down to the Promenade Deck, so he could break a window and climb into Lifeboat No. 6. Lightoller replied, however, that Peuchen could slide down the ropes to enter the boat if he was as good a sailor as he claimed. Peuchen then took a rope, swung off the ship, and climbed hand-under-hand down to Lifeboat No. 6. He was the only male passenger that Lightoller would allow into a lifeboat that night. He later claimed he did not realize Titanic was doomed until he viewed the ship from the lifeboat. After he was in the boat, Peuchen realized that during his climb down into lifeboat, his wallet had fallen out of his pocket and into the water. Because Peuchen was a military officer, he came under scrutiny for allowing Hichens to prevent the boat's occupants from going back for survivors and for tolerating the verbal abuse Hichens reportedly gave. Peuchen was also criticized for exaggerating his own role and for not recognizing the pivotal role Margaret (Mrs J J) Brown played in leading the lifeboat's occupants in rowing and in raising morale. It is possible that Peuchen, as a yachtsman, may have thought that second-guessing an officer in charge would encourage mutiny. Peuchen publicly blasted Captain Smith and the crew of Titanic, criticizing their seamanship as substandard; however, his official testimony at the United States Senate inquiry into the disaster was tempered somewhat from interviews he gave in the days after the rescue. In 1987, Peuchen's wallet was recovered from the area around the remains of Titanic; streetcar tickets, a traveler's cheque, and his calling card were found inside. Later years In Toronto, some deemed Peuchen a coward given that he was a man who had survived the sinking, but most found his participation in the ill-fated voyage to be largely heroic and courageous. In part due to this debated reputation, speculation gathered that his expected promotion to lieutenant-colonel in The Queen's Own Rifles would not be awarded. Despite the conjecture, the promotion was made on May 21, 1912; he also received the Volunteer Officers' Decoration. When World War I began, Peuchen retired from Standard Chemical to command the Home Battalion of the Queen's Own Rifles. He died in Toronto on December 7, 1929 in his 71st year. His body was buried in Toronto's Mount Pleasant Cemetery. While some reports suggested he died penniless after bad investments, his descendants