By Veronica Beltran

75th anniversary of D-Day

75th Anniversary of D-Day: Remembering a local hero

Jun 6, 2019 | 1:23 PM

PRINCE GEORGE–The World Wars claimed many lives, however Private Abel Thomas Peters, Rifleman was not one of them.

Cheslatta Carrier Nation’s very own member served with the Canadian troops in the invasion of Normandy. Private Peters enlisted in the army in 1943, trained in Alberta for two months before travelling to Nova Scotia for his final training before getting shipped overseas.

On June 6th, 1944 – a day that would soon be remembered as “D-Day”– Private Peters along with other Canadians landed on Juno Beach where they faced the Germans head on, conducting the largest seaborne invasion in history.

On July 8th, 1944 Private Peters was shot by a German sniper at the Cannes Airfield. He received extensive head and arm injuries that left him with one arm being an inch shorter than the other. To recover he was returned to Vancouver where he sought medical treatment before making his way to Quesnel to work at a sawmill.

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Unfortunately that didn’t last long as his injuries sent him back down to Vancouver for treatment. He took time to recover again, and then made his way back to Cheslatta Lake where he started his own sawmill. He became a translator for the Cheslatta Carrier Nation, married, and raised 12 children together, became chief of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation and was a Band Councillor for several years.

Private Peters passed away on August 15, 2012 just short of his 90th birthday.