CANADA MILITARY NEWS - CANADA: True Patriot Love ...
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Canada's Vietnam Monument
Honour Canadian Vietnam Veterans -Mural Dan Lassard
A Canadian Vietnam Vet tribute
RUN 2 THE NORTH WALL XI- CANADA'S VIETNAM MEMORIAL -40,000 walked the talk... and Canada allowed Draft Dodgers and Jane Fonda spewed her hate along with John Kerry (did u know that Vietnam ..both sides ready 2 sign peace treaty until 'THE JANE") all around the world's youth.... who donated money 2 Jane's 'cheer 4 the enemy cause' - all our Commonwealth Nations and USA.... so many died and 2 many came home wishing they had KIA in Vietnam.
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These American Vietnam troops were murdered after Jane Fonda's Vist and the Negotiations that were strong- were destroyed just like our Vets -we remember
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this evil woman- Jane Fonda
and her partner- John Kerry caused more heartache and death of our troops and
their families...think of those KIA (many because of their actions in the
safety of their insidious rally (4politics-because peaceagreements were about2besigned
in Vietnam) nests here on homelands)... Jane and John.. THE WESTBORO BAPTIST
CHURCH OF VIETNAM... so... are u surprised? ARTICLE:
Vets protest Jane Fonda before Maryland visit
Staff
report 4:11 p.m. EST January 19, 2015
Four
decades after she became "Hanoi Jane" in the eyes of many who served
in Vietnam, about 50 veterans protested a Friday visit by Jane Fonda to an arts
center in Frederick, Maryland, passing along a very brief message that began
with the letter "f."
'Forgive?
Maybe. Forget? Never," read some of the signs held by those assembled
outside the Weinberg Center for the Arts, according to a Frederick News-Post article that has triggered
follow-up pieces on national news sites, military
blogs and other outlets.
Fonda,
whose actions during a 1972 visit to North Vietnam outraged part of a deeply
divided generation, addressed the issue during her talk, according to the
News-Post, calling her behavior "a huge, huge mistake that made a lot of
people think I was against the soldiers."
Jane
Fonda visits anti-aircraft gun position near Hanoi on July 1, 1972, a visit
that has angered many veterans for decades. (Photo: Associated Press file
photo)
It's
far from the first time Fonda has made such remarks:
·
She
apologized to Vietnam veterans on ABC's "20/20" in 1988 for the
"thoughtless and careless" approach she
sometimes took to her anti-war activism.
·
In
a 2011 post on her website outlining the visit, she said she would "regret to my dying day" allowing herself to
to be photographed on and near an anti-aircraft gun.
·
She
called the photo an "unforgivable mistake" in a 2013 appearance
on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
For
the Maryland protesters and some other veterans, the remarks are far too little
and much too late. Some protesters told the News-Post they believe her actions
cost American lives, and many individuals continue to campaign against Fonda's speeches and her work in films. A Vietnam veteran spat tobacco juice at her in 2005 after standing
in line to have Fonda sign a copy of her autobiography.
Fonda
has apologized for allowing herself to be photographed sitting on an
anti-aircraft gun in North Vietnam in 1972, but has said the visit itself was
on humanitarian, not political, grounds. (Photo: STF/AFP/Getty Images)
She
told the News-Post that she's a "lightning rod" for the issue, and
that she tries to speak with Vietnam veterans about her actions "whenever
possible."
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In 1972 Fonda visited Hanoi,
North Vietnam, where she criticized attacks on the dike system along the Red
River. A U.S. investigation later revealed the publicity of these bombings as
propaganda. Fonda’s statements and a photograph of her sitting on a North
Vietnamese anti-aircraft battery outraged many Americans and veterans, leading
many to call her “Hanoi Jane” and a “traitor.”
Bob Hartman, an Army veteran
who served in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968, said he blamed Fonda for breaking off
negotiations among the countries and held her responsible for thousands of
American lives.
“She encouraged North Vietnam to pull away from the negotiations table,” he
said, holding a sign outside the Court Street parking garage to protest her
presence. “She got Americans killed ... and she went to Vietnam to advance her
husband’s career.”
Jane Fonda and John Kerry-
the Westboro Baptist Church of Vietnam- they created mass murders of our troops
in Vietnam and horrific hardships on each and all Vietnam troops returning home
2 the countries that sent them 2 war in the first place. - God called the devil
and said - their yours...and rightfully so. Vietnam was ready 2 sign agreements
(both sides).. until Jane and her political husband interfered. We remember .
In 1972 Fonda visited Hanoi,
North Vietnam, where she criticized attacks on the dike system along the Red
River. A U.S. investigation later revealed the publicity of these bombings as
propaganda. Fonda’s statements and a photograph of her sitting on a North
Vietnamese anti-aircraft battery outraged many Americans and veterans, leading
many to call her “Hanoi Jane” and a “traitor.”
Bob Hartman, an Army veteran
who served in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968, said he blamed Fonda for breaking off
negotiations among the countries and held her responsible for thousands of
American lives.
“She encouraged North
Vietnam to pull away from the negotiations table,” he said, holding a sign
outside the Court Street parking garage to protest her presence. “She got
Americans killed ... and she went to Vietnam to advance her husband’s career.”
Jane Fonda on Vietnam War
comments: 'I made a huge, huge mistake'
By Paige Jones
The Frederick News-Post, Md.
(Tribune News Service)
Published: January 17, 2015
Jane Fonda said she hoped for an open dialogue with veterans
after about 50 former military members and supporters protested the actress’s
appearance Friday evening at the Weinberg Center for the Arts.
“Whenever possible I try to
sit down with vets and talk with them, because I understand and it makes me
sad,” Fonda told a relatively full theater, responding to a submitted question.
“It hurts me and it will to my grave that I made a huge, huge mistake that made
a lot of people think I was against the soldiers.”
In 1972 Fonda visited
Hanoi, North Vietnam, where she criticized attacks on the dike system along the
Red River. A U.S. investigation later revealed the publicity of these bombings
as propaganda. Fonda’s statements and a photograph of her sitting on a North
Vietnamese anti-aircraft battery outraged many Americans and veterans, leading
many to call her “Hanoi Jane” and a “traitor.”
Bob Hartman, an Army
veteran who served in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968, said he blamed Fonda for
breaking off negotiations among the countries and held her responsible for
thousands of American lives.
“She encouraged North
Vietnam to pull away from the negotiations table,” he said, holding a sign
outside the Court Street parking garage to protest her presence. “She got
Americans killed ... and she went to Vietnam to advance her husband’s career.”
About 50 veterans, many of
whom served in Vietnam, held signs saying “Forgive? Maybe. Forget? Never” and
waved flags outside the theater for about two hours, occasionally booing people
entering the Weinberg Center, including state Sen. Ron Young.
“But those people out there
... I’m a lightning rod,” Fonda said. “This famous person goes and does
something that looks like I’m against the troops, which wasn’t true, but it
looked that way, and I’m a convenient target. So I understand.”
However, Fonda said she did
not regret traveling to North Vietnam, saying her time there was “an incredible
experience.”
“We feel what she did was
so egregious ... (she) really cost lives,” said Mike McGowan, a Marine Corps
veteran who served as an infantryman in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969.
Among the protesters was
Frederick County Councilman Tony Chmelik, who said he decided to support the
veterans in honor of his father, who served in the military.
“(We want to) let everybody
know we haven’t forgotten,” said Tommy Grunwell, a Marine Corps veteran who
served in Vietnam and helped organize the protest.
At least one person turned
out to demonstrate in favor of Fonda, saying the actress’s work as an activist
and founder of nonprofits helping women should also be recognized and
represented.
“I feel like you can’t
vilify Jane Fonda but not vilify our government,” said Gabrielle Hash, who
stood among veterans holding a handmade poster in support of Fonda.
During her hourlong talk,
Fonda discussed the importance of adolescence in shaping women’s and men’s
lives, and how she regained her courage and spunk in the “third act” of her
life upon turning 60.
“My voice went underground,
and it took me a long, long time to get it back,” she said.
Through working with
adolescents at the nonprofits she founded, Fonda said she discovered that most
girls are “whole” before approaching puberty; they know what they want and are
not afraid to voice it. But upon entering adolescence, this voice fades as
girls are pressured to fit in and mold themselves to society’s ideals of a
thin, popular woman.
“Her voice doesn’t
disappear, but it goes underground,” Fonda said, describing how this plagued
her through three marriages.
But for boys, many are led to
believe they need to act strong and fearless from the time they enter the
formal school system at age 6, according to Fonda.
“They become emotionally
illiterate,” she said, adding that some of these boys later become violent when
their masculinity is threatened in any way.
In describing her own
struggles with age, marriage and respect, Fonda urged audience members to seek
forgiveness and happiness through small changes like daily meditation or walks
outside for a longer and more fulfilled life.
“If ... we can manage to
think positively ... we can actually alter the pathways in our brains,” she
said. “I’ve experienced it, so I know it’s true. It takes work, it takes
intention. But man, is it worth it.”
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Canadian- VIETNAM
Juliett Co 1994
//Vietnam
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Westboro Baptist Church - the John Kerry and Jane Fonda's of Vietnam
CANADA MILITARY NEWS_ Veteran's Affairs Canada Recovering from the war: A woman's guide to helping your Vietnam vet, your family, and yourself. Viking ... WAR IN THE BALKINN- 1999 -policy/ VIETNAM PTSD INST. 4 WIVES/ Canada Department of Veterans Affairs- from time of Vietnam and Balkans/CANADA'S MERCHANT NAVY CANADA/CANADIAN VIETNAM VETS International Commission of Control and Supervision Vietnam 1973 - ICCS (Operation Gallant)
Page 7
NURSING SISTERS
(from Canada's Nursing Sisters by GWL Nicholson, Samuel Stevens Hakkert & Company, Toronto, 1975)
Army
In all, 3,656 members of the army's nursing service served in the war, more than two-thirds of whom went overseas. They served in hospitals in Canada, England and Europe, and in casualty clearing stations near the battlefields. Some were employed in field surgical units in operating theatres in forward areas. Nursing sisters treated Dieppe casualties, served in Sicily, mainland Italy, North Africa, Normandy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Nursing sisters of the No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station were the first Canadian army nurses to land in France during the war -- July 9, 1944, near Caen, where heavy fighting was still in progress.
All personnel, including 99 female staff, of the No. 14 General Hospital were en route to Italy on the SS Santa Elena when it was attacked by German dive-bombers on November 6, 1943. The ship was hit twice, forcing all to abandon it. They were rescued 2-3 hours later.
Two nursing sisters of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC) spent 21 months behind barbed wire in the Far East. Kathleen G. Christie of Toronto and Anna May Waters of Winnipeg had sailed from Vancouver on October 27, 1941, and were taken prisoner when Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on Christmas Day, 1941. Both were made associate members of the Royal Red Cross recognizing their service in these adverse conditions.
Some of the women at the casualty clearing stations were required to participate in military training, involving revolver practice, rifle firing on ranges, route marches, army manoeuvres. In one operation, they pitched/took down tents, set up wards and operating facilities...Some got their army driver's licence by learning to drive ambulances, trucks, motorcycles...
A total of 1,029 nursing sisters served in Canada only. Sixty military hospitals were in operation in Canada, with a total bed capacity of 13,057. As well, Canada operated two hospital ships.
Navy
The Nursing Service Branch of the Royal Canadian Naval Medical Services was established in the autumn of 1941. Membership grew to 343 by war's end.
"The only nursing sister of the three services to die as a result of enemy action during the war was the assistant matron of RCNH [naval hospital] Avalon, N/S Agnes W. Wilkie, of Carman, Manitoba. She was one of 137 passengers and crew members who were lost in October 1942 when the Newfoundland Ferry Ship Caribou, on which she was returning from leave, was torpedoed and sunk in the Cabot Strait. For more than two hours Miss Wilkie and her companion, Dietitian Margaret Brooke, clung to a raft, until the former lost consciousness in the chilling water. Finally, as the sea roughened, Miss Brooke could no longer hold on to her colleague, who slipped away from her benumbed grasp. The body of N/S Wilkie was recovered and interred with full naval honours in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, St. John's. Later her name was given to one of the nurses' residences in Halifax. For her heroic attempt to save the life of her comrade, Dietitian Brooke was awarded the MBE - the only naval nursing sister in the Second World War to receive this honour." (page 187)
Air Force
In November 1940, the RCAF Nursing Service was authorized. A total of 481 would serve. Some were involved in air-sea rescue missions, and flights to pick up sick and injured service people from bases in Canada. About one in seven served overseas. Air Force mobile field hospitals gave early medical treatment before evacuating patients to base hospitals. One Air Force field hospital unit landed in Normandy on June 19, with two nursing sisters -- F/O Dabina Pitkethly of Ottawa and F/O Dorothy Mulholland of Georgetown, Ontario.
General
There were five branches of the nursing service: Nursing sisters, dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, home sisters. Some facilities also had lab technicians.
In April 1942, nurses from the nursing division of the St. John Ambulance Brigade and the nursing auxiliary of the Canadian Red Cross Corps were allowed to work in military hospitals. About 100 voluntary aid detachments served in Canada and overseas with British and Canadian military hospitals.
When the war ended, the various nursing services had recruited 4,480 nursing sisters and their professional associates. They staffed over 100 major hospital units; admitting more than 60,000 Canadian wounded, as well as Allied wounded. They won 386 awards of the Royal Red Cross, including four bars.
There were 28 Canadian general hospitals, five casualty clearing stations, two convalescent hospitals, a hospital in South Africa, and the RCN Hospital Niobe.
CWACS (Canadian Women's Army Corps)
(from Greatcoats and Glamour Boots: Canadian Women at War (1939-1945) by Carolyn Gossage, Dundurn Press, Toronto, 1991)
Women staffed approximately 55 army jobs in the war, becoming military writers, drivers, messwomen, cooks, paymasters, telephone operators, typists, clerks, messengers, laundresses, supply assistants, artists, photographers, postal clerks, teletype operators, sick berth attendants... Some served in occupied Germany after VE-Day. By war's end, more than 22,000 women served in this branch.
RCAF WOMEN'S DIVISION (THE WD's)
The division would staff about 65 different jobs. By war's end more than 17,000 women served.
July 13, 1945, two months after Victory in Europe but before Victory in Japan, three servicewomen lost their lives, along with 11 men, when an RCAF Liberator aircraft crashed near Bamfield, B.C. The aircraft was on a mission to familiarize the craft's seven-member crew with various airfields. Seven passengers had been picked up along the way. (The women were Sergeant P.G. Bennett, Corporal N. Johnson, Ldg. Aircraftwoman M. Mann, all WD's)
WRCNS (Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service or WRENS)
About 40 naval trades were occupied by women. By war's end nearly 7,000 women had served.
Throughout the war 244 Canadian servicewomen were awarded military decorations, including the MBE.
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Background Information
Commemorative Candlelight Tributes
In 1995 the citizens of the Netherlands held a special ceremony to commemorate the liberation of their country by Canadian Forces in 1945, at the end of the Second World War.
In this commemorative ceremony Dutch children placed lighted candles on the overseas graves to honour the fallen Canadian Soldiers.
The candles remained lit overnight on the gravestones, in silent tribute to Canadians.
Throughout the night people from many surrounding towns visited the cemeteries, drawn by the soft red glow of the candles burning in the sacred, picturesque settings.
Commemorative Candlelight Tributes have now become an annual ceremony in The Netherlands and other European countries.
In 1997 Veterans Affairs Canada Pacific Region introduced this ceremony in British Columbia to commemorate Victory in Europe Day and the return of world peace.
The first Commemorative Candlelight Tribute in British Columbia was held in the Mountainview Cemetery in Vancouver. 500 children placed 500 lighted candles on the gravesites of Canadian Servicemen and Servicewomen.
The involvement of children and parents with Veterans and Peacekeepers is very important, as it is not only a commemorative ceremony but also a learning experience. Children learn from involvement, and Candlelight Tributes afford that opportunity.
The Mountainview Cemetery Candlelight Tribute was so successful that in the next year, over 31 communities planned Candlelight Tributes throughout British Columbia.
Commemorative Candlelight Tributes can be planned at any time of the year, to commemorate whatever is important to any specific community.
British Columbians have embraced this commemorative ceremony. This year 12,000 candles have been purchased from communities throughout British Columbia, quite a significant accomplishment from the first 500.
As well this year, Commemorative Candlelight Tributes have been held in Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Ottawa. Canadians are starting to embrace this commemorative ceremony across the nation.
And as recently as last week, a Commemorative Candlelight Tribute was held in Hovander Park Ferndale, Washington, USA to honour Canadian Vietnam Veterans. The interest has been inspired internationally through the efforts of Veterans Affairs Canada, Pacific Region and the Veterans' Commemoration Committee.
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PLS NOTE:
Each year.... since the Vietnam war.... American heroes come to our small communities (it took us 18 long damn years to get our Vietnam memorial) to celebrate and honour Remembrance Day in Canada. Many Canadians are still to proud and angry over the treatment of their brothers and sisters and the vicious cruelty thrown on them by the free world countries and ugly public behaviour of movie stars, artists, singers etc. These free world countries who SENT (our military forces) THEM THERE to Vietnam in JFK's war. And upon returning home..... many of my friends cried ... and said it would have been better to die on the fields of Vietnam..... we will never forget.
