Escape from Germany

Pete Anderson was a genuine Canadian hero. Canadians generally agree that heroes are celebrated less in their culture than in some others. This treatment of heroes does little to recognize and value the many ordinary men and women who went before to attain extraordinary achievements. Pete Anderson, whom this book is about, was such a person. He didn’t change the world. But he did make a significant difference. In typical Canadian fashion, he didn’t view himself as a hero.

Before going to war in 1914, Anderson had been an early pioneer in Edmonton, Alberta, where he had been a successful, rich, and respected businessman. He was a middle-aged man when he fought in the First World War. Shortly after arriving in France, he was captured by the enemy, on his birthday. In a daring escape, he was able to breach the defences of the prisoner of war camp in which he was held and to return to Britain, after an eventful transit through much of Germany. He, and others, thought that he might have been the first Canadian to have escaped from the Germans. He was not. A fellow Albertan, Cpl. Ernest Atherton of the 10th Battalion, probably escaped slightly earlier. However, Anderson was not only the first Canadian officer to successfully escape, he was also the only Canadian officer to escape during the First World War (many others made the attempt but were recaptured).

Towards the end of the war, Anderson volunteered to fight in northern Russia, first against the Germans and then as part of an Allied attempt to overthrow the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. When he returned from his wars, he had earned two Distinguished Service Orders (DSO Bar), a senior honour awarded for exemplary service under enemy fire.