the right to use the honorific prefix "The Honourable" and the post nominal letters "PC" for life.
^"For Most Conspicuous Bravery, A biography of Major-General George R Pearkes, VC through two World Wars" by Reginald Roy, University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, 1977. 388 pages.ISBN0-7748-0068-2
Granatstein, Jack (2005). The Generals: The Canadian Army's Senior Commanders in the Second World War. University of Calgary Press. ISBN978-1-55238-176-2.
Roy, Reginald Herbert (2011). For Most Conspicuous Bravery: A Biography of Major-General George R. Pearkes, V.C., through Two World Wars. University of British Columbia Press. ISBN9780774845168.
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