16th Battalion (The Canadian Scottish) CEF Villers-lez-Cagnicourt 2 September 1918 Cremated and ashes spread off the coast of Prince Rupert, British Columbia; marker in New Westminster, BC Medals at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario Possibly the only Member of Parliament in the British Empire/Commonwealth to receive the Victoria Cross while elected to office. Peck was elected to Canada’s House of Commons in 1917. Lt. Col. Cyrus Wesley Peck, V.C., D.S.O. and Bar Cyrus Peck was born in Hopewell Hill, NB on April 26, 1871, the son of Mary Rogers and shipbuilder, Wesley Peck. He received his early education at Hopewell Hill Superior School. At the age of 16, Cyrus moved with his family in June 1887, to New Westminster, BC. As a young man he pioneered in the Klondike and was later engaged in salmon-canning, sawmills and towing operations in Skeena,BC. He was in business in Prince Rupert when WWI broke out. He enlisted in 1914 and was appointed Commanding Officer of the 68th Regiment. After going overseas he joined the famed 16th Battalion, Canadian Scottish in May, 1915 and became its Commander a year later. Col. Peck won the Victoria Cross for his leadership and heroism under fire during the Second Battle of Arras near Cagnicourt,France on September 2, 1918. Under heavy artillery fire he walked ahead of the tanks pointing the direction where they should go. This enabled the Infantry Battalion to advance. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Bar. In 1919, Col. Peck returned to BC to take his seat in the House of Commons for the riding of Skeena. In 1924 he continued his political life as a Legislative Member for BC. Col. Peck died September 27, 1956 at the age of 85, in Sidney, British Columbia http://rcs.nbed.nb.ca/remembrance/vic_cross.htm
