Francis Arthur Peach, born 1893 in Littleham, Exmouth, Devon. The
son
of Henry William Peach and Amy Clapp. Henry was at different times an
insurance agent and a private secretary. Francis Arthur served as a
Lieutenant in 8th Devonshire Regiment in the
first world war and re-enlisted in the second. In civilian life he was some
kind of writer. He was Captain from 1941 to
1946 in No. 3
company of the
Non Combatant Corps. On the back of the photograph is written "Xmas 1941 -
Yours sincerely, C.O. [?] Peach. No. 3 Comny N.C.C." He died 23.9.1955
aged 62. The following account is from the history of No.3 company:
"But I am sure that already you have decided that No. 1 certificate must go
the "Troops" (Capt. Peach) more in demand on an ordinary working day than
cold water in the Sahara. Wherein was he different from every other
officer you ever met - from every other man you ever met? Because he never
varied. He was constancy personified.
One Saturday at Arncott as lunch time was drawing near a squad of a dozen
men were unloading coal into the Company Coal Store. Being an internal
economy detail they were working for Capt. Peach. The S/Ldr. in charge of
the job asked if they might call it a day, but Capt. Peach was convinced
that had the men worked better the task would easily have been finished
before mid-day, and so he said "No".
Sone thirty minutes later he went to examine the work, and of course, was
again beset and asked whether the completion of the work could be held over
till Monday. You know the type of thing - one man asking respectfully but
with a reproachful eye, the other dozen men resting on their shovels
registering with mute appeal.
He refused; but came back into the mess rather upset at having to be what
he considered, so hard hearted. He told us, as though defending his
action, that the men had known from the beginning that the work had to be
finished that day. They should have worked harder.....etc......etc.
"Look here Skipper", I said, interrupting the post mortem, "If you '--. go
out now and tell that lot that they are d....d shirkers and that they
b..... well have to put their backs into it and finish the job, I will give
you a guinea. One guinea if you tell them the truth - with due emphasis on
two little swear words, part of War's artillery". But Capt. Peach would
not - not even to make a guinea.
Up jumps Andy, grabs his hat, "Give me the guinea" he says; but Clive beats
him to it, "I'll do it for fifteen bob"... Hem shouts "twelve and six".
Andy, seeing good money going west, calls out "Ten shillings"... seven and
six.....five shillings..... down it dropped. Finally Clive, counting out
how many free cigarettes he could get for half a crown, shouts out with an
air of finality, "Two shillings and sixpence". But Hem with a fierce look
of pleasurable excitement in his eye, says, "Dash it, all, I'll do it for
nothing ! It will be a pleasure !
Spurgeon used to say he envied the Devil those short handy words; Capt.
Peach went one better, he did not even envy him, he did not need them,
those short handy words - he had no use for them.
I have told how I met up with Capt. Peach when at the Pioneer Centre in
Glasgow, but Peach and I had almost met before .......
One September morning in France in the year 1915 at 5.29 a.m., on the 25th.
Day of that month, Lt. Peach and I were near one another - though .,, we
did not know it - all tensed up waiting for zero hour.
For four days the guns had blasted and battered the enemies lines in front
of Loos, Pas de Calais, and now the little tumbler was to drop that was to
unloose the giant machine. In that fight Lt. Peach of the 8th. Devons was
wounded and lost his right arm; one of his proudest memories being that he
went forward with the Guards Division. (Consider that memory as a
stimulating thought and source of power through life).
It is not to be wondered at then, that when War's clouds rolled up again to
overcast the World he immediately volunteered and within a fortnight of the
declaration of War was back in the Army.
Once, during one of our long chats together he told me that he was "Glad
that he had been born during this period of two world wars, even though he
had had to pay so heavy a price." As a writer he knew that the world torn
by hatred and meanness was as true a picture of the world as the vision
engraved on our minds by the wishful thinking of the Victorian Era. (Were
not the hatreds and meannesses balanced by the great wave of brotherhood
and high courage that swept the world?; Peach was not afraid of war either
for himself or for the world - Not even War could make a breach in the wall
of his faith - and yet a lover of peace if ever there was one - A man who
would not win a guinea by making use of two little war-like words. Yes,
the N.C.C. certificate of Appreciation No. 1. Copy must go to Capt. Peach:
It could not possibly be given elsewhere.
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