Also the government of Canada (Liberal) at the time our heroic Canadian military, militia and reservists were sent to the Balkans (the Liberal government complety ignored all our Canadian forces... not recognizing their deaths in the Balkans... nor the thousands injured.... like our Canadians signed on to commit suicide over their whim with signing a pen to appease world agendas and 'in' crowds)... where many died and over thousands badly wounded.... there has NOT been one memorial or apology by the Government of Canada for the public and governments treatment of our vets of both these wars (Vietnam and the Balkans.... (NOR ARE THEY MENTIONED ON REMEMBERANCE DAY)... yet Canada harboured the draft dogers (Vietnam).... like their were kings..... God Bless our Canada and our Canadian Military, Militia and Reservists..... and shame, shame, shame on kerry, John and fonda, Jane (who stood in a Vietnam enemy tank which was surround with USA Prisioners of war.... who were murdered by the enemy.... as soon as Fonda returned to the American forces side. We will never forget.... or forgive.
Today the liberal, ndp and bloc hold the bloodstains of 5 Canadian sons and a Canadian daughter for bringing up the anti-military cry of the treatment of islamic terrorists in Afghan prisons (in war.... it's war... period- no mercy) ..... imagine.... our troops in that ugly dirty place.... called Afghanistan in a theatre of war which the liberals, ndp and bloc sent them IN THE FIRST PLACE. Then to pull up their political points they screamed around the world about the abusive treatment of islamic terrorists in Afghan prisons by Afghans handed over by Canadians and NATO troops. These 3 shameful parties have not said one bloody word on our Canadian sons and daughters... and when in office treated them like crap (to my complete and utter humiliation.... the liberals have been the very worst.... and it breaks my heart- I just .... could ... not believe ... my Trudeau party would or could ever treat our Nation's sons and daughters with any less than global pride of their accomplishment.... yes RWANDA is our shame... but we are not alone.... and it will NEVER happen again... Canada listens to her military, militia and reservists now... and you better believe it.
However, not a peep from these three parties over 6 butchered Canadians on the filth and dirt of Afghanistan- whilst their huge gum flapping went on and on and on ... with no one listening- OH yes ... we WANT an election. Not one sound of noise or sympathy or human kindness or Canadian spirit.... on the bloodstains of our Canadian fallen heros and the thousnads injured by the Liberal/ndp called war. And tears of the 99 per cent of Canadian crying over our dead and injured precious Canadian sons and daughters wearing Canada's flags on their shoulders in this godforsaken place.
Again.... not one show of care and support- the lib, ndp and bloc EVEN BOYCOTTED THE REMEMBRANCE of 14 Canadian girls murdered by a freak in 1989 in Quebec- and women and children and seniors, disabled, and men and abused have honoured these children of God murdered in their dorm all these years... and these spoilt and arrogant jerks boycotted our mourning of 14 Canadian daughters in 1989.
And that's when Canadians (millions and millions of the 'silent majority')... started moving away in droves from these parties- they are an embarrassment to Canada.... and I'm Liberal (well I was.... but this kind of party dogma and ignorance of Canadian values and spirit as true Canadians is way too much... even for me... and to not put our Canadian forces 1st above all else... is the mark of cowards- Canada's sons and daughters did not sign on to commit suicide serving our country's highest honour- and Canada knows that.)
We want another election.... and this time there will be a majority... and these me, me, me party hacks are so going down.... and hard.. Shame on them.... Shame on them.... Shame on them..... God is watching.... and on Judgement day.... they will answer to The Highest Power.
We love our NATO troops and no more greedy-seedy-giddy-ups from world leaders and useless greedy seedy NATO and useless greedy seedy mafia thug run UN..... that day is now over. They need to be disbanded now. We need a new League of nations and new global laws.
Muslim Islamic Terrorists are everywhere around the world-STOP CALLING THEM ANYTHING ELSE THAN MUSLIM ISLAMIC TERRORISTS- THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE????!!! ARE U THAT STUPID ... OR DO YOU JUST THINK WE ARE?
We are going to clean house everywhere- ONE PERSON = ONE VOICE in Canada (from NEDA) .
Good for citizens standing up and saying 'no more of your political correctness bullsh**'- no more NATO's sons and daughters dying because of 2% of the world and their 'saviour complex'- chasing after their beloved islamic terrorists and they might 'be hurt' over our free world's military, militia and reservists WHO DID NOT JOIN TO COMMIT SUICIDE FOR EACH OF US SITTING WARM AT HOME.
The majority of our world is taking it back- LISTEN... do u hear that.... that's the every day people in the billion saying.... we are taking back our world and back to grassroots lifestyles, families first, church, jobs, food and clothes, education over the big media brainwashing and games guaranteed to turn our kids into popsicle sticks... and helping each other out and being human again.
Political parties be damned..... we, the people are standing up and moving forward... and it's time, in my opinion.
We are going to clean up Afghanistan; Iraq is a democracy ONLY because of Nato troops.... specifically USA, UK, Australia and a handfull of others- and pass the bullsh** and beans on why there or whatever.... the bottom line is Iraq is a superpower in oil and the centrepiece of democracy and Iraqi women rule the vote... and don't think for one damn minute they are giving it back... the blatting screamming sickos of islamic muslim me, me, me is sooooo over........ and our troops made it happen. They carry the flags of freedom and humanity.... not politicians and mafia un and nato money stealing thugs..... they do... with their boots on the ground each damn day.... without food, water, equipment, brushing their teeth, medical care, kit, equipment, maintenance, rest times, breaks, ... they do it all. And this is all about them.... for millions like me.. and we are still here... still praying ... and still carrying them proudly where ever we go and whatever we do.
Canada chose Afghanistan over Iraq....and it would take over 1,000 pages of typing to place the great and wonderful things on my blogs here as well as some up to date news and favored blogs (and boy do we have tons of supporters of our beloved troops over a million and counting.)
It's a new day..... stealing money from the innocents of this world from taxpaying dollars of our free world's people by UN 'humanitarian my a**' and Nato ... is now over. Example Katrina... Canadians sent almost half a million dollars they did not have..... tons of people did.... to the effect each and every citizen of Katrina should have recweived $160,000 American tax free dollars..... and you can be damn sure the Republicans didn't take it.... and the citizens DID NOT receive it.... so what happened. The travesty to me is the political meanness of spirit of the democrats of the USA who never lifted one damn finger to help.... and now they are in power and still not a damn thing- and Canada is just the same blight with our politicians. We want politicians to represent us - to put our military and troops 1st always and we, as Canadians.... their spite, arrogance, and vicious backbiting and sick little commercials are mind bogglin in their party shame. Election Please.
Millions and millions of every day voters in the free world are moving away from hardcore party politics parties in the millions and not quietly either. We want and will have our communities cared fore and grassroots movements the way they were intended- for us... NOT FOR POLITICAL GROUPIES.... We are going back to the times when people counted over political party mantra.
Tons of us are leaving our old belief party folds.... we see not one damn bit of difference from one party to another.... and are still poor and same life worries. It's a disgrace in these times. imo. God bless our troops... and God bless Canada.... and I am sooooo glad when March comes.... and AN ELECTION WILL BE CALLED.... YOU CAN BE SURE... AND ELECTION WILL BE CALLED.... it's sooooo over.
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Canadian Vietnam troops
International Commission For Supervision And Control Service - ICSC
Terms
The ICSC medal is awarded for 90 days consecutive or non-consecutive service as a member of the commission, calculated from the date the member came under the command of the commission; or less than 90 days if such service was terminated by death, injury or any disability received in carrying out official duties and a certificate is given to this effect by the Senior Military Advisor.
Mandate
The mandate of the ICCS in Vietnam was to supervise the cease-fires and withdrawal of French troops and to supervise the movement of refugees. The ICSC Laos was to supervise the cease-fire and promote negotiations between the Royal Laotian government and the Pathel Lao. Canadian participation in the ICSC Laos was 1954 - 1958 and then 1961 - 1969. The ICSC Cambodia monitored the Geneva Accords and helped the Khmer resistance forces disband and return home and the Viet Minh to leave the country. Much of the work was done from 1954 to 1955 and Canada had only token representation after 1958. The commission withdrew completely in 1969.
Description
A circular dark brown (bronze) medal, 1.42 inches in diameter.
Obverse
The emblem of the ICSC; crossed flags, a maple leaf on the left one and a central horizontal line on the right one, with a dove of peace where the flag staffs cross and lions between the flags facing left, centre and right. Around the edge are the words INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SUPERVISION AND CONTROL - PEACE with the word PEACE at the bottom and in larger, more widely-spaced letters.
Reverse
The reverse has a map of Indochina showing the three countries, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos with their names in the script of the respective countries.
Mounting
A floral attachment is welded to the top of the medal and joins a wide bar marked with three indented horizontal lines. A narrow horizontal bar is held above the first bar by ends supports and the ribbon passes between.
Ribbon
The ribbon is 1.25 inches (32 mm) wide, with three equal stripes of dark green, white and red. The green represents India and the red represents Canada and Poland.
Naming
The recipient's rank, surname and initials appear on the edge of the medal.
Dates
The medal was created in 1967 and awarded for service between 07 August 1954 and 28 January 1973.
Issued
Canadians have received 1,550 (133 on duty at any given time).
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CANADIAN VIETNAM VETS
International Commission of Control and Supervision Vietnam 1973 - ICCS
(Operation Gallant)
Terms
The ICCS medal was awarded for 90 days service with the Commission between 28 January 1973 and 31 July 1973. The 1,160 personnel of the commission were from Canada, Hungary, Indonesia and Poland and their role was to monitor the cease-fire in South Vietnam as per the Paris Peace Conference. The Commission arranged the release and exchange of more than 32,000 prisoners of war.
Canada contributed 240 Canadian Forces personnel and 50 officials from the Department of External Affairs. The ICCS operated until 30 April 1975, two years after the Canadians withdrew.
Description
A circular, bright gold medal, 1.42 inches in diameter. (The medals awarded by the ICCS were very cheap in appearance and often referred to as the Cracker Jacks box medal. In 1990, Canada produced the medal as described, but in a much improved quality, and presented them to the civilian members of the ICCS who had not received the original medal. Military personnel could purchase the better medal.)
Obverse
The symbols of the four contributing countries are displayed in the centre with the Canadian maple leaf in the upper left position, Hungarian coat-of-arms, Polish Eagle and the Indonesian coat-of-arms making up the other three symbols. Around the edge are the words: INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF CONTROL AND SUPERVISION.
Reverse
The reverse has a wreath of laurel around the edge and the legend in three lines: SERVICE / VIETNAM / 17-1-73.
Mounting
It is the mounting that helps give it the Cracker Jacks box appearance. There is a small ring welded to the top of the medal. A small ring passes through this ring and attaches the medal to a ring at the bottom end of a thin laurel bar.
Ribbon
The ribbon is 1.50 inches wide and consists of nine equal stripes: red, white, red, white, light green (centre), white, red, white, and red.
Naming
The medals were issued unnamed.
Issued
352 members of the Canadian Forces
32 to civilians (these were the Canadian produced medals)
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Veteran's Affairs Canada
Recovering from the war: A woman's guide to helping your Vietnam vet, your family, and yourself. Viking ...
PTSD and Relationships
A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet (Veterans Affairs Canada Adaptation)
How does trauma affect relationships?
Trauma survivors with PTSD often experience problems in their intimate and family relationships or close friendships.
PTSD involves symptoms that interfere with trust, emotional closeness, communication, responsible assertiveness, and effective problem solving.
Survivors may experience a loss of interest in social or sexual activities, they may feel distant from others, and they may be emotionally numb.
Partners, friends, or family members may feel hurt, alienated, or discouraged because the survivor has not been able to overcome the effects of the trauma, and they may become angry or distant toward the survivor.
Feeling irritable, on guard, easily startled, worried, or anxious may lead survivors to be unable to relax, socialize, or be intimate without being tense or demanding. Significant others may feel pressured, tense, and controlled as a result.
Difficulty falling or staying asleep and severe nightmares may prevent both the survivor and partner from sleeping restfully, which may make sleeping together difficult.
Trauma memories, trauma reminders or flashbacks, and the avoidance of such memories or reminders can make living with a survivor feel like living in a war zone or like living with the constant threat of vague but terrible danger.
Living with an individual who has PTSD does not automatically cause PTSD, but it can produce vicarious or secondary traumatization, which is similar to having PTSD.
Reliving trauma memories, avoiding trauma reminders, and struggling with fear and anger greatly interfere with a survivor's ability to concentrate, listen carefully, and make cooperative decisions. As a result, problems often go unresolved for a long time.
Significant others may come to feel that dialogue and teamwork are impossible.
Survivors of childhood sexual and physical abuse and survivors of rape, domestic violence, combat, terrorism, genocide, torture, kidnapping, and being a prisoner of war often report feeling a lasting sense of terror, horror, vulnerability, and betrayal that interferes with relationships.
Survivors who feel close to someone else, who begin to trust, and who become emotionally or sexually intimate may feel like they are letting down their guard. Although the survivor often actually feels a strong bond of love or friendship in current healthy relationships, this experience can be perceived as dangerous.
Having been victimized and exposed to rage and violence, survivors often struggle with intense anger and impulses. In order to suppress their anger and impulsive actions, survivors avoid closeness by expressing criticism toward or dissatisfaction with loved ones and friends.
Intimate relationships may have episodes of verbal or physical violence.
Survivors may be overly dependent upon or overprotective of partners, family members, friends, or support persons (such as healthcare providers or therapists).
Alcohol abuse and substance addiction, which can result from an attempt to cope with PTSD, can destroy intimacy and friendships.
In the first weeks and months following a traumatic event, survivors of disasters, terrible accidents or illnesses, or community violence often feel an unexpected sense of anger, detachment, or anxiety in their intimate, family, and friendship relationships. Most are able to resume their prior level of intimacy and involvement in relationships, but the 5-10% who develop PTSD often experience lasting problems with relatedness and intimacy.
Yet, many trauma survivors do not experience PTSD, and many people in intimate relationships, families, and friendships with individuals who have PTSD do not experience severe relational problems. People with PTSD can create and maintain successful intimate relationships by:
Establishing a personal support network that will help the survivor cope with PTSD while he or she maintains or rebuilds family and friend relationships with dedication, perseverance, hard work, and commitment
Sharing feelings honestly and openly with an attitude of respect and compassion
Continually strengthening cooperative problem-solving and communication skills
Including playfulness, spontaneity, relaxation, and mutual enjoyment in the relationship
What can be done to help someone who has PTSD?
For many trauma survivors, intimate, family, and friend relationships are extremely beneficial. These relationships provide:
Companionship and a sense of belonging, which can act as an antidote to isolation
Self-esteem, which can act as an antidote to depression and guilt
Opportunities to make a positive contribution, which can reduce feelings of failure or alienation
Practical and emotional support when coping with life stressors
As with all psychological disturbances, especially those that impair social, psychological, or emotional functioning, it is best to seek treatment from a professional who has expertise in both PTSD and in treating couples or families. Contact Veterans Affairs Canada for assistance in locating a VAC designated therapist in your area. Survivors find a number of different professional treatments helpful for dealing with relationship issues, including individual and group psychotherapy for their own PTSD, anger and stress management, assertiveness training, couples communication classes, family education classes, and family therapy.
Suggested Readings
John N. Briere and Diana M. Elliott. (1994). Immediate and long-term impacts of child sexual abuse. Future of Children 4(2), 54-69.
Rebecca Coffey. (1998). Unspeakable truths and happy endings: Human cruelty and the new trauma therapy. Sidran Press, ISBN 1-886968-04-7 or 1-886968-05-5.
Patience Mason. (1990). Recovering from the war: A woman's guide to helping your Vietnam vet, your family, and yourself. Viking, ISBN 0-670-81587-X; Penguin, ISBN 0-14-009912-3.
Aphrodite Matsakis. (1996). Vietnam wives: facing the challenges of life with veterans suffering post traumatic stress. Sidran Press, ISBN 1-886968-00-4.
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Canada Department of Veterans Affairs- from time of Vietnam and Balkans
traumatic Stress Disorder
Definition
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is classified as acute, chronic, and with delayed onset. For pension purposes, acute PTSD, i.e. when duration of symptoms is less than 3 months, will not be pensioned.
The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition (DSM-IV) has defined PTSD as a psychiatric condition if it meets the following 6 criteria:
The person has been exposed to a traumatic event in which:
The person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others; and
The person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror; and
The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in one or more of the following ways:
Recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections of the event, including images, thoughts, or perceptions;
Recurrent distressing dreams of the event;
Acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring (including a sense of reliving the experience, illusions, hallucinations, and dissociative flashback episodes, including those that occur on awaking or when intoxicated);
Intense psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event;
Physiological reactivity on exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event; and
Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (not present before trauma), as indicated by three or more of the following:
Efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations associated with the trauma;
Efforts to avoid activities, places, or people that arouse recollections of the trauma;
Inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma;
Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities;
Feeling of detachment or estrangement from others;
Restricted range of affect (e.g. unable to have loving feelings);
Sense of a foreshortened future (e.g. does not expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a normal life span); and
Persistent symptoms of increased arousal (not present before the trauma), as indicated by two or more of the following:
Difficulty falling or staying asleep;
Irritability or outbursts of anger;
Difficulty concentrating;
Hypervigilance;
Exaggerated startle response; and
Duration of the disturbance (indicated by the relevant symptoms set out in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d)) is more than one month; and
The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.
Diagnostic Standard
A diagnosis from a qualified medical practitioner or a psychiatrist or a registered/licensed psychologist is required. The diagnosis is made clinically. Supporting documentation should be as comprehensive as possible and should satisfy the requirements for diagnosis as outlined in the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria.
Anatomy and Physiology
PTSD is a condition that can develop as a result of an individual's exposure to an extremely traumatic stressor, especially if the individual response involves intense fear, helplessness, or horror. The disorder may be particularly severe or long-lasting when the stressor is of human design (e.g. torture, rape), and trust is lost. Trauma may be personal trauma or witnessed trauma, examples of which are as follows:
· The direct personal experience of an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury, or other threat to one's physical integrity; or
· Witnessing an event that involves death, injury or threat to the physical integrity of another person.
Such personal trauma events include, but are not limited to:
· Military combat
· violent personal assault (sexual assault, physical attack, robbery, mugging)
· being kidnapped
· being taken hostage
· a terrorist attack
· torture
· incarceration as a prisoner of war or in a concentration camp
· being required to exhume a dead body or body parts
· natural or man-made disasters
· severe automobile accidents, of a nature which meets the above-noted criteria or equivalent
Witnessed events include, but are not limited to:
· observing serious injury or unnatural death of another person due to violent assault
· accident
· war
· disaster
· unexpectedly witnessing a dead body or body parts
Studies indicate that the prevalence of PTSD for at risk populations (e.g. Vietnam veterans, rape victims, Rwandan peacekeepers, and Armenian children after an earthquake) ranges from 14 - 75%. It is considered that the wide range of prevalence rates reflects the variety of measurement criteria used to diagnose PTSD.
Epidemiological studies show that PTSD often remains chronic, with a significant number of persons remaining symptomatic several years after the event.
The disorder cannot exist unless the individual has been exposed to a traumatic stressor with a particular set of properties. While trauma is a necessary factor, few would consider it to be sufficient to cause PTSD. The relative importance of the traumatic event, predisposing factors, and environmental factors shortly before or after the trauma must all be considered in understanding the etiology of PTSD. In most instances, occurrence of the disorder represents the outcome of an interaction amongst these three groups of factors.
Predisposing factors include the identification of genetic vulnerability to the development of PTSD. Because of different reactions to the same traumatic event, it cannot be said that psychological models alone fully account for the development of PTSD. Other than genetics, premorbid vulnerability factors include a prior history of psychiatric disorder, a family history of psychiatric disorder, a pre-existing personality disorder or traits, poor peer and social support, and a prior history of trauma. Normal adaptive mechanisms for processing life experiences may eventually become overwhelmed by psychological trauma, if the trauma is sufficiently severe.
There are 3 psychological theories of PTSD, which are briefly described as follows:
Psychodynamic Theory
· When faced with an overwhelming traumatic experience, the mind mobilizes defences in order to survive. In order to make sense of the trauma, the survivor develops intrusive and avoidance symptoms, and through the use of repetition and compulsion attempts to master the memories. This is adaptive in Adjustment Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder, but in PTSD the process is overwhelmed and symptoms persists.
Cognitive/Behavioural Theory
· Fears associated with PTSD develop through classical conditioning, i.e. an unconditioned stimulus produces an unconditioned response which becomes associated with a conditioned stimulus. For example, a person is robbed in an elevator by a man in a yellow raincoat. The robbery (unconditioned stimulus) produces fear (unconditioned response), and the sight of a yellow raincoat (conditioned stimulus) becomes associated with the same fear. These new, classically-condition fears are maintained through operant conditioning. Escape or avoidance behaviours are reinforced by their anxiety-relieving effects. Over time, increasing numbers and types of stimuli may become elicitors of anxiety, and symptoms of PTSD are maintained.
Cognitive Network Theory
· Original traumatic events conflict with prior beliefs. For example, a person who grows up to believe that women and children are to be protected may find this principle challenged when placed in a combat situation.
New information that is congruent with prior beliefs about self or the world is assimilated quickly and without effort because the information matches current schemas. When schema-discrepant effects occur, as in trauma, individuals must reconcile the effect with their beliefs about themselves and the world. Accordingly, their schemas must be altered or accommodated to incorporate this new information. Because of the strong effect associated with the trauma, this process is often avoided. Thus, rather than accommodating beliefs to incorporate the trauma, victims may distort the trauma to ensure that their beliefs remain in tact.
PTSD has been shown to have a number of unique biological features, separate from other mental disorders. These include changes to the hypothalmic-pituitary axis (which regulates the body's response to stress), decreased cortisol levels, and higher glucocorticoid receptor sensitivity. These factors demonstrate that the body's response to traumatic stress in PTSD differs from other mental health disorders. Despite exposure to the same trauma, it is only those who suffer from PTSD who undergo biological changes in response to the trauma. Subsequent stressors may also contribute to biological alterations.
Clinical Features
For pension purposes, PTSD is classified as "chronic" or "with delayed onset". Chronic PTSD is used when symptoms last 3 months or longer. PTSD of delayed onset is used when at least 6 months have passed between the traumatic event and onset of symptoms.
To make a diagnosis of PTSD for pension purposes, it is required that symptoms last for a minimum period of 3 months and that the disturbance causes an impairment or clinically significant distress.
The characteristic symptoms of PTSD are as follows:
· Re-experiencing the traumatic event,
· Avoidance of stimuli associated with the event,
· Numbing of general responsiveness,
· Increased arousal.
Re-experiencing the traumatic event
The traumatic event can be re-experienced in a variety of ways. Commonly, the person has recurrent and intrusive recollections of the event or recurrent distressing dreams during which the event is re-experienced. In rare instances there are dissociative states lasting from a few seconds to several hours or even days, during which components of the event are relived and the person behaves as though experiencing the event at that moment. There is often intense psychological distress when the person is exposed to a situation that resembles an aspect of the traumatic event or that symbolizes the traumatic event, e.g. an anniversary of the event.
Avoidance of stimuli
There is persistent avoidance of any stimuli associated with the traumatic event or a numbing of general responsiveness that was not present before the trauma. The person commonly makes deliberate efforts to avoid thoughts or feelings about the traumatic event and about activities or situations that arouse recollections of it. This may include psychogenic amnesia for an important aspect of the traumatic event.
Numbing of general responsiveness
Diminished responsiveness to the external world, referred to as "psychic numbing" or "emotional anesthesia", usually begins soon after the traumatic event. A person may complain of feeling detached or estranged from others, that he or she has lost the ability to become interested in previously enjoyed activities, or that the ability to feel emotions of any type, especially those associated with intimacy, tenderness and sexuality, is markedly decreased.
Increased arousal
At least one of the five of the following symptoms not present before the trauma is required:
Difficulty falling or staying asleep (recurrent nightmares during which the traumatic event is relived are sometimes accompanied by middle or terminal sleep disturbance)
Irritability or anger
Poor concentration
Hyper-vigilance
Exaggerated startle response
Some persons complain of difficulty in concentrating or in completing tasks. Many report increased aggression. In mild cases, this may take the form of irritability with fear of losing control. In more severe forms, particularly in cases in which the survivor has actually committed acts of violence (as in war veterans), the fear is conscious and pervasive and the reduced capacity for expressing angry feelings may lead to unpredictable explosions of aggressive behaviour.
Avoidance of stimuli, numbing of general responsiveness, and hyperarousal symptoms must occur after the exposure to trauma if they are to be valid diagnostic symptoms. This can be a difficult judgment to make in cases in which PTSD has arisen from an ill-defined set of early childhood traumas or even a clearly defined event some 20 or 30 years earlier. A detailed summary of symptoms and manifestations of PTSD includes the following:
YOU CAN GET THE SYMPTOMS FROM THE SITE.... CANADA VETERANS AFFAIRS
The long term course of PTSD is variable. Recovery varies from permanent recovery to no resolution of symptoms and deterioration with age. There may exist a relatively unchanging course with only mild fluctuations, or obvious fluctuations with intermittent periods of well-being and recurrences of major symptoms. The startle response, nightmares, irritability, and depression have been noted to increase with time in many persons. These symptoms often represent a poor prognostic sign.
It is important to remember that there are diseases other than PTSD which can result from trauma, e.g. mood disorders, other anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, eating disorders, and substance abuse.
It should also be noted that PTSD is unlikely to occur alone. Psychiatric comorbidity is the rule rather than the exception, and a number of studies have demonstrated that in both clinical and epidemiological populations a wide range of disorders is likely to occur. These include some depression disorders, all of the anxiety disorders, alcohol and substance abuse disorders, somatization disorders, schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder.
Schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorders are not commonly observed in the military, having been screened out early in an individual's military career. It should also be noted that PTSD may overlap with impulse control disorders in view of the anger, irritable outbursts and periodical recourse to violence that occur in PTSD.
Pension Considerations
Causes and/or aggravation
Medical conditions which are to be included in Entitlement/Assessment
Common medical conditions which may result in whole or in part from post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and/ or it treatment
Causes and/or Aggravation
The timelines cited below are not binding. each case should be adjudicated on the evidence provided and its own merits.
Exposure to a traumatic stressor prior to clinical onset or aggravation
PTSD need not have its onset during combat. For example, vehicular or airplane crashes, large fires, floods, earthquakes, and other disasters could evoke significant distress in most involved persons.
Trauma may be experienced alone (e.g. rape or assault), or in the company of groups of persons (e.g. military combat).
A stressor should not be limited to one episode. A group of experiences may lead to PTSD. In some circumstances, for example, assignment to a grave registration unit/burn care unit, or liberation/internment camps could have the cumulative effect of powerful, distressing experiences essential to a diagnosis of PTSD.
PTSD can be caused by events which occur before, during, or after service. The relationship between stressors during service and current problems/symptoms will govern the question of service- connection.
PTSD can occur hours, months, or years after a service-related stressor. Despite this long latent period, service-connected PTSD may be recognizable by a relevant association between the stressor and the current presentation of symptoms.
Inability to obtain appropriate clinical management
Medical Conditions Which are to be Included in Entitlement/Assessment
· Anxiety disorders
· Mood disorders
· Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
· Adjustment disorders
· Personality disorders
· Eating disorders
· Substance-related disorders
· Dissociative disorders
· Pain disorders/chronic pain syndromes
Common Medical Conditions Which may Result in Whole or in Part From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and/or its Treatment
· Sexual dysfunction (e.g. erectile dysfunction)
Irritable bowel syndrome
References for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington: American Psychiatric Association, 1994.
Australia. Department of Veterans Affairs: medical research in relation to the Statement of Principles concerning Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which cites the following as references:
American Psychiatric Association. 1980. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed.) Washington: American Psychiatric Association.
American Psychiatric Association. 1987. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed. revised) Washington: American Psychiatric Association.
Boyle C.A., Decoufle P, & O'Brien T.R. 1989. Long-term health Consequences of Military Service in Vietnam. Epidemiologic Reviews 11:1-27.
Davidson J.R.T., Hughes D., Blazer D.G., and George L.K. (1991) Post-traumatic stress disorder in the community: an epidemiological study. Psychological Medicine, 21: 713-721.
Eaton W.W. & Kessler L.G. 1985. The NIMH Epidemiological Catchment Area Program. In Epidemiological Field Methods in Psychiatry (ed. W.W. Eaton & L.G. Kessler) Academic Press: New York.
Goldberg J, True W, Eisen S, Henderson W.G. 1990. A Twin study of the Effects of the Vietnam War on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. JAMA, 263:1227-1232.
Helzer J.E., Robins L. & McEvoy L. 1987. Post-traumatic stress disorder in the general population. Findings from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Survey. New Eng J Med 317: 1630-1634.
The Centres for Disease Control Vietnam Experience Study, 1989. Health Status of Vietnam Veterans: Volume IV. Psychological and Neuropsychological Evaluation. US. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia.
The Centres for Disease Control Vietnam Experience Study. 1988. Health Status of Vietnam Veterans. 1. Psychosocial Characteristics. JAMA. 259: 2701-2707.
Friedman, Matthew J. Aug 1998. Current and Future Drug Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Patients. Psychiatric Annals. 28(8):461-468.
Kaplan, Harold I. and Benjamin J. Sadock, eds. Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. 6th ed. Baltimore: William and Wilkins, 1995.
Marshall, Randall D. and D. Pierce. 2000. Implications of Recent Findings in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Role of Pharmacotherapy. Harvard Review of Psychiatry. 7:247-256.
Pain, Clare. Feb 2000. Post-traumatic stress disorder: Understanding and Treatment. Patient Care Canada. 11(2).
Tasman, Allan and Jerald Kay, et al. Psychiatry. 1ST ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1997.
Ungar, Thomas E., et al. June 2000. Recognizing Post-Traumatic Stress. Patient Care Canada. 11(6).
Veterans Affairs Canada. Medical Guidelines on Stress, 2000.
Veterans Affairs Canada. Protocol for Disability Pensions and Health Care. Management and Adjudication of Cases. Feb 17, 2000.
Watson, Patricia, Miles McFall, Caroll McBrine, et al. Updated Practice Guideline for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Compensation and Pension Examinations. National Center for PTSD. Received by VAC via e-mail, Aug 2000.
Weir, Erica. Oct. 31, 2000. Veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 163(9):1187.
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In the Service of peace 1947 - Present
Canadian Forces in the Balkans
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When Canadians think about Canadian Forces personnel serving in overseas peace efforts, one of the first places they probably think about is the Balkan peninsula of southeast Europe.
Canadians have served in European Community, United Nations (UN) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) missions in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, and Macedonia – new countries that have risen out of the ashes of the former country of Yugoslavia. Beginning in 1991, tens of thousands of Canadian Forces members strived over the years to help make the region secure and nurture the fragile peace so recovery can continue after years of fierce fighting.
Balkans
The Balkan countries which have seen such turmoil are located in southeast Europe, north of Greece and across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. This is a land of beautiful mountains, fertile plains and an island-studded coastline that stretches along the Adriatic Sea.
For much of the 20th century, this area was a single Communist country known as Yugoslavia. However, long-standing ethnic, religious and political differences between the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Muslim populations who have lived there for centuries created an environment of distrust that made for an unstable situation.
Once the authoritative rule in the country began to crumble, the different ethnic and religious factions erupted into violence. In the early 1990s, the various regions tried to split off and form their own countries, dividing along ethnic and religious lines. There were many cases of ethnic cleansing where entire villages or areas of minorities were persecuted, driven out or killed outright by armies.
The World Responds
As the world saw the violence descend on the region, the international community moved to respond. The first direct Canadian involvement would come in 1991-1992 when some Canadian Forces officers participated in the European Community Monitoring Mission there.
Canada and other countries then deployed a large UN peacekeeping force (known as the United Nations Protection Force, or UNPROFOR) to try to curb the violence in the region, particularly in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This would be only the first of a series of UN (and later, NATO) peace support efforts in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo in the former Yugoslavia.
The situations that Canadian Forces members encountered during their efforts in the Balkans were unique. The skills needed for a peace mission are often quite different from the skills required to fight a conventional conflict. Peacekeepers must be trained for war and for peace. The Canadians who have served in the Balkans over the years have performed many roles. They monitored ever-shifting and fragile cease-fire lines and forced open lines of supply to besieged areas in order to bring in food and humanitarian supplies to the civilians trapped in the middle of the fighting. In the waters of the Adriatic Sea, our country deployed naval and air resources to assist the UN in its naval blockade of arms shipments to the region. Canadians also tried to protect areas of ethnic minorities (so-called "safe areas" which would tragically prove to be not very safe) which were under siege from the majority militias.
Canada and other peacekeeping nations faced huge challenges in the Balkans and there was only so much they could do to curb the worst of the violence brought on by the hatred and viciousness of the combatants there. Many horrible acts were perpetrated that the peacekeepers simply could not prevent.
Today, the active fighting is over. The last sizable Canadian Forces presence left the region in 2004, but a European Union peace support force remains in the region to help keep the peace and support those who live in the region as they move toward a more peaceful future.
Facts and Figures
· The largest number of Canadians to serve in a UN mission in the region at any one time was 2,000. More than 40,000 troops from many countries took part in the largest UN contingent that served during the peace support missions.
· NATO contingents continue to play a peacekeeping role in the region. At times, NATO troop strengths have reached 60,000, including up to 1,500 Canadians.
· In the spring of 1999, Canadian pilots flew combat missions for the first time since the Korean War.
· In Macedonia in 1999-2000, Canada sent its largest single overseas deployment of troops since the Korean War. Canada also deployed heavy tanks in a conflict situation for the first time since the Korean War.
Heroes and Bravery
Often we think of the dangers of war and heroic acts of bravery as belonging to generations of the past. However, in the 1990s, Canadian Forces members found themselves in a full-fledged war zone where peacekeeping troops had to engage in firefights to try to fulfil their missions.
· Major Joseph Servais and Captain Joseph Brosseau both won Meritorious Service Medals for their work as monitors with the European Union Monitoring Mission in the region in the early 1990s. Servais was responsible for eight monitoring teams, often conducting the most dangerous missions himself. Brosseau led the mission in Sarajevo at the time, planning and leading the dangerous six-hour convoy to safely evacuate his group when ordered to leave.
· In September 1993, Canadian soldiers experienced their most intense firefight since the Korean War when members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were pounded with heavy machine gun fire, grenades, cannons and small arms fire in the Medak Pocket of Croatia.
· Captain Joseph Bélisle and Sergeant Mario Forest received Medals of Bravery while serving in Sarajevo for rescuing two seriously wounded women. While under sniper fire, Capt. Bélisle returned fire to shield Sgt. Forest, who crawled to reach the two victims and remove them from danger. The two Canadians, still under fire, then helped the women into a military vehicle.
· On two occasions, Canadian soldiers found themselves in hospitals full of patients that hadbeen abandoned by staff due to increased fighting in the area. In one situation, troops found, protected and gave aid to a large number of mentally and physically challenged patients who needed a very high level of care.
Sacrifice
Canadians can be rightfully proud of their reputation around the world as a force for peace, but this comes at a price. About 125 Canadians have died in the course of Canada’s peace support operations around the world. In the Balkans, 20 Canadians lost their lives in the various missions and many more were injured.
The wounds of peacekeeping are not always caused by hostile fire, landmines or accidents. They do not always leave physical scars. The mission in the former Yugoslavia was particularly difficult for those deployed there. The human atrocities perpetrated against the civilian population were horrific – witnessing human brutality on this scale has a deep impact on those who see it.
Learning about what the Veterans of these Canadian Forces missions in the Balkan States have done and sacrificed in the course of their duties is important. By understanding their role, we honour their achievements. Knowing about Canada’s values and history helps us understand the Canada we live in today.
Canada Remembers Program
The Canada Remembers Program of Veterans Affairs Canada encourages all Canadians to learn about the sacrifices and achievements made by all those that served, and continue to serve, during times of war and peace, and to become involved in remembrance activities that will help to preserve their legacy for future generations of Canadians.
For Additional Information
Veterans Affairs Canada-Canada Remembers
Canadian Military History Gateway
United Nations Peacekeeping
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association
Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping
The Royal Canadian Legion
Peace Support Efforts Public Informtion Sheets
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WAR IN THE BALKANS,
CANADIAN-STYLE
POLICY OPTIONS
OCTOBER 1999
OPTIONS POLITIQUES
OCTOBRE 1999
Canadians’ image of themselves is that our frequent participation in United Nations peacekeeping
reflects our role in international affairs: non-aggressive, helpful and influential. In fact, what carries
weight in multilateral strategic considerations is the ability to deploy effective military force. Early in
the Cold War, the credibility of our armed forces is what first got us into peacekeeping. The serious
decline in our preparedness, displayed most recently in the war in Kosovo, increasingly calls into question
our ability to be, as we would wish, strategic leaders.
Les Canadiens croient que la fréquente participation de leur pays aux opérations de maintien de la paix
des Nations Unies reflète notre rôle sur la scène internationale : une présence non aggressive, utile et
influente. En réalité, ce qui pèse lourd dans la balance des considérations stratégiques multilatérales,
c’est plutôt la capacité réelle de déployer des forces armées. Au début de la guerre froide, c’est d’abord la
crédibilité de nos forces armées qui nous a amené au maintien de la paix. Le manque de préparation,
comme on a pu le voir récemment au Kosovo, remet toutefois en question notre aptitude à être, ainsi
que nous le souhaiterions, des dirigeants stratégiques.
Douglas L. Bland
OPTIONS POLITIQUES
OCTOBRE 1999
Canadians’ image of themselves is that our frequent participation in United Nations peacekeeping
reflects our role in international affairs: non-aggressive, helpful and influential. In fact, what carries
weight in multilateral strategic considerations is the ability to deploy effective military force. Early in
the Cold War, the credibility of our armed forces is what first got us into peacekeeping. The serious
decline in our preparedness, displayed most recently in the war in Kosovo, increasingly calls into question
our ability to be, as we would wish, strategic leaders.
Les Canadiens croient que la fréquente participation de leur pays aux opérations de maintien de la paix
des Nations Unies reflète notre rôle sur la scène internationale : une présence non aggressive, utile et
influente. En réalité, ce qui pèse lourd dans la balance des considérations stratégiques multilatérales,
c’est plutôt la capacité réelle de déployer des forces armées. Au début de la guerre froide, c’est d’abord la
crédibilité de nos forces armées qui nous a amené au maintien de la paix. Le manque de préparation,
comme on a pu le voir récemment au Kosovo, remet toutefois en question notre aptitude à être, ainsi
que nous le souhaiterions, des dirigeants stratégiques.
and indiscriminate force, may seem alien to
Canadians and their political representatives raised
on the myth that Canadians are peacekeepers. The
record shows, however, that Canadians are as likely to
defend themselves and their values and interests by
force of arms as any other people would do.
Canadians and their political representatives take
great pride in peacekeeping, for many reasons. These
military operations are often portrayed in popular history
and the media as perfectly suited to Canadians’
image of themselves as “helpful fixers,” without war
aims, or any national stake in international disputes.
From this perspective, peacekeeping sets Canadians
apart from “power politics” and the aggressiveness of
the great powers. Moreover, these types of operations
do not demand sophisticated and expensive weapons.
Canada is, according to Foreign Minister Lloyd
Axworthy, “a global power . . . [with] the capacity to
The latest conflict in
the Balkans revealed
a modern version of
the Canadian way in warfare.
That is to say, Canadians
fought the war in a characteristically
national way, distinct
from how other nations might
use force in international relations.
Moreover, it is such a
persistent pattern of behaviour
that it supersedes governments and party ideologies.
Unfortunately, failure at the political level to recognize
or acknowledge this fact of national life has built debilitating
contradictions into defence policy and relations
between political and military leaders in Canada.
The notion that “an unmilitary people” has a discernible
way to use force, including, at times, deadly
and indiscriminate force, may seem alien to
Canadians and their political representatives raised
on the myth that Canadians are peacekeepers. The
record shows, however, that Canadians are as likely to
defend themselves and their values and interests by
force of arms as any other people would do.
Canadians and their political representatives take
great pride in peacekeeping, for many reasons. These
military operations are often portrayed in popular history
and the media as perfectly suited to Canadians’
image of themselves as “helpful fixers,” without war
aims, or any national stake in international disputes.
From this perspective, peacekeeping sets Canadians
apart from “power politics” and the aggressiveness of
the great powers. Moreover, these types of operations
do not demand sophisticated and expensive weapons.
Canada is, according to Foreign Minister Lloyd
Axworthy, “a global power . . . [with] the capacity to
act as an honest broker on a range of issues ... a wielder
of ‘soft power,’ ... building coalitions of the willing”
around the world.
Cold, critical history, of course, tells a different
story. Canadians have always used military force,
whether alone or with allies, to advance national
interests and to win favour with the great powers.
Consider, for instance, Canadian involvement in wars
in South Africa, Germany, Italy, Korea and the Persian
Gulf, not to mention our invasion of the Soviet Union
in 1919. Canadians have a long record of conflicts
with Europeans, Americans, Japanese, Chinese,
Russians, British, French, each other, and native people.
In fact, they celebrate — or at least they used to —
the widely held opinion that Canada was “born”
through military sacrifices in 1914-18.
Even during the Cold War, which some consider the
era when Canada led the peacekeeping community, by
any critical measure peacekeeping was a sideshow in
our defence and foreign policy. For most of the period,
the Canadian Forces had tens of thousands of troops,
most committed to winning a war, with nuclear
weapons if necessary. Only a few hundred soldiers
were on duty with the United Nations. Ironically, the
success of early peacekeeping efforts flowed from the
fact that the Canadian Forces had well-equipped
units, trained to fight wars, who could be rapidly
deployed without the assistance of other nations. Yet
political representatives today repeatedly declare that
they are guided by Canada’s non-aggressive, anti-colonial,
and peacekeeping past.
Canada’s participation in the 1999 Balkans War
sharply contradicts this perspective. From the
beginning of the crisis, Canadian political and military
behaviour fell into a characteristic and, therefore, predictable
pattern. First, Canadian political leaders, from
the prime minister downwards, quickly accepted
NATO’s strategy for dealing with the Serb regime.
Although diplomats and the foreign minister offered
suggestions aimed at shaping the strategy, there was
no serious consideration of ever walking away from
the NATO consensus. Like every Canadian prime minister
before him, Jean Chrétien understood that
Canada’s military and political weaknesses precluded
any leadership role for Canada in the formation of
allied policies. In the politics of international warfare,
Canadians are strategic followers, not strategic leaders.
Canada’s current political and military leaders, as
others before them, acknowledged and acquiesced
in the right of the major players to set the course of
the war and to allocate duties to the lesser states. At
home, the government may have been hounded
Like every prime minister
before him, Jean Chrétien
understood that Canada’s
military and political
weaknesses precluded any
leadership role for Canada
in the formation of allied
policies. In the politics of
international warfare, we
are strategic followers,
not strategic leaders
because ministers were not invited to join their
peers from the major powers in meetings to decide
the direction of the war. But this is an old dilemma
for Canadian political leaders. Joining allied war
councils implies a willingness to make appropriate
commitments of blood and treasure to back allied
decisions. Better, then, to stay far away from such
meetings, even if, with Canada absent, allied leaders
have often committed the country to expensive
undertakings in any case.
Sometimes the Canadian answer is to join in the
discussions. At other times, it is prudent to stand just
outside the conference room door, as Mackenzie King
did at Quebec City when Roosevelt and Churchill
decided how to fight the Second World War. In 1999,
the government had no choice but to suffer indignation
at home: Ministers knew that they did not have
enough resources to buy a ticket for admission to
meetings where votes were being, as the saying goes,
weighed not counted. Moreover, they had no intention
of being manoeuvred by popular or allied
demands into committing any more military
resources than were readily available and were necessary
to spend so that Canada could be seen to be
supporting the alliance.
Typically, the Canadian Forces deployed in the field
(or, in this case, the air) conducted themselves well,
earning praise from allied military leaders. Just as typically,
however, senior national military leaders in
Ottawa had almost no say or control over the tactics
used by the Canadian Forces or in the targets they
attacked. Military historian Steven Harris has referred
to this habit as 'lending troops' to allies, something
Canada has done in all past wars and United Nations
operations. In the short Kosovo campaign, this national
habit never caused any serious conflicts between
allied aims and needs and Canadian national objectives
— as it did, for example, at Dieppe in 1942 and, more
recently, during the 1993 Somalia operations. Canadian
political and military leaders, as always, expect the
Canadian Forces to go to war under someone else’s
command, and seem either
oblivious or resigned to the
dangerous consequences
that might follow from this
characteristic Canadian
way in warfare.
Defence-policy making
in Canada is conditioned
by two ideas. First, few
prime ministers worry
much about military
threats to Canada. The
greatest threat to national
defence — and the treasury
— comes from involvement
in other people’s quarrels,
meaning, generally, those
engaging the interests of
the major powers. Partner
to this idea is the important
notion that even if Canada were threatened and
attacked, someone else would save the nation. Sir
Wilfred Laurier laid down a benchmark of Canadian
defence policy before the First World War. “You must
not take the militia seriously,” he wrote, “for though it
is useful for suppressing internal disturbances, it will
not be required for the defence of the country, as the
Monroe Doctrine protects us from enemy aggression.”
No prime minister has been as forthright, at least in
public, but they all welcome Uncle Sam’s defence.
Complacency and dependence may provide a reasonable
basis for national defence policy in most
circumstances, but they can be quite inconvenient
when circumstances change abruptly. Unpreparedness,
to use a modern term, has been the hallmark of
Canadian defence policies since Confederation. There
are several reasons why this is so, and political disinterest
in the subject has not always been the only culprit.
Military leaders have also contributed by, for
instance, holding to old methods that prove unhealthy
in new conditions. Whatever the causes, however, not
being ready for the bumps and grinds of international
life is the political cost of this national habit, while
unnecessary stress and casualties are the human cost
on members of the Canadian Forces.
The war in the Balkans displayed our traditional
habits in sharp relief. Canada wandered into the war,
not so much from conviction, as from a concern for its
essential national interest, which is to remain relevant
to the United States and the western alliance. We
responded to the allied strategy with just enough military
power (credible though it was in the short term) to
provide concrete evidence of our fidelity to collective
defence. As in all our other
wars, the Canadian Forces
scrambled to bring some
units to war-readiness, but
immediately passed command
of these forces to
allied officers. Ministers
may have been “briefed” on
Canadian Forces operations
in the theatre, but they
had almost no control over
those operations in fact.
Finally, as often happens,
foreign policy rhetoric
meant for domestic consumption
had very little to
do with the actual policies
of the government in the
circumstances. Pierre
Trudeau complained in
1968, “we had no defence policy ... except that of NATO
and our defence policy had determined all our foreign
policy and we had no foreign policy except that which
flowed from NATO.” After Trudeau, not much changed.
During the Balkans war, certainly, we had no policy
except that which flowed from NATO.
The problem in Canada is that an important
contradiction runs through the Canadian way
in warfare and skews national policy and planningl
for operations. Canada needs armed forces and
employs them from time to time, within “a realist
paradigm,” to advance national interests and influence.
Prime ministers are granted audiences with
American presidents and our diplomats are seated at
NATO committees and the United Nations Security
Council partly because Canada makes military contributions
to the national and collective interests of
other states. Even peacekeeping, from its very inception,
was and remains bound to the collective
defence needs of the western world.
The demands of these traditional duties require
solutions drawn from traditional military concepts,
but many of those ideas run counter to most citizens’
expectations. The difficulty for Canada is that there
may be two ways of warfare in the nation: a domestic,
politically supported way and a military way and
they often compete with each other. Clearly, no
rational national policy can be built and sustained
on such an unstable foundation. Moreover, the
record shows that the contradiction between the way
most Canadians see defence policy and the armed
forces and the way professional officers see these
same things is the source of conflict between the
political leaders responsible for national defence and
military leaders of the Canadian Forces, the putative
instrument of national defence. Canada could diminish
these contradictions either by increasing its military
capabilities or by shaping its foreign policy ends
to meet Canadian means. Unfortunately, the most
likely outcome of our experience in the Kosovo campaign
is that we will persist in contradictory habits.
The stories Canadians tell each other, whether
history or myth, are the foundation of our culture.
Occasionally, the difference between the two
hardly matters. In international relations and in warfare,
however, policies grounded in myth can seriously
distort the national interest. Canadians can believe
if they wish that their country can lead “coalitions of
the willing” without modern military forces maintained
at high states of readiness, but our partners and
adversaries are unlikely to agree. In the absence of
political attention to defence needs, Canada will continue,
in Adrien Preston’s words, to play the part of the
“gifted subordinate,” the strategic follower, and a significant
influence for good in international relations
mostly in our own eyes.
Douglas Bland is an associate professor and chair of
the Defence Management Studies Program in the School
of Policy Studies, Queen’s University.
CHOMSKY SUR LE KOSOVO
Quels que soient les efforts des idéologues pour prouver que les cercles sont carrés, il ne fait manifestement aucun
doute que les bombardements de l’OTAN sapent encore davantage ce qui reste de la structure fragile du droit international.
Les États-Unis ne s’en sont d’ailleurs pas cachés lors des discussions qui ont conduit à la décision de
l’OTAN. Si l’on excepte le Royaume-Uni — acteur désormais à peu près aussi indépendant des États-Unis que l’était,
avant M. Mikhaïl Gorbachev, l’Ukraine de l’Union soviétique —, les pays de l’Alliance atlantique étaient sceptiques
quant à la politique américaine et supportaient mal que Mme Madeleine Albright joue les « traîneurs de sabre » ...
L’argument le plus fréquent est qu’il fallait faire quelque chose : on ne pouvait pas rester les bras croisés alors que
les atrocités continuaient. On a toujours le choix. Il est toujours possible de suivre le principe d’Hippocrate :
« D’abord ne pas faire de mal. » Si vous ne parvenez pas à adhérer à ce principe élémentaire, ne faites rien. Il existe
toujours des voies à explorer. La diplomatie et les négociations ne sont jamais épuisées.
Les principes reconnus du droit international et de l’ordre mondial, les obligations solennelles des traités, les décisions
de la Cour internationale de justice, les avis qualifiés des commentateurs les plus respectés ne règlent pas
automatiquement les problèmes. Chaque cas doit faire l’objet d’un examen spécifique. Sauf à prendre M. Saddam
Hussein comme modèle, il convient de faire la démonstration de la nécessité du recours à la menace ou à l’usage de
la force en violation des principes de l’ordre international. Les conséquences de telles violations doivent être évaluées
avec prudence. Et pour ceux qui se targuent d’un minimum de sérieux, les motivations de ces actions doivent faire
l’objet d’un examen attentif, et non pas se réduire à l’adulation des dirigeants et de leur « boussole morale ».
Noam Chomsky, Le Monde diplomatique, mai 1999.
Canada wandered into the war,
not so much from conviction,
as from a concern for its
essential national interest,
which is to remain relevant
to the United States and
the western alliance.
-------------
Canada's Department of Veteran Affairs...
MALARIA....
malarial infection. In the Vietnam Conflict, the majority of cases was P. falciparum malaria rather than P. vivax malaria. In Somalia ...
Definition
Malaria is infection by a parasite of the genus Plasmodium, only 4 of which are infectious in humans, i.e. Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, or P. ovale. Malaria may be known as jungle, marsh, blackwater, and swamp fever.
Diagnostic Standard
Diagnosis by a qualified medical practitioner is required. A stained blood test for Malaria with thick and thin smears should be obtained, and copy submitted. If a person has a history of Malaria and the condition is no longer present, the diagnosis of "Malaria (resolved)" could be considered.
Anatomy and Physiology
The infection is initiated when plasmodia sporozoites are injected by female anopheles mosquito during a blood meal. Injection of infected blood is another mode of transmission. More rarely, infection may result from P. knowlesi, P. simium, and P. cynomolgi through mosquito bites, and infected blood (which may be transmitted by primate bites). The epidemiology of Malaria is complex and may vary considerably within relatively small geographical areas. Major epidemiologic determinants that have been identified include the immunologic and genetic makeup of the population, the species of parasite and mosquito in the community at risk, the temperature, the level of rainfall, the distribution of mosquito breeding sites, and the use of antimalarial drugs and application of other control measures. It has been found that patients living in endemic malarious areas commonly present with chronic hepatosplenomegaly of unknown cause, i.e. tropical splenomegaly syndrome.
Prepatent and Incubation Periods
"Prepatent" means the period between infection and appearance of parasites in the blood. "Incubation" is the time between infection and the appearance of symptoms.
Prepatent and incubation period for P. falciparum malaria: 7 to 14 days (mean 12 days) and may be prolonged further by immunity, chemoprophylaxis or partial chemotherapy. In Europe and North America, 65-95 per cent of patients with imported falciparum malaria present within one month of arriving back from the malarious area. A few present up to one year later, but none after more than four years.
Prepatent and incubation period for P.vivax and P. ovale: 8-13 and 12-17 days respectively. Some strains of p. vivax, especially those from the temperate regions (P.v. hibernans, P. v. multinucleatum) may have very long incubation periods (250-637 days). The prepatent and incubation periods for P. ovale are 9-14 and 15-18 days respectively. Vivax and ovale malarias have persistent hepatic cycles which may give rise to relapses every 2-3 months for 5-8 years in untreated cases. Only about one-third of the imported cases of vivax malaria present within a month of returning from malarious area. More than a year later 5-10 per cent will present.
Prepatent and incubation periods for P.malariae: 15 -16 and 18 - 40 days respectively. P. malariae is unique among the species in its ability to persist in the circulation at undetectable levels for long periods (up to 52 years in one case) without causing any symptoms. P. malariae does not relapse but persistent undetectable parasites in the blood may cause relapses (that is, development of clinical malaria as a result of replication of blood-stage parasites following a period of sub-clinical infection) for more than 50 years. Relapses of P. malariae infection have also been documented after patients have undergone splenectomy or received immunosuppressive drugs.
Prevalence
Malaria is the most important of the parasitic diseases of humans. As of the early 1990's it affected 103 endemic countries with a population of over 2.5 billion people and caused between 1 and 3 million deaths per year. It has been eradicated from North America, Europe, parts of the Middle East, and Russia; however, despite enormous control efforts, a resurgence of the disease took place in many parts of the tropics. It occurs throughout most of the tropical regions of the world. A significant number of cases occurs in the Amazon basin, where P. falciparum predominates. P. falciparum also predominates in sub-Saharan Africa, New Guinea, and Haiti. P. vivax is more common in Central America and the Indian subcontinent. P. malariae is found in most areas but is less common. P. ovale infection is relatively unusual outside Africa.
Information on Malaria morbidity during World War II is more comprehensive for the US troops; however one may assume similar rates of infection for the Allied forces in the same areas served by the Allied forces. In 1943, the annual Malaria rate was 84 per cent of the total strength of the British army and still higher among the forwarding troops. On the island of Éfaté, part of the Vanuatu Islands of the Pacific, the primary attack rate of malaria peaked for all U.S. and Allied forces in April 1942. In Espiritu, part of the Vanuatu Islands of the Pacific, the primary attack rates experienced for all Allied forces were in January 1943. Good information on primary attack rates was unavailable for Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, until June 1943; however the total malarial attack rate, including all relapses, among all US and Allied forces was high in November 1942. The primary attack rate among all US and Allied forces on Bougainville peaked in December 1943.
During the Korean War, P. vivax was the main malarial infection.
In the Vietnam Conflict, the majority of cases was P. falciparum malaria rather than P. vivax malaria.
In Somalia close to a hundred cases of Malaria have been reported in the US troops serving in Operation Restore Hope. The etiology was mainly P. vivax and a few P. falciparum cases. Patients with falciparum malaria had onset of symptoms an average of 34 (range 10-86)days after return to the US and 18 days (range 0-58 days) after discontinuation of prophylaxis. Patients with vivax malaria had onset at intervals of 60 days (range 12-119 days) after return and 42 days (range 0-102) days after discontinuation of prophylaxis. Most of the Malaria cases developed in troops stationed in southern riverine area of Somalia, where Malaria transmission is intense and is characterized by seasonal exacerbations from May to August and November and December.
Clinical Features
Malaria is a treatable disease using a number of anti-malarial medications, e.g. quinidine, Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine (Fansidar). The first clinical symptoms are non-specific, including lack of well being, headache, fatigue, and muscle aching followed by fever as in a minor viral illness. Some persons present with headache, chest pain, abdominal pain, arthralgia, myalgia, or diarrhoea. The classical Malaria paroxysm with fever spikes, chills and rigours occurring at regular intervals are rare. Many clinical abnormalities have been described in acute Malaria. Most uncomplicated infections have few abnormal findings other than mild anemia, and in some cases a palpable spleen. Symptoms commonly wax and wane. It is possible to contract more than 1 strain of Malaria without the signs and symptoms being distinguishable for individual strains. The literature suggests that only infection with P. falciparum is a potentially fatal disease, but fever, anemia and risk of spontaneous splenic repture associated with the other infections could have serious consequences for certain persons.
Health Canada, in a 1996 report titled "Fatal Falciparum Malaria in Canadian Travellers", determined that approximately 90% of travellers who acquire Falciparum Malaria will not become symptomatic until they return home, and that malaria can progress from an asymptomatic state to death in 36 to 48 hours. Early recognition and appropriate management are stated to be critical, given the resurgence of malaria worldwide, increasing drug resistance, and travel and immigration patterns.
Pension Considerations
Causes and/or aggravation
Medical conditions which are to be included in Entitlement/Assessment
Common medical conditions which may result in whole or in part from Malaria and/or its treatment
Application may be made for any disability that developed as a consequence in whole or in part as a function of Malaria, even where Malaria may have been successfully treated and would not constitute a "disability" under the operative legislation but would be otherwise pensionable if it had resulted in a disability (the Pension Act). In such cases the primary condition may be submitted with a descriptor noting its medical status, e.g. "Malaria (Resolved)".
Causes and/or Aggravation
The timelines cited below are not binding. Each case should be adjudicated on the evidence provided and its own merits.
Mosquito bites from an infected female anopheles mosquito
Injection of blood infected with plasmodia sporozoites
Inability to obtain appropriate clinical management
Medical Conditions Which are to be Included in Entitlement/Assessment
Common Medical Conditions Which may Result in Whole or in Part from Malaria and/or its Treatment
· rupture of spleen
Although the following conditions normally resolve completely, in some instances, permanent sequellae may result and consideration for pensioned entitlement could be considered. Medical consultation(s) should be requested on the following:
· acute renal failure
· acute pulmonary edema
· convulsions
· bacillary dysentery
· cholera
pyogenic pneumonia
References for Malaria
Australia. Department of Veterans Affairs: medical research in relation to the Statement of Principles concerning Malaria, which cites the following as references:
Néjera JA et al (1992) Malaria - New patterns and Perspectives, World Bank Technical Paper No. 183 pg. 1.
Bradley DJ et al (1988) Writing in Oxford Textbook of Medicine Pub. Oxford University Press, Oxford pg. 5.474.
Wyler DJ (1993) Malaria: Overview and Update Clinical Infectious Diseases Vol. 16 pg. 449-58.
Nicholas JW (1992) Writing in Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine 12th Edition Pub. McGraw-Hill Inc. New York pg 783.
Loevinsohn ME (1994) Climatic warming and increased malaria incidence in Rwanda The Lancet Vol. 343 pg. 714-18.
Beadle et al (1993) History of Malaria in the United States Naval Forces at War: World War I Through the Vietnam Conflict Clinical Infectious Diseases Vol. 16 pg. 320-9.
Kidson C (1992) Global Malaria Challenge: The Amsterdam Summit Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health Vol. 23 pg. 635-40.
WHO (1) (1992) World Malaria Situation 1990 Wld. Hlth. Statist. Quart. Vol 45 pg. 257-65.
(1993) Malaria Among U.S. Military Personnel Returning from Somalia, 1993 MMWR Vol.16 pg. 524-26.
WHO (1992) WHO News and Activities Bulletin of the World Health Organisation Vol. 70;6 pp. 801-07.
Mak JW et al (1992) Epidemiology and Control of Malaria in Malaysia Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health Vol. 23;4 pg. 572-77.
Lwin M et al (1991) Study of the Malaria Situation in Forested Foothill and Nearby Plain Areas of Mynamar Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health Vol. 21;4 pg. 509-14.
Fatal Falciparum Malaria In Common Travellers. Canada Communicable Disease report, vol 22-20, Oct 15, 1996. Retrieved June 1, 2001 on the www
Isselbacher, Kurt J., et al, eds. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 13th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
Manson-Bahr, P.E.C., and D.R. Bell. Manson's Tropical Diseases. 19th ed. Toronto: Ballière Tindall, 1987.
------------------
Veteran Affairs Canada
Recovering from the War: A Woman's Guide to Helping Your Vietnam Vet, Your Family, and Yourself. Matsakis, A. (1996). ...
PTSD and the Family
A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet (Veterans Affairs Canada Adaptation)
By Eve B. Carlson, Ph.D. and Joseph Ruzek, Ph.D.
How does PTSD affect family members?
Symptoms of PTSD and other trauma reactions change how a trauma survivor feels and acts, traumatic experiences that happen to one member of a family can therefore affect everyone else in the family. When trauma reactions are severe and go on for some time without treatment, they can cause major problems in a family. This fact sheet will describe family members' reactions to the traumatic event and to the survivor's symptoms and behaviors.
It's no wonder that family members react to the fact that their loved one has gone through a trauma. It's upsetting when someone you care about goes through a terrible ordeal. And it's no wonder that people react to the way a traumatized family member feels and acts. Trauma symptoms can make a family member hard to get along with or cause him or her to withdraw from the rest of the family. It can be very difficult for everyone when these changes occur. Just as people have different reactions to traumatic experiences, families also react differently when a loved one is traumatized. In the section below, many different types of reactions are described. A family may experience many of these reactions, or only a few. All of the reactions described, however, are common in families who have had to deal with trauma.
Sympathy
One of the first reactions many family members have is sympathy for their loved one. People feel very sorry that someone they care about has had to suffer through a terrifying experience. And they feel sorry when the person continues to suffer from symptoms of PTSD and other trauma responses. It can be helpful for the person who has experienced the trauma to know that his or her family members sympathize with him or her, especially just after the traumatic event occurs.
Sympathy from family members can have a negative effect, though. When family members' sympathy leads them to "baby" a trauma survivor and have low expectations of him or her, it may send a message that the family doesn't believe the trauma survivor is strong enough to overcome the ordeal. For example, if a wife has so much sympathy for her husband that she doesn't expect him to work after a traumatic experience, the husband may think that she doesn't have any confidence in his ability to recover and go back to work.
Depression
One source of depression for family members can be the traumatic event itself. All traumas involve events where people suddenly find themselves in danger. When this happens in a situation or place where people are used to feeling safe, just knowing the event happened could cause a person to lose faith in the safety and predictability of life. For example, if a woman gets mugged in the parking lot of a neighborhood shopping center, her family may find they feel depressed by the idea that they are not really as safe as they thought they were, even in their own neighborhood.
It can also be very depressing when a traumatic event threatens a person's ideals about the world. For instance, if a man gets traumatized in combat by seeing someone tortured, it can be very depressing to know that people are capable of doing such cruel things to each other. Before the man was faced with that event, he may have been able to believe that people are basically good and kind.
Depression is also common among family members when the traumatized person acts in a way that causes feelings of pain or loss. There may be changes in family life when a member has PTSD or other symptoms after trauma. The traumatized person may feel too anxious to go out on family outings as he or she did in the past. The traumatized person may not be able to work because of PTSD symptoms. As a result, the family income may decrease and the family may be unable to buy things and do things the way they did before the traumatic event. A husband may feel unloved or abandoned when—because of her depression—his traumatized wife withdraws emotionally and avoids being intimate or sexual. Children whose father can't be in crowds because of combat trauma may feel hurt that their father won't come to see them play sports. When PTSD lasts for a long time, family members can begin to lose hope that their loved one or their family will ever get "back to normal."
Fear and Worry
Knowing that something terrible can happen "out of the blue" can make people very fearful. This is especially true when a family member feels unsafe and often reminds others about possible dangers. Very often, trauma survivors feel "on edge" and become preoccupied with trying to stay safe. They may want to get a guard dog, or put up security lights, or have weapons in the house in order to protect themselves and their family members. When one person in a family is very worried about safety, it can make everyone else feel unsafe too. However, something that helps one person feel safe—like a loaded weapon under the bed may make another person feel unsafe.
Family members can also experience fear when the trauma survivor is angry or aggressive. As described above, trauma survivors can become angry and aggressive automatically if they feel they are in danger. Trauma survivors may also become angry and aggressive because they are frustrated that they have trauma symptoms, or because they learned to be aggressive as a way to protect themselves in the trauma situation. No matter what the reason for the anger and aggression, it naturally makes family members fearful.
Many trauma symptoms can cause family members to worry. A wife might worry that her traumatized husband who becomes angry and violent at the least provocation will be injured in a fight or get in trouble with the police. A daughter may worry that her mother will make herself ill by drinking heavily as a result of a traumatic event. A man's inability to keep a job because of trauma-related problems may cause his family to worry constantly about money and the future.
Avoidance
Just as trauma survivors are often afraid to address what happened to them, family members are frequently fearful of examining the traumatic event as well. Family members may want to avoid talking about the trauma or trauma-related problems, even with friends. People who have experienced trauma hope that if they don't talk about the problem, it will go away. People also don't wish to talk about the trauma with others because they are afraid that others won't understand or will judge them. Sometimes, if the traumatic event is one associated with shame, such as rape, family members may avoid talking about the event and its effects because of social "rules" that tell us it is inappropriate to talk about such things. Family members may also not discuss the trauma with others because they fear it will bring their loved one more shame.
Family members may avoid the things that the trauma survivor avoids because they want to spare the survivor further pain, or because they are afraid of his or her reaction. For example, the wife of a combat Veteran who is anxious about going out in public may not make plans for family outings or vacations because she is afraid to upset her husband. Though she doesn't know what she can do to "fix" the problem, she does know that if the family goes to a public event, the husband will be anxious and irritable the whole time.
Guilt and Shame
Family members can feel guilt or shame after a traumatic event for a number of reasons. A family member may experience these feelings if he or she feels responsible for the trauma. For instance, a husband whose wife is assaulted may feel guilt or shame because he was unable to protect her from the attack. A wife may feel responsible for her husband's car accident if she thinks she could have prevented it if she had gotten the car's brakes fixed. A family member may feel guilt and shame if he or she feels responsible for the trauma survivor's happiness or general well-being, but sees no improvement no matter how hard he or she tries to help. Sometimes, after years of trauma-related problems in a family, a family member may learn about post-traumatic stress disorder and realize that this is the source of their family problems. The family member may then feel guilty that he or she was unsupportive during the years.
Anger
Anger is a very common problem in families that have survived a trauma. Family members may feel angry about the trauma and its effect on their lives. They may be angry at whomever they believe is responsible for the traumatic event (this includes being angry at God). They can also feel anger toward the trauma survivor. Family members may feel that the survivor should just "forget about it" and get on with life. They may be angry when their loved one continues to "dwell" on the trauma. A wife may be mad because her husband can't keep a job or because he drinks too much or won't go with her to social events or avoids being intimate with her or doesn't take care of the kids. Family members may also feel angry and irritable in response to the anger and irritability the trauma survivor directs at them.
Negative Feelings
Sometimes family members have surprisingly negative feelings about the traumatized family member. They may believe the trauma survivor no longer exhibits the qualities that they loved and admired. A person who was outgoing before a trauma may become withdrawn. A person who was fun loving and easy-going before a trauma may become ill tempered. It may be hard to feel good toward a person who seems to have changed in many ways. Family members may also respond negatively to behaviors that develop following a trauma. For instance, family members may be disgusted by a woman's over-drinking in response to a trauma.
Family members may also have negative feelings about the survivor that are directly related to the traumatic event. For example, a wife may no longer respect her husband if she feels he didn't behave bravely during a traumatic event. A husband whose wife was raped may feel disgusted about what happened and wonder if she could have done something to prevent the assault. A son may feel ashamed that his father didn't fight back when he was beaten during a robbery. Sometimes people have these negative feelings even when they know that their assessment of the situation is unfair.
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
Drug and alcohol abuse can become a problem for the families of trauma survivors. Family members may try to escape from bad feelings by using drugs or drinking. A child or spouse may spend time drinking with friends to avoid having to go home and face an angry parent or spouse. On the other hand, spouses sometimes abuse drugs or alcohol to keep their loved ones "company" when they're drinking or using drugs to avoid trauma-related feelings.
Sleep Problems
Sleep can become a problem for family members, especially when it is a problem for the trauma survivor. When the trauma survivor stays up late to avoid going to sleep, can't get to sleep, tosses and turns in his or her sleep, or has nightmares, it is difficult for family members to sleep well. Often family members are also unable to sleep well because they are depressed and/or they are worried about the survivor.
Health Problems
Family members of trauma survivors can develop health problems for a number of reasons. Bad habits, such as drinking, smoking, and not exercising may worsen as a result of coping with a loved one's trauma responses. In addition, many illnesses can be caused by trauma-related stress if it goes on for an extended period of time. When family members constantly feel anxious, worried, angry, or depressed, they are more likely to develop stomach problems, bowel problems, headaches, muscle pain, and other health problems.
What can families do to care for themselves and the survivor?
Trauma survivors and their families often don't know what to do to care for themselves. First, it is important to continue to learn more about trauma and its effects. Some books are listed below that may be helpful. For Veterans, psycho-education may be available through VAC's OSI Clinics.
Treatment for PTSD is available in most communities through psychologists and social workers in private practice. To find phone numbers for mental-health professionals, contact Veterans Affairs Canada.
Family members of a traumatized person should find out as much as they can about PTSD and get help for themselves, even if their loved one doesn't seek treatment. Family members can encourage the survivor to inquire about education and counselling, but they should not pressure or try to force their loved one to get help. Classes or treatment may also be useful for stress and anger management, addiction, couples communication, or parenting.
While in the process of getting help, if family members feel comfortable, they can let their loved one know that they are willing to listen if the survivor would like to talk about his or her trauma. It is important to stop the discussion however if anyone gets too upset or overwhelmed. If everyone is able, it is also important to talk about how the trauma is affecting the family and what can be done about it.
Suggested Readings
Allen, J. G. (1995). Coping with Trauma: A Guide to Self-Understanding. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
Mason, P. (1990). Recovering from the War: A Woman's Guide to Helping Your Vietnam Vet, Your Family, and Yourself
Matsakis, A. (1996). Vietnam Wives: Facing the Challenges of Life with Veterans Suffering Post Traumatic Stress (Sidran Press, 1996, ISBN 1-886968-00-4)
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Worth repeating... Canada has tons of heroes.... and we must remember them.
Statement by the Prime Minister of Canada
SIR JOHN A MACDONALD DAY in Canada
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on the occasion of Sir John A. Macdonald Day:
“Today, Canadians are celebrating the memory and legacy of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, whose vision and enterprise were instrumental in setting Canada on the path to becoming the country we know and love today.
“Born in Scotland on January 11, 1815, John A. Macdonald emigrated to Canada with his family when he was five years old. His spent his early professional years as a lawyer and city alderman in Kingston, Ontario, and then as a representative in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. These experiences shaped his political ideas and ambitions through a long, illustrious and tumultuous career.
“He pursued his vision for a united Canada with conviction and determination, forging alliances across partisan lines and regional interests to promote and realize his national dream. He will be forever remembered as Canada’s most distinguished public figure, enshrined as one of Canada’s Fathers of Confederation, as well as becoming our country’s first prime minister with the union of the first four provinces on July 1, 1867.
“Sir John A. Macdonald rose to meet the many challenges, professional, political and personal, that he faced in building our nation. Along the way, `The Old Chieftan` left us a legacy of conviction, patriotism and achievement that remains an inspiration to Canadians today.”
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MP Casson – Freedom has never come easy
LETHBRIDGE - Two days before the solemnity of November 11, Lethbridge MP Rick Casson has gained an enhanced sense of pride in Canada’s Armed Forces and all it represents.
As Chairman of the Standing Committee on National Defence, Casson and six committee MPs from across Canada are at CFB Edmonton today attending briefing sessions with military leaders, visiting injured personnel and meeting with deployed soldiers’ families.
“The sense of accomplishment and belief in our Afghan mission is solid on this military base, affirming Canada’s presence there is the right thing to be doing,” he stated. “Many soldiers, only recently back from their Afghan tour, want to return because it’s their Canadian values of justice, freedom and equality that are driving them to make a difference in that war-torn country.”
With Remembrance Day approaching Casson says freedom has never come easily, with Canadians learning this lesson repeatedly over decades - from the beaches of Normandy, to the mountains of Italy, across the deserts of Africa and along the canals of Holland, Korea’s Kapyong River valley, in the Balkins, Persian Gulf and currently in the dust of Afghanistan.
“The Canadian military men and women have always been among the most dedicated, professional and trained in the world,” he commented. “Historically, our troops have believed in the concept of freedom - and willingly have given of themselves to maintain that freedom. This philosophy continues to be demonstrated today by the courageous Canadian soldiers who are fighting tyranny and oppression on the other side of the world so people of a foreign land may inherit the freedoms we easily take for granted.”
Casson continued to say, “The Government of Canada is proud to support the men and women of the Canadian Forces and their families and we join all Canadians in honouring their bravery and sacrifice from yesteryear to today, not only during Veteran’s Week, but for all time.”
-- 30 --
Rick Casson, M.P.
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Canadian Military Medals and Decorations - Memorial Crosses
The Memorial Cross (more often referred to as the Silver Cross) was first instituted by Order-in-Council 2374, dated December 1, 1919. It was awarded to mothers and widows (next of kin) of Canadian soldiers who died on active duty or whose death was consequently attributed to such duty.
The crosses were sent automatically to mothers and wives who qualified, and can be worn by the recipients anytime, even though they were not themselves veterans. The cross is engraved with the name and service number of the son or husband.
Recent changes now allow Canadian Forces members and Veterans to designate up to three Memorial Cross recipients. This is specific to the Memorial Cross ERII. For more information on these changes see below or visit the Department of National Defence Web Site (Opens in a New Window) . If you would like to receive a form to designate Memorial Cross recipients please call 1-866-522-2122.
What is the Memorial Cross?
The Memorial Cross is an award that has been granted since 1919 to the loved ones of Canadian armed forces personnel who died in service or whose death was attributed to their service. It is granted by the Government of Canada and is frequently referred to as the Silver Cross. In the past it has only been given to mothers and widows.
Memorial Cross ERII
The Memorial Cross, the gift of Canada, was issued as a memento of personal loss and sacrifice on the part of widows and mothers of Canadian sailors and soldiers who died for their country during the war
Memorial Cross GRV
The Memorial Cross, the gift of Canada, was issued as a memento of personal loss and sacrifice on the part of widows and mothers of Canadian sailors and soldiers who died for their country during the war
Memorial Cross GRVI
The Memorial Cross, the gift of Canada, was issued as a memento of personal loss and sacrifice on the part of widows and mothers of Canadian sailors and soldiers who died for their country during the war. *
sub.cfm?source=collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group09/mceiir* Additional information is available from the Honours and Awards Section, Veterans Affairs Canada, 66 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0P4
What is Veterans Affairs Canada’s role in administering the Memorial Cross?
Veterans Affairs Canada can issue and, when required, replace a Memorial Cross for any Veteran whose death was related to military service in wartime or a Special Duty Area up to the period of October 7, 2001. As of October 7, if the death is ruled to be related to authorized military service, three Memorial Crosses may be issued to family members or loved ones as designated by the member or by his or her estate.
What do the changes to the Memorial Cross regulations mean for Veterans?
The changes will affect Veterans of the Korean War and Veterans with Special Duty Area service from 1950 to October 6, 2001 who were living as of December 12, 2008. As of this date, these Veterans can now designate any two individuals to receive a Memorial Cross in the event their subsequent death is ruled to be as a result of a pensioned condition from this service. If a Veteran does not complete and file a designation form, Veterans Affairs Canada will contact the executor of the estate to determine the recipients of the Memorial Cross.
Any Veteran who is released from service on or after October 7, 2001, regardless of their service, may designate up to three Memorial Cross recipients in the event they die of their service-related injury or illness. Former members who completed a form while serving in the Canadian Forces must complete a new form for Veterans Affairs Canada.
Why were the changes made and why the cut-off date of October 7, 2001?
The criteria was updated to reflect the evolution of Canadian society and the nature of modern military service. The previous criteria for the Memorial Cross limited eligibility to deaths for service in special duty areas and recipients to mothers and widows only. This is not in keeping with modern needs.
The criteria was updated at the request of the Minister of National Defence to retroactively include all deaths, either Special Duty Area service or regular service, that occurred since October 2001, a time when the Chief of Defence Staff issued preliminary orders to Canadian Forces units to participate in the international campaign against terrorism. This was to ensure all service-related deaths which occurred since were duly recognized and treated equitably.
Those eligible to nominate two recipients include:
· Korea War Veterans whose death as a result of their service to Canada occurs after December 11, 2008.
· Special Duty Area and Peacekeeping Veterans who served between 1950 and October 6, 2001, whose death as a result of their service to Canada occurs after December 11, 2008.
Those eligible to nominate three recipients include:
· Former members who served after October 6, 2001, whose death as a result to their service to Canada occurs after December 11, 2008.
Completed forms are to be sent to:
HO Client Records Operations
Veterans Affairs Canada
P.O. Box 7700
Charlottetown, PE C1A 8M9
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100th Anniversary of the Canadian Red Cross -2009
2009 marks the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Red Cross, a well-known organization that has long helped those in need. Its history is intertwined with our country's military efforts and many Canadians volunteered with the Red Cross during the war years. Canadian servicemen and servicewomen greatly appreciated the support offered by the Red Cross, whether at home, on the front lines, in prisoner-of-war camps or in rest areas away from the fighting.
Reproduction of Second World War-era Canadian Red Cross Poster. Image courtesy of Canadian Red Cross.
The Red Cross' roots in Canada date back to the Northwest Rebellion in 1885. Dr. George Sterling Ryerson was the regimental surgeon of the battalion that later became known as the Royal Grenadiers. To try to protect the wagons carrying his medical supplies from attack, he needed a way to distinguish them from wagons carrying army equipment. He took two red pieces of fabric and sewed them into the shape of a cross on a white cotton cloth, creating one of the very first Red Cross flags seen in our country.
Dr. Ryerson would go on to found the first overseas branch of the British Red Cross here in Canada in 1896. The new organization would soon be offering aid during a military conflict when the South African War erupted in 1899. Dozens of Red Cross branches quickly sprang up across the country to collect money, clothing and food supplies to take to South Africa to help the sick and injured. School children volunteered too, putting together parcels for those serving so far from home.
This overseas branch of the British Red Cross officially became the Canadian Red Cross in 1909. It would not be long before the new organization was called upon to help those affected by military conflict. The First World War raged from 1914 to 1918 and the organization undertook many relief efforts. Red Cross volunteers across Canada knitted socks and sweaters, and sewed bandages and bed linens to be sent to war-torn Europe. They also raised large sums of money for supplies to aid those affected by the fighting. The Canadian Red Cross also played a central role in establishing and supporting hospitals for those injured in the war, like the Duchess of Connaught Red Cross Hospital in Maidenhead, England.
The Canadian Red Cross again rose to the challenge when the Second World War broke out in 1939. Indeed, almost three million Canadians were active Red Cross members by the end of the conflict.
There was a trained, uniformed Canadian Red Cross Corps, as well as ‘junior clubs' for youth. One of their major efforts was offering medical aid and some of the comforts of home – be it food, warm clothing or books – to those affected by the fighting. They held quilting parties to make blankets and sent parcels containing knitted clothing, blankets, sweets and cigarettes to soldiers overseas – especially those being held in prisoner-of-war camps.
Red Cross volunteers preparing surgical supplies during the Second World War. Photo courtesy of Canadian Red Cross
The Canadian Red Cross raised large amounts of money to support members of the military and civilians in need by holding fundraising events like dances and concerts. They also arranged entertainment like movie nights and picnics for wounded servicemen recuperating in local hospitals.
Canadian Red Cross volunteers also used their skills to help make up for the shortage of medical workers at home by driving ambulances, assisting nurses, training individuals in first aid, running blood donor clinics and providing medical aid as needed. They also supported local hospitals by donating beds and medical supplies. The volunteers were also quick to respond to fires, floods and other emergencies in their communities.
Tens of thousands of women played a huge role in the Canadian Red Cross during the war. Hundreds even served with the organization overseas, doing many of the tasks their fellow members performed back home, as well as other things like helping civilians affected by the fighting, supporting the families of military members, and staffing hostels and canteens for military men. Canadian Red Cross personnel also served in Newfoundland (which was not yet part of Canada at that time), helping injured seamen whose ships had been torpedoed on the Atlantic Ocean.
The Second World War came to an end in 1945, but that was not the end of the work for the organization. Thousands of ‘war brides' (European women who had married Canadian servicemen) and their children sailed across the Atlantic to their new homes in Canada after the war – and Red Cross volunteers were on the ships with them to help.
Red Cross volunteers with children abroad ship sailing to Canada.
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CANADA
The South African War
In South Africa, on 11 October 1899, war broke out between the British Imperialists and the Boers (descendants of Dutch Protestant farmers) who had been engulfed in conflict for over fifty years. The British Imperialists, located in the Cape Colony and Natal, wanted to have South Africa unified under British rule. The Boers, who occupied the more northern independent republics of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, wanted to remain independent. Throughout the 19th Century more and more commercially minded British settlers had moved to the Cape Colony causing many Boers to move further inland to protect their way of life. With the discovery of gold and diamonds in Transvaal, the tensions grew between the Boers and the English newcomers (Uitlanders, meaning foreigners). These tensions soon erupted into all out war and the second Boer War commenced. (The first Boer War occurred in 1880-1881).
Prime Minister Laurier endeavoured to keep Canada out of this conflict and the country was divided over whether or not Canada should participate. This conflict was seen by some Canadians as Britain's war in which Canada should not become involved, while others were drawn to the idea of fighting in South Africa and defending the British Empire. The Canadian Government was divided between those, primarily French Canadians, who wished to stay out of the war and others, primarily English Canadians, who wanted to join with Britain in her fight. In the end, Canada agreed to support the British by providing volunteers, equipment and transportation to South Africa. Britain would be responsible for paying the troops and returning them to Canada at the end of their service. The Boer War marked the first occasion in which large contingents of Canadian troops served abroad.
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history
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Aboriginal Canadians' Contribution During Wartime
Photo: Recruits from the Saskatchewan's File Hills community pose with elders, family members and representative from the Department of Indian Affairs before departing for Great Britain. National Archives of Canada/PA-66815.
Aboriginal Canadians have demonstrated time and again their great service and sacrifice for our country through their participation in Canada's military, particularly during times of conflict.
On each occasion, Canada's Native soldiers overcame cultural challenges and made impressive
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THE HISTORIC CONTRIBUTION OF CANADA'S MERCHANT NAVY
Nobody told us anything. You sailed under sealed orders and the captain didn't know really until he got outside."
Credit: neg#18528, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Halifax, N.S.
Canada's merchant navy was vital to the Allied cause during the Second World War. Its ships transported desperately needed equipment, fuel, goods and personnel to Europe and around the world. The very outcome of the war depended on the successful transport of troops and cargo by sea. Merchant seamen and women showed tremendous bravery on the ocean "battlefield". They faced fierce attacks by German submarines and hazardous, life-threatening weather conditions in the North Atlantic.
· By the end of the Second World War, many thousands of Canadian and Newfoundland men and women had served in the merchant navy, including those serving on allied ships.
· More than 25,000 merchant ship voyages from North America to Britain were made during the war.
· The first Canadian service casualty of the war was Hannah Baird of Québec, a stewardess aboard the unarmed passenger liner, the S.S. Athenia. The ship was sunk by a German submarine west of Ireland on September 3, 1939 as it headed to Montréal.
· 72 Canadian merchant ships were lost to enemy action.
Going to War
The Second World War began with Germany's invasion of Poland September 1, 1939. Britain and France declared war on September 3. Canada followed on September 10.
Early information gathered by British intelligence agents about German ship movements led Canada to conscript all merchant ships two weeks before actually declaring war. On August 26, 1939 the Royal Canadian Navy took control of all shipping.
When the war began, Canada had 38 ocean-going merchant vessels; by war's end, more than 400 cargo ships had been built in Canada.
Many merchant sailors knew the dangers of shipping during war. They had experienced the dangers of mines and submarines during the First World War.
Merchant crews were given training at special schools such as the Marine Engineering Instructional School in Prescott, Ontario and St. Margaret's Sea Training School in Hubbards, Nova Scotia.
The Battle of the Atlantic
You had to zig zag in case there were submarines around, instead of a direct line, when they'd just have to come up and wait to blast you."
Credit: DND Photo from Canadians at War 1939-45
From the very beginning of the war, German submarines tried to cut supply routes across the Atlantic, threatening the transportation of vital goods and personnel to Britain. Along with the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force, the Canadian merchant navy played a key role in the six-year campaign to clear the Atlantic of U-boats.
The Battle of the Atlantic was the only battle of the Second World War that was waged close to North American shores. German U-boats disrupted coastal shipping from the Caribbean to Halifax. During the summer of 1942, they even penetrated the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Early in the war, many merchant ships were lost because the aircraft escorting them reached the limits of their flight capacity and had to turn back before the ships reached their destinations. The navy solved the problem by building flight decks on merchant ships, and even creating Merchant Aircraft Carriers (MACS) - tankers or grain carriers equipped with a deck and three or four aircraft.
A group of merchant seamen about to be rescued. Surviving the winter North Atlantic in a cramped, open lifeboat, often for a week or more, with only a minimum of water and possibly hardtack and biscuits could test the mettle of even the hardiest.
Credit: DND photo: from Canadians At War 1939-45
Merchant seamen bore much of the brunt of the Battle of the Atlantic. More than 1,600 Canadian merchant mariners died, including eight women.
At the end of the war, Rear Admiral Leonard Murray, Commander-in-Chief, Canadian North Atlantic, said "the Battle of the Atlantic was not won by any Navy or Air Force, it was won by the courage, fortitude and determination of the British and Allied Merchant Navy."
Merchant mariners would serve once more in wartime, during the Korean War, 1950-1953. Twelve Canadian flag ships helped deliver supplies. There were no casualties.
For more detailed information on the heroic exploits of the "fourth arm" of Canada's fighting forces, refer to the VAC publication Valour At Sea.
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VALOUR AT SEA- CANADA'S MERCHANT NAVY
Valour at Sea - Canada’s Merchant Navy
Generations of Canadians have served our country and the world during times of war,
military conflict and peace. Through their courage and sacrifice, these men and women
have helped to ensure that we live in freedom and peace, while also fostering freedom
and peace around the world. The Canada Remembers Program promotes a greater
understanding of these Canadians’ efforts and honours the sacrifices and achievements
of those who have served and those who supported our country on the home front.
The program engages Canadians through the following elements: national and
international ceremonies and events including Veterans’ Week activities, youth learning
opportunities, educational and public information materials (including on-line learning),
the maintenance of international and national Government of Canada memorials and
cemeteries (including 13 First World War battlefield memorials in France and Belgium),
and the provision of funeral and burial services.
Canada’s involvement in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and
Canada’s efforts during military operations and peace efforts has always been fuelled
by a commitment to protect the rights of others and to foster peace and freedom.
Many Canadians have died for these beliefs, and many others have dedicated their lives
to these pursuits. This willingness to stand up to protect human rights, freedom and
justice remains one of Canada’s defining characteristics in the eyes of the world.
Veterans Affairs Canada encourages all Canadians to learn more about the sacrifices and
achievements made by those who served our country, and to help preserve their legacy by
passing the torch of remembrance to future generations of Canadians.
...To you from failing hands we throw The torch, be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith
with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
From “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae
For a list of all publication titles available, please visit VACPACC DOT GC DOT CA
or call 1-877-604-8469 toll free.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The First World War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Merchant Ships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The Second World War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Merchant Fleet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The Merchant Crews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
April 1940 – the “Phony War” Ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Expanding the Merchant Fleet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1941 – The War Intensifies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
North American Waters Undersiege . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The Grimmest Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Tide Turns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Meeting the Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
The Park Ships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Manning the Ships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
The Toll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Selected Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3 Valour at Sea
Introduction
Following the Second World War, Sir Winston Churchill wrote:
“The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was
the U-boat peril.”1 Britain was almost completely dependant upon
outside shipments for many of its foodstuffs, and much of the
materials needed to fight the war. Churchill understood that Nazi
U-boats (as the Germans called their submarines) represented a vital
threat to the essential Atlantic lifeline between North America and
Britain. Breaking this lifeline might knock Britain out of the war
and wreak havoc with efforts to establish a ‘second front’ in France
and drive the Nazi’s out of Western Europe.
Their supreme sacrifice in both wars ensured the lifeline of men and of
supplies without which victory could not have been ours and without
which we would not now enjoy freedom.
Book of Remembrance - The Merchant Navy
In both the First and Second World Wars, the men of the Allied
merchant navies faced the daunting task of supplying that sea-borne
lifeline. Against almost overwhelming odds, not only from U-boat
attacks, but also from the perils of storm, surface raiders, air attacks
and mines, they transported millions of tonnes of food, munitions,
petroleum and troops across the oceans of the world.
This booklet is dedicated to the men and women of the Canadian
Merchant Navy. Their courage, fortitude and determination in two
world wars kept their ships sailing through the terrible years of
unparalleled loss. In particular we remember the more than 2,1002
men and women who gave their lives so that we could have the
peace and freedom we enjoy today.
“Few knew the colossal tasks these unsung heroes achieved. They were
overshadowed by the epics of fighting men who had done no more and
probably less. Only their families really knew. If they came home –
which thousands failed to do – they soon had to go out and face the
same conditions… A merchant seaman could fortify himself with
nothing but hope and courage. Most of them must have been very
afraid, not for days and nights but for months and years. Who is the
greater hero, the man who performs great deeds by swift action against
odds he hardly has time to recognize, or the man who lives for long
periods in constant, nagging fear of death, yet carries on?”
- Alan Easton in 50 North: An Atlantic Battleground
5 Valour at Sea
The First World War
On August 4, 1914, following the German invasion of Belgium, Britain
declared war. In 1914, when Britain was at war, Canada was at war.
On October 3, 1914, the First Canadian Contingent left for
England in the largest convoy ever to cross the Atlantic. Also
sailing in this convoy was a contingent from the still separate
British Dominion of Newfoundland. Over the course of the war,
more than 650,000 Canadians made that fateful crossing.
More than 66,000 did not return.
After initial rapid advancement, the war in Europe ground to a halt
as two great enemy armies became deadlocked along a 960-kilometre
front of impregnable trenches. For the next four years there was little
change. As attack after attack failed, and hundreds of thousands
were killed, the Western Front settled into a bloody stalemate.
In this setting, the war at sea took on a vital and dangerous role.
The very outcome of the war depended on the successful movement
of troops and goods over the oceans of the world.
The shipping of tens of thousands of troops and a mountain of guns,
munitions, horses, supplies and other provisions was a major component
of Canada’s naval effort, one that pushed the country’s resources to the
limit. From an average of 45,000 tonnes of cargo a month in 1915,
shipping from Canada increased to 351,000 tonnes a month in 1918.
Although our country had a noteworthy merchant fleet in earlier
periods, by 1914 Canada’s fleet had practically disappeared. On top of
this, there was virtually no capacity for building new ships. The
Canadian naval service, meanwhile, consisted of fewer than 350 men
and two old ships. So when Prime Minister Robert Borden cabled
London to ascertain what naval role Canada could play, they responded
that any aid would be so minor it would have no impact, and it would
take too long to build ships. It was agreed that Canada’s war effort would
be best concentrated on the army. Britain’s Royal Navy would look after
the protection of Canada’s coasts and shipping in Canadian waters.
Valour at Sea 6
THE SAILING OF THE FIRST CONTINGENT, 1914. (PAC6701)
Our country’s merchant sailors, however, were engaged from the
beginning and for the duration. Canada’s merchant fleet was all but
gone, but the skilled Canadian and Newfoundland crews that had
sailed them were not. These crews formed a significant part of the
quarter million men3 who, at the outbreak of the First World War,
manned the 12,600 steamships serving Great Britain and the other
Commonwealth countries around the world.
The war at sea began as a struggle between two powerful navies,
the British Royal Navy and the German High Seas Fleet. They were
engaged in a struggle to control the seas for the transportation of
the vitally-needed troops and goods. The great rival fleets met only
once, in the Battle of Jutland off the coast of Denmark in 1916.
The British suffered heavily in this encounter, but the lasting result of
this battle was that the German High Seas Fleet never again ventured
in force from its North Sea bases. German U-boats did, however,
continue to take a great toll on Allied shipping throughout the war.
The British Royal Navy was able to retain control of the surface of
the oceans and blockade merchant shipping to German ports. British
warships were able to eliminate German “merchant raiders” (armed
merchant vessels that attacked Allied shipping), although not before
they had sunk 54 British ships. As well, the Admiralty took steps to
deal with the deadly mines that had been strewn in the waters
around the British Isles. They employed counter-mining, hunted the
mine-layers and enlisted an ever-growing fleet of mine-sweepers.
But Britain’s command of the sea by a superior surface fleet was not
enough. Striking directly at trade was an awesome new weapon, the
submarine, which Germany used to try to bring Britain to its knees.
The German U-boat fleet preyed on Allied and often neutral ships,
sank merchant ships on sight, and threatened the supply lines the
Allies depended on. However, in 1915 the Germans made a
reluctant promise not to sink ships without warning, following the
protests of the United States who had not yet entered the war.
This agreement greatly reduced the effectiveness of the submarine as
a weapon, and by the end of 1916 the Allies’ own blockade of
German sea supply lines was severely hurting the Germans. Their
economy was severely strained by the blockade and because the
German armies were deadlocked in stalemate on the Western and
Eastern fronts. In January 1917, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the country’s
leader, was convinced that Britain could be starved in five months if
U-boats were allowed to engage in unrestricted submarine warfare.
7 Valour at Sea
Even though it meant taking the risk that the United States would
enter the war, on February 1, German U-boats resumed attacking
merchant ships from all countries without warning. The submarine
campaign suddenly entered a new and more menacing phase.
The ruthlessness of the land war now found its counterpart at sea.
In the early stages of the war, crews of the merchant ships were
allowed to take to the lifeboats before their ship was sunk. The
U-boats, however, relied on surprise, attacked without warning and
were too small to take survivors. The crews were now abandoned to
their fate. These new tactics dramatically decreased the chances of
sailors surviving a U-boat attack.
The German policy was effective. Allied shipping losses mounted,
reaching a peak in April 1917 of 788,183 tonnes of cargo. In three
bitter winter months, 800 ships and 8,000 seamen were lost. In fact,
one-quarter of the ships on the transatlantic run were sunk over this
period. By spring, losses were so great that British Admiralty analysts
predicted the destruction of the merchant fleet by November. Losing
the merchant fleet would mean the defeat of Britain.4
Fortunately, the submarine campaign did not achieve this dire
outcome. The Allied adoption of a convoy system, together with
new anti-submarine devices, gradually overcame the submarine
menace. Also, in April 1917, the United States declared war on
Germany and its allies. The United States’ vast armada of merchant
and military ships eased the burden on the Allied merchant navies.
A convoy consists of a group of ships sailing together in a group,
escorted by warships if possible. Unlike a scattered stream of
independent ships, convoys could be routed around areas where
U-boats were known to be hiding. Ships gathered into convoys
meant the U-boats had to search a vast ocean for fewer independent
targets. In fact, 30 ships in a convoy are not visible from much
farther away than a single ship. To attack a convoy meant risking
a fight with the escort. Furthermore, convoys could be reinforced
with surface and air escorts when they entered a dangerous area.
Eastbound convoys gathered in Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia,
and were escorted seaward by the small ships of the Royal Canadian
Navy (RCN). Royal Navy (RN) and United States Navy (USN)
cruisers and auxiliary cruisers served as ocean escorts. Destroyers and
aircraft met them in the approaches to British waters to hold off the
U-boats. In May 1917, the first convoy safely reached Britain.
Valour at Sea 8
By August, outbound ships from Britain were also in convoy.
Sinkings dropped below half of those in April, and by October losses
of ships in convoys were less than one in a hundred, one-tenth the
rate of independents. U-boats might slip in for torpedo attack, but
the old days of sinking ship after lone ship at will, or by boarding
and scuttling, had ended.5
However, this new strategic victory had dangerous consequences.
With fewer unescorted ships in European waters, the U-boats had to
search farther afield for their targets. With the United States in the
war from April 1917, North American waters became new hunting
grounds for the German submarines.
Fortunately, the course of war on the European battlefront began to
change. By the middle of 1918, the British blockade was having a
serious effect on the German war effort as well as on German
morale. In the spring of 1918, a determined German offensive had
been turned back, and by early September the Allies were advancing
on every sector.
The war ended on November 11, 1918.
The Merchant Ships
As the war ground on and allied ocean shipping was strained to the
limits, a new policy for a government-owned merchant service had
begun to take shape. Canadian shipyards and a rolling steel mill
were built and building boomed. By the end of the war, 26
steamships were being built for Britain and 63 were ordered for the
Canadian government. These Canadian ships were to form our first
national flag fleet, the Canadian Government Merchant Marine
(CGMM). It would be operated by the newly formed Canadian
National Railway.
As the first annual report of the CGMM explained in 1918, these
ships were “intended primarily to cooperate with British shipping in
supplying the necessities of war, and in times of peace to provide the
means of carrying abroad the products of Canada’s farms, forests,
mines and factories, without which Canada could not hope to take
full advantage of the opportunity of expanding her export trade.”6
9 Valour at Sea
BRITISH MERCHANT SHIP, SS KUMARA, DOCKED IN
NEW ZEALAND, MAY 1916. (CREDIT UNKNOWN)
However, since the contract for the first ship was placed only in
March 1918, no ships were delivered until after Armistice and the end
of the war. That meant the fleet of ships played no part in the war.
Their peacetime role was limited too. Designed as general purpose
cargo ships, they included a mixture of design variations and fully
half fell below 5,100 tonnes dead weight (dwt)7. They were also
slow and coal-fired, and few could carry passengers. They were
not economical and one by one were sold or scrapped. Since no
government merchant service policy emerged, they were not replaced.
There was one notable exception. In 1920, the Canadian government
sponsored a steamship service for passengers and cargo between
Canada and the West Indies. Initially CGMM ships were used, but
they proved unsatisfactory and five new combination passenger/cargo
liners were ordered. Built in Britain, these white ships became famous
as the “Lady Boats” (they had been named after the wives of famous
British admirals) and, in 1928, the Canadian National (West Indies)
Steamships Limited was formed to operate them.
Over the next decade, the Canadian Government Merchant Marine
dwindled away, and foreign-flagged ships took over our country’s
huge overseas trade and passenger traffic.
The Second World War
The Second World War began at dawn on September 1, 1939, as
the German armies swept into Poland. On September 3, Britain and
France declared war. Canada followed on September 10. Canadian
coastal defences were quickly manned, militia regiments intensified
preparations, and volunteers flocked to enlist. In December, units of
the 1st Canadian Infantry Division sailed for Britain; hundreds of
thousands more Canadians would follow.
In Europe, after Germany’s swift defeat of Poland, a strange lull set
in on the western front. This period of apparent inactivity from
October 1939 to April 1940 became known as the “Phony War.”
Valour at Sea 10
THE LADY RODNEY ON THE ST. LAWRENCE RIVER AT
QUEBEC CITY. THE LADY RODNEY WAS ONE OF TWO
LADY SHIPS TO SURVIVE THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
DURING THE WAR, SHE OFTEN CARRIED CANADIAN
SOLDIERS TO EUROPE. (MARITIME MUSEUM OF THE
ATLANTIC, N10822)
There was no such lull in the war at sea. It proved all too real from
day one, when a German U-boat sank the unarmed British liner
Athenia on September 3, 1939, on her westward passage to Montréal.
The sea lanes of the world, especially those of the North Atlantic,
were a grim battleground. Navigation was hazardous, and sailors in
the navy and merchant navy died not only from enemy attack, but
from exposure and accidents in the fog and winter gales.
Before the war, it was assumed that even if the Germans again resorted
to unrestricted submarine warfare, this threat could be met with
comparative ease using new technology combined with convoy and air
support. Unfortunately, there were too few naval vessels and maritime
patrol aircraft available, as well as a severe lack of both training and
technical modernization. There was also the determination and skill of
Admiral Karl Dönitz and his German U-boat force.
Once again, the outcome of the war depended on the successful
flow of trade: on men, munitions and supplies being carried in
converted passenger ships and freighters to and from the ports of
North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Australia/New
Zealand and the Far East. This seaborne trade was vital, and it was
dreadfully vulnerable.
The lessons of the First World War had not been forgotten, however,
and one important element was fortunately in place. The convoy
system, encompassing the whole complex business of ship
movement and convoy organization, was planned and could be
implemented quickly if needed. It was.
11 Valour at Sea
VIEW FROM RCAF AIRCRAFT OF A CONVOY OF MERCHANT SHIPS IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC.
(NAC PA115005)
SUPERMARINE FLYING BOAT OF THE RCAF ESCORTING
CONVOY, APRIL 1941. (CREDIT UNKNOWN)
A week before war was declared, all merchant shipping was put on
war alert and brought under naval control. Shipping on the more
important and vulnerable routes was placed in convoy. Halifax was
selected as the main assembly point for heavy traffic bound from
North America to the United Kingdom.
On September 16, 1939, 18 merchant ships of Convoy HX-1 set out
for Britain, closely guarded by HM cruisers Berwick and York and by
the Canadian destroyers St. Laurent and Saguenay until the convoy
was safely clear of the coastal area. Overhead Royal Canadian Air
Force (RCAF) flying boats circled until the convoy moved beyond
aircraft range. The convoy then proceeded unescorted until it reached
the southwest corner of Ireland where the Royal Navy joined to bring
it through the area of greatest danger. Soon, two convoys a week were
sailing from Halifax. By the end of 1939, 410 ships in 14 convoys
from Halifax had crossed the Atlantic with only three losses. One
ship was sunk by a U-boat while in convoy, and the other two were
destroyed by mines after their convoys had dispersed.
At first, ships had to be capable of speeds greater than nine knots to sail
in the convoys. But as the crisis deepened many old vessels were pressed
into service, which meant that the speed of the convoy had to be
reduced to prevent these old ships from becoming stragglers – prime
targets for U-boats. In August 1940, slow convoys were established and
Sydney, Cape Breton, became their assembly port. Armed ships doing
15 knots or more were sailed and routed independently.
Valour at Sea 12
LOADING CARGO ABOARD A MERCHANT SHIP, HALIFAX, N.S.
PHOTO BY R. WRIGHT (NAC PA184171)
A CONVOY CONFERENCE IN SYDNEY, N.S., 1941. (NAC PA37446)
North Atlantic convoys sailed in both directions across thousands
of kilometres8 of open and dangerous ocean. A typical convoy of
40 ships might be 10 columns wide with four ships in each column.
It would be headed by a flagship, carrying the convoy commodore
and, ideally, escorted by warships patrolling its outer flanks.
Ammunition ships and tankers, with their highly volatile aviation
fuel, were on the inside.
Merchant ships often had deck guns mounted on the stern for
defence against surfaced U-boats and aircraft. Later they were given
naval gunners or navy/army-trained merchant crews to man the
weapons. While they had some defense against German U-boats
and aircraft, they were no match for armed German merchant ships.
Even the smallest German merchant raider could fire accurate
broadsides from more than 10 kilometres – far out of range of the
smaller guns of our merchant ships. Also, few cargo vessels could
outrun a raider capable of 18 knots.9
The convoy system was fraught with difficulties: the presence of
mines; the possibility of submarine, surface, or air attack; the risk of
collision on sea lanes or approaches crowded with blacked-out, silent
ships; and the usual hazards of weather, ice and shoals. The routes
had to be carefully planned to avoid danger while meeting tight
shipping deadlines.
Protecting the convoy system would be the most essential job the
Allied navies would have until the war was won. Week after week,
right through to the end of the war, the convoys sailed.
The Merchant Fleet
In 1939, Canada had only 38 ocean-going merchant ships, each
averaging a little over 6,000 tonnes dwt, with a total of about
290,000 tonnes cargo capacity and manned by approximately
13 Valour at Sea
SS FORT HALKETT, (10,384 DWT), LOADED WITH MILITARY CARGO.12 (CREDIT UNKNOWN)
1,450 Canadian seamen. They included 11 vessels – cargo ships and
“Lady Boats” – of the Canadian National Steamships Company and
10 tankers of Imperial Oil Limited. Following the outbreak of the
war, captured enemy ships and ships of occupied nations were added
to the roster.
The importance of the Canadian Merchant Navy as a lifeline to Britain
was major. It has been estimated that a Canadian merchant ship of
10,000 tonnes dwt could carry enough foodstuffs to feed 225,000 people
for a week. Cargo could also include clothing, fuel, steel, aluminum,
lumber, aircraft, tanks, jeeps, trucks, guns, munitions, and whatever else
was required for the war effort. Not surprisingly, merchant ships became
prized targets for enemy surface raiders and U-boats.10
There was also a large Canadian Great Lakes fleet. It comprised
many ships of 6,000 tonnes dwt or less, including the “canallers” –
so called because they were small enough to navigate the pre-St. Lawrence
Seaway lock system. In the desperate wartime situation, even they
became ocean-going vessels. In all, 133 lakers were transferred from
inland waterways to ocean convoy duties. The first 25 crossed the
Atlantic in the spring of 1940 to shore-up the hard-hit British
coastal fleet. A half-dozen took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk,
France, as the German forces overran France. Only nine of these
first 25 survived the war. Other lakers carried bauxite ore from
South America to Canada’s aluminum smelters.
Valour at Sea 14
SURVIVORS OF TORPEDOED MERCHANT SHIP ABOARD HMCS ARVIDA, ST. JOHN’S, NFLD.,
SEPTEMBER 1942. (NAC PA136285)
Many Canadian seamen sailed aboard ships of foreign registry. For
example, 14 Standard Oil tankers under Panamanian registry were
managed by Imperial Oil Limited and manned by Canadian or
British officers and crews supplied by this Canadian company.
On June 15, 1940, off Land’s End, England, the Erik Boye 11 was
torpedoed by U-38 and became the very first Canadian-flagged
merchant ship to go down as a casualty of the Battle of the Atlantic.
It would not be the last.
As the war continued, Canada’s Merchant Navy was supplemented
by new ships pouring from our revitalized shipyards, but it was this
early vanguard fleet of Canadian flag and Canadian-managed foreign
flag ships that suffered the worst of the losses. In fact, it is estimated
that 88 per cent of the casualties suffered by Canadian merchant
seamen occurred by the end of 1942.
The merchant fleet was engaged from day one and soon suffered
grievous losses in ships and men. By the end of the war as many as
72 Canadian merchant ships would be lost to enemy action –
torpedoed, bombed, mined or shelled. Storms at sea, operational
accidents and structural shortcomings also took their toll. For
example, the Hamildoc, a small Great Lakes freighter that was built
only for operation in the sheltered waters of the Great Lakes,
floundered in heavy seas in the Caribbean in January 1943.12
The Merchant Crews
“The Battle of the Atlantic was not won by any Navy or Air Force,
it was won by the courage, fortitude and determination of the
British and Allied Merchant Navy.” So, at the end of the war, said
Rear Admiral Leonard Murray, Commander-in-Chief Canadian
Northwest Atlantic.13
In Halifax, where the major convoys were assembled, the cost was
counted in more than tonnage. The toll in human life was mounting
steadily, and the harbour city knew only too well the harsh realities of
such casualty figures. Seamen whose vessels were hit hard had only a 50
per cent chance of survival. Death by explosion or fire or scalding steam,
or by drowning in the malevolent grey waters as a ship was sucked under
- all were horrific enough. Harshest of all, floundering men from fatally
hit vessels frequently had to be left behind so as not to make sitting ducks
of the ships still under way. Drowning sailors had to be abandoned to the
cold Atlantic so that the greater number would survive. The harbour was
a daily witness to this grim war at sea. Stricken vessels limped back to
15 Valour at Sea
MERCHANT NAVY SURVIVORS FROM SUNKEN BRITISH
VESSELS SS ASHANTIAN AND SS WANSTEAD,
ST. JOHN’S, NFLD., APRIL 1943. (NAC PA137795)
port, their open wounds slicking the sea with oil. Men who had seen the
battle told their appalling stories, while the pace of activity in the
shipyards and recruiting stations took on ever-greater urgency.14
The outcome of the war depended on those embattled, rust-streaked
ships sailing through the long, bitter years. The merchant seamen
who sailed them were true heroes. They hung on and stuck it out
during the dark days when they were subjected to fierce attacks
against which there was only the lightest defence.
The merchant crews – men of every nationality, thousands of them
with homes in enemy-occupied Europe – sailed back and forth
across hostile seas facing the prospect of death by freezing water or
flaming oil. They had no uniforms or recognition and were poorly
paid. Freedom was gone, too, for the ships had to be sailed and
these men had to sail them. They sometimes sailed in rusty old
tramps, but just as often in highly-flammable tankers or in freighters
loaded with ammunition and other dangerous cargoes. With each
voyage the odds of survival seemed to grow longer. Still, voyage after
voyage, men who had been torpedoed or who had seen ships go
down about them sailed and sailed again.
Canadian merchant seamen not only plied the North Atlantic
route – they sailed the oceans of the world. They carried their
cargoes to and from the ports of Europe, Asia, Africa, South
America, Australia/New Zealand and the Far East. They carried
foodstuffs and ammunition, clothing and steel, oil and aircraft –
whatever was required for the war effort. After Hitler invaded
Russia, they sailed the deadly Murmansk Run to northern Russia.
April 1940 – the “Phony War” ends
In April 1940, the “Phony War” came to a sudden end when
Germany seized Denmark and launched an invasion of Norway. In
less than two months the Germans had conquered Denmark and
Norway and isolated Sweden.
On May 10, Germany launched its blitzkrieg campaigns against the
Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. With German troops
pressing from all sides, the Allied troops in Europe were forced to the
English Channel at Dunkirk, France, with the sea as the only hope of
escape. Between May 27 and June 4, almost 350,000 men were
evacuated across the Channel to England in every kind of vessel that
would float, from freighters to fishing boats. On June 22, 1940, France
surrendered and Great Britain stood alone against a formidable enemy.
Valour at Sea 16
SS NERISSA IN THE “NARROWS,” ST. JOHN’S, NFLD.
THE NERISSA WAS TORPEDOED AND SUNK IN APRIL
1941 WITH HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE, INCLUDING 16
CANADIANS. (MARITIME MUSEUM OF THE ATLANTIC,
N11284)
From North Cape, Norway, to the Pyrenees mountain range
between France and Spain, stretched a vast arc of coastline from
which enemy submarines, surface ships and aircraft threatened
Britain’s maritime lifelines. In the air, the German air force
outnumbered the British three to one.
Now Hitler prepared to launch a seaborne assault against Britain, known
as “Operation Sea Lion.” Britain was encircled, its army in tatters with its
equipment left behind, its fleet hard-hit and stretched too thin.
All Britain prepared for invasion as the German air force, the
Luftwaffe, flew wave after wave to destroy the Royal Air Force. But
Britain’s Spitfire and Hurricane pilots held their own, and the Nazi
air force faltered from heavy losses. Hitler could not command those
30 kilometres of intervening sea. The invasion was called off.
Britain, however, remained under siege. London and the Channel
ports were bombed unmercifully, and the U-boats, with their new
long-range capability and their new bases in France, redoubled
their efforts to starve the enemy. They attacked convoys and
independently-routed ships almost at will. The U-boats, averaging
eight on each of the shipping routes, picked off independents and
stragglers and made daring single-handed attacks on convoys. The
young U-boat commanders, the German elite, competed with each
other for tonnage sunk. They were aided by long-range aircraft, the
Kondors, which helped to locate and attack the merchant ships.
German naval commanders later referred to the summer and fall
of 1940 as “the happy time.”
In September 1940, for the first time, U-boats began using the
so-called “wolf-pack” tactics.15 At night, groups of U-boats (often six
or more) attacked convoys sailing from North America to Britain. A
group would position itself across the expected route of a convoy.
When a U-boat sighted a convoy it reported and shadowed it while
the others moved in ahead. Then they simply swamped the defence,
picking their own opportunities to hone in and attack again until
their torpedoes were spent. The results were calamitous. As many as
20 per cent of a convoy’s heavily-laden ships were sunk.
Meanwhile, the blitz on London went on night after night to shatter its
enormous port. The English Channel was closed to shipping after the fall
of France and by October, Atlantic convoys were re-routed to the Bristol
Channel or north of Ireland to Liverpool and the Clyde Scotland. Some
ships were also sent north of Scotland to the east coast of Britain.
17 Valour at Sea
It was a fierce fall and winter. Ships carrying cargoes of food and war
supplies were being sunk at an alarming rate.
Expanding the Merchant Fleet
The shipping losses were staggering and, with British shipyards heavily
committed to demanding naval construction, Britain could not produce
new merchant ships at the pace needed to replace those being lost.
It was at this point in the war that Britain turned to the shipyards
of the United States and Canada. In October 1940, a British
shipbuilding mission came to explore the possibility of replacement
tonnage being supplied by North American shipbuilders.
At the start of the war, Canada’s shipbuilding capacity had once
again become extremely limited. The once-thriving shipyards had
been reduced largely to repair work for the tiny fleet of Canadian
merchant ships. Although Canadian yards were beginning to expand
with orders for convoy escorts and other naval vessels, in all of
Canada there were still only four shipyards capable of constructing
the large cargo ships required for the Atlantic run.
In the face of the now urgent need, Canada embarked on a massive
shipbuilding program. But before these ships could come off the
assembly lines, the Atlantic war grew even more desperate.
Valour at Sea 18
HULL 130 THE WINDERMERE PARK AND HULL 131 THE MOUNT BRUCE PARK BEING
COMPLETED AT DOCKSIDE. (NAC PA187474)
TORPEDO EXPLOSION DAMAGE TO THE HULL OF SS FORT
CAMOSUN. (NAC PA190186)
1941 – The War Intensifies
As the spring of 1941 approached, the enemy stepped up the scale
of attack, and shipping losses reached grave proportions. In June
alone, more than 454,000 tonnes dwt of shipping, and consequently
many merchant seamen, were lost to U-boats.
To counteract this menace, new types of ships were constructed and
scientists worked desperately to design new methods of locating and
destroying submarines. Canada’s navy was augmented by several new
types of vessels, of which the corvette was perhaps the most famous.
As enemy U-boats began to probe farther west, the British
countered by establishing new bases for ships and aircraft in
Iceland and Newfoundland. The Newfoundland bases were made
a Canadian responsibility (even though Newfoundland was still a
British colony and did not become part of Canada until 1949).
By July, the Newfoundland Escort Force, under the command of
Leonard Murray, RCN, was escorting convoys as far as 35 degrees
west longitude, known as the “Mid-Ocean Meeting Points.”
Royal Air Force Coastal Command and RCAF aircraft, flying from
both sides of the Atlantic and from Iceland, provided protection for
several hundred kilometres offshore. But the aircraft available at that
stage of the war were still unable to cover a vast area in the middle,
which became known as the “Black Pit.”
The fate of a slow convoy sailing from Sydney on August 31, 1941,
shows us the dangers of the North Atlantic run. Convoy SC-42 was a
large one: 62 merchant ships sailed from Cape Breton, and another
five linked up from Newfoundland. In 12 columns of five or six
ships each, the convoy covered an area of about 54 square kilometres.
With a huge perimeter to protect, its escort – comprising only four
warships, the Canadian destroyer Skeena and three corvettes — faced
a seemingly impossible task. Then, just a few days out, it ran into a
gale that raged for four days. It brought the convoy to all but a
standstill, and forced three merchant ships to drop out.
Late on September 7, as the storm eased, Skeena signalled that the
convoy was three days behind schedule. Now came even worse news.
SC-42 was heading into a concentration of U-boats that was moving
westward towards southern Greenland. The British Admiralty,
having picked up indications of the U-boat activity, routed most
convoys to the south of the German search areas. But because of the
long delay in the storm, SC-42 did not have the fuel for such a long
detour. It was, therefore, ordered almost due north in an attempt to
19 Valour at Sea
HMCS BRANTFORD COVERED WITH ICE, FEBRUARY
1944. (NAC PA136146)
do an Arctic end run around the submarines. It almost worked, but
not far off Cape Farewell, Greenland, it was spotted by a U-boat.
The convoy was a prize target – big and slow moving, with only
four escorts and no air cover – and Admiral Dönitz hurled the full
force of his wolf pack (14 U-boats) against the convoy.
On September 10, at 46 minutes after midnight, SS Muneric, the
fourth ship in the first column was torpedoed and sunk with all men
on board. This was only the beginning. The outnumbered escort
(although aided by the arrival of two more Canadian corvettes) was
forced to divide its attention between the work of rescuing survivors
and fighting off the U-boats. The vicious battle continued for two
nights before the arrival of the British escort group.16
A total of 15 merchant ships, nearly a quarter of the convoy, were
torpedoed in only 48 hours. Only one of them, the tanker Tahchee, was
saved. The ships went down with 40,000 tonnes or more of cargo,
including more than a thousand truckloads of wheat, an equally large
quantity of explosives and the chemicals required to manufacture
explosives, enough timber to build barracks for several thousand troops,
and enough steel and high-grade iron ore to build several destroyers.
Worst of all was the loss of more than 160 merchant seamen, most
of them in the iron-ore laden Muneric and the explosives-filled
Empire Crossbill; the cargoes had doomed the entire crews of both
vessels. Only two of the other ships suffered substantial loss of life,
10 men or more, thanks to the courageous rescue efforts of the other
merchant ships and the corvettes.17
Important lessons were learned from what became known as the
“Battle of Cape Farewell.” First, stronger escorts, particularly long-range
aircraft, were required for North Atlantic convoys, because even
though the escorts showed initiative and courage throughout, they
were badly outnumbered and the crews became exhausted. Second,
more emphasis had to be placed on group training and improved
technology. Also, specially equipped rescue ships fitted for swift
recovery of men from the water needed to be assigned to the convoys.
North American Waters Under Siege
Although it was still officially neutral, the United States became
increasingly involved in the Battle of the Atlantic. In September
1941, Canadian naval forces came under American “co-coordinating
supervision.” The British Commander-in-Chief for North American
waters, based in England, was replaced by an American commander
located in Argentia, Newfoundland.
Valour at Sea 20
MERCHANT SHIP FITTED WITH ANTI-TORPEDO NETS,
NEAR SYDNEY, N.S. (NAC PA152034)
However, when the United States officially entered the war in
December 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
many of the American ships were withdrawn from the North
Atlantic to meet expanding US commitments elsewhere.
Unfortunately, this weakened the Atlantic anti-submarine defences.
The Canadian destroyers and corvettes remaining in Newfoundland
were faced with almost impossible demands on their services.
As winter storms began to batter the convoys, marine casualties from
causes other than enemy action also rose steadily. Still routed north
towards Greenland, the convoys made two-thirds of their voyage in
icy arctic darkness. As ships ploughed on, ice and sleet coated them
from stem to stern. Every sailor knew that if his ship were sunk his
chances of survival were slim at best. The freezing cold of that black
water would kill him in five minutes. There were few rescue ships
specially fitted for taking on survivors and caring for them, and lifesaving
equipment in all of the ships was still inadequate for the
conditions.
In January 1942, the Battle of the Atlantic shifted to the Canadian
and American seaboards and the West Indies, where Admiral Dönitz
suspected shipping would be poorly protected. The Canadian navy
immediately began to sail, shipping in defended groups. Often the
only protection available was a single armed yacht, but it worked.
Then the U-boats moved their main offensive to the American coast
and the Caribbean where ships were still sailing alone, not required
by the US Navy to travel in convoy groups.
21 Valour at Sea
PERSONNEL HANDLING TORPEDO IN HMC DOCKYARD,
HALIFAX, N.S. (NAC PA104147)
BOATLOAD OF SEAMEN FROM TORPEDOED MERCHANT SHIP COMING ALONGSIDE HMCS RED
DEER OFF HALIFAX, N.S., 1942. (NAC C54474)
But it was not just when sailing that the merchant ships were
attacked. In September 1942, the SS Cornwallis was torpedoed while
in Carlyle Bay, Barbados. It was refloated, towed to Memphis for
repairs and then, on its trip to Halifax in December 1944, was sunk
by a U-boat inside the American 12-mile limit off the New England
coast. There were only five survivors.
It became another “happy time” for U-boat commanders,
as the U-boats wreaked havoc along the American coastline. Night
after night, submarines rose to the surface and picked off merchant
ships at will, many of them silhouetted against the undimmed lights
of the shoreline. From January to July 1942, nearly 400 ships were
sunk, with only seven U-boats lost. The US Naval authorities,
realizing the costly error, gradually built up a convoy system along
the eastern seaboard. However, with the shortage of American
escorts, Canada’s small and already overburdened naval fleet was
now called upon to help protect southward-bound shipping.
Valour at Sea 22
Canadian escort groups on the Triangle Run shuttled convoys from
New York or Boston to Halifax and St. John’s, where mid-ocean
escorts took over for the run to Britain. Canadians were also called
on to protect vital tanker traffic to and from the Caribbean. This
tanker traffic supplied the bulk of petroleum products for Canada’s
civilian and military use.
The Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence
Back in Canada, the U-boat war took on a more immediate urgency.
While the RCN and RCAF had been able to limit losses off Nova
Scotia and Newfoundