Guide to the papers of Lieutenant John Desmond Peck

Title: Peck, John Desmond, DCM (Lieutenant, b.1922 - d.2002)

Date range: 1939-c.2000

Collection number: PR03098

Extent: 75 cm; 4 Boxes, 3 folios.

Location: Private Records collection, Research Centre, Australian War Memorial.

Abstract: The collection of Lieutenant John Desmond Peck consists of certificates, documents, reports, photographs, newspaper cuttings and service records relating to his experiences serving with the 2/7th Battalion in Crete and as a prisoner of war and partisan in Italy during the Second World War. The collection contains documents about his trial for espionage at Vercelli, Italy, 1944. It also includes correspondence with his family, a postwar memoir called 'Captive in Crete' c.1995, and photographs 1940-c.1990.

Administrative information

Provenance: The papers were donated by Barbara Daniels, daughter of John Peck of Cheshire, United Kingdom. Records were transferred to the Memorial in 2002. Collection processing and the guide were completed in 2003. The guide was revised in 2021.

Access: Open.

Restrictions on use: Copyright of materials described in this guide is governed by copyright law in Australia. For further information contact the Curator of Private Records, Research Centre.

Preferred citation: Guide to the papers of Lieutenant John Desmond Peck, Australian War Memorial, AWM PR03098.

Additional information

Related collections:

• PR84/024 Rowe, John Wilfred (Corporal; WX5292; 2/28th Bn, AIF; POW Italy; Partisan)
• PR00400 Carroll, Gerald Thomas (Signaler, b.1918)
• PR00723 Buchecker, Ron 2/7 Battalion, C Company
• PR00737 Dawson, William Alexander (Private, b.1919)
• PR01324 Redman, Valmar Leslie (Private, b.1911)
• PR01535 Cusack, Percy James (Private, b.1918 - d.1967)
• PR01821 Eady, Wilton McPherson ED (Lieutenant Colonel, b.1916)
• PR03058 Marshall, Henry Charles David (Major, b.1905 - d.1971)
• PR05912 Parker, Leslie Arthur (Private, b.1916 - d.1944)
• AWM2016.44.2 Goodwin, Howard Kingsley Hill (Captain, b.1904 - d.1989)
• AWM2019.606.2 Smart, John Lewis (Private, b.1915 - d.1975)

Subjects: Prisoner of War camps; 2/7 Battalion AIF, 1939-1945; Underground movements; Espionage; Submarines; Escapees.

Biographical note

John Desmond Peck was born on 17 February 1922 at Woollahra, New South Wales, to Mr Herbert Frederick Peck of the Royal Australian Navy and Mrs Jean Peck. The family later moved to Victoria where they lived at Crib Point, Melbourne, near the Naval Base. When he was thirteen years old Peck obtained a job on a farm at Craigieburn. Peck enlisted to the Australian Imperial Force in October 1939 when the Second World War broke out. He increased his age by four years to 22, in order to be eligible for an overseas posting. He travelled on the 'Empress of Japan' to Egypt and then on to Palestine for training and was posted with the Headquarters Australian Overseas Base. Eventually his age was discovered and rather than being sent back to Australia, General Blamey allowed him to stay in Gaza as his batman. In 1940, Lieutenant Peck transferred to the infantry and joined the 2/7 Australian Infantry Battalion. He went on to train in Libya, and saw action for the first time at Bardia in January 1941. Lieutenant Peck then served at Tobruk, Derna and Crete. Lieutenant Peck, alongside many other members of his battalion, was captured as a prisoner of war when the Germans invaded Crete.

Lieutenant Peck escaped from Galatas prisoner of war camp and, with help from friends at the village of Georgioupolis, evaded capture for about a year. New Zealander Noel Dunn and Lieutenant Peck trained bands of Cretan partisans in infantry weapons and tactics. He met Commander F G Pool, a British naval intelligence officer who with him coordinated the escape of many prisoners from the island by submarine. Lieutenant Peck suffering from malaria was assisted to escape by George Psychoundakis, a local Cretan, but missed two Royal Navy undercover submarine evacuations. In May 1942, He was captured in the possession of a Royal Air Force radio set by an Italian patrol and taken to Italy for trial as a spy. He avoided the firing squad, escaped and arrived at Bari Camp PG 75 in Athens. In 1943 after spending time at Cranina Camp 65 and Udine Camp 57, he escaped from Vercelli Camp 106 and travelled to the Swiss border. During 1943 to 1944 Lieutenant Peck organised the expatriation of 1,500 ex POWs to Switzerland. He received a Distinguished Conduct Medal for his work. Arrested in February 1944, he was sentenced to death, and was sent to the San Vittore Gestapo Prison in Milan, North Italy. He later escaped to Switzerland, and returned to Italy in June 1944 to join the underground Italian resistance. Lieutenant Peck crossed the Swiss frontier in October 1944 and travelled to England. In January 1945 he returned to Australia and attended the Victory March in London in 1946. Lieutenant Peck lived in England after the war and worked with the English Electric Company in Stafford. He died on 9 January 2002, at the age of 79.

References:

• Peck, John Desmond, DCM (Lieutenant, b.1922 - d.2002)
• “Escape artist: the incredible Second World War of Johnny Peck”, Peter Monteath, NewSouth Publishing, 2017

Scope and content note

The papers of VX9534 Lieutenant John Desmond Peck record his experiences of service with 2/7 Australian Infantry Battalion in the Middle East, becoming a prisoner of war in Crete, and his subsequent time as a prisoner of war, escapee, and member of the Greek and Italian resistance movements during the Second World War. His transcript Captive in Crete, tells of his capture in 1941 by German Alpine troops at Kalives. Lieutenant Peck's collection of papers includes resistance movement documents in German and Italian and documents concerning his trial for espionage 1944 at Vercelli. Other items in the collection include a report of his activities for the Australian Army, 1944; letters from the Australian Red Cross Society to Lieutenant Peck's parents, 1941-1945; letters of appreciation to Lieutenant Peck from prisoners of war he assisted to escape, 1946-1953; letters from his friends in Crete and Italy; photographs; newspaper cuttings; service records; a certificate of appreciation from the Shire of Flinders,1940; the citation for his Distinguished Conduct Medal; transcripts of an interview; and correspondence from the British historian Roger Absalom, 1988.

SERIES 1: Personal Papers of Lieutenant John Desmond Peck, 1939-1988

Description: Private and official letters to Lieutenant Peck and his parents, Mr Herbert Frederick Peck and Mrs Jean Peck. Other records include Lieutenant Peck's service papers and certificates.

SERIES 2: Memoir: Captive in Crete, 1950-1990

Description: Lieutenant Peck wrote a memoir, Captive in Crete, after the war. He also began a memoir of his experiences in Italy. This series includes drafts, research material, publisher's correspondence and photographs relating to these memoirs.

SERIES 3: Official Reports, 1944-1946

Description: Reports written by Lieutenant Peck for the Australian Army and typescript notes on his partisan activities in Italy, 1944-1946.

SERIES 4: Resistance papers, 1943-1956

Description: Papers and correspondence, written mainly in Italian and German, concerning the resistance movement in Italy and Lieutenant Peck's trial in 1945, at Vercelli, Italy.

SERIES 5: Papers concerning Oreste Barbero, 1944-1972

Description: This series contains papers which refer to Oreste Barbero who assisted Lieutenant Peck in his partisan activities in Italy. Also includes correspondence from friends, 1944-1972.

SERIES 6: Newspaper clippings, 1937-1961

Description: This series includes a large quantity of newspaper clippings relating to Lieutenant Peck and the activities of the resistance movement in Italy.

SERIES 7: Photographs, 1940-1990

Description: This series contains portrait and tourist photographs taken during the military career of Lieutenant Peck. It includes photographs of resistance fighters and of Lieutenant Peck in the disguise he assumed when he was assisting prisoners of war to escape from Italy to Switzerland.

SERIES 8: Papers concerning George Psychoundakis, 1990-1991

Description: Photographs and correspondence relating to the reunion of George Psychoundakis and Lieutenant Peck.

SERIES 9: Papers associated with Roger Absalom, Bill Bunbury and Bill Rudd, 1986-1999

Description: Correspondence and papers received by Lieutenant Peck from Roger Absalom, Bill Bunbury and Bill Rudd relating to Absalom's research on Australian prisoners of war in Italy during the Second World War.

SERIES 10: Commemoration, 1991

Description: Papers and photographs relating to the Anzac Day commemorative service, Staffordshire, UK, 1991.

SERIES 11: Transcripts of interview: biographical material, c.2000

Description: Transcripts of interview with Heidi Egger, Imperial War Museum, c.2000.

SERIES 12: Miscellaneous publications, 1944-1991

Description: Miscellaneous published magazines and books collected by Lieutenant Peck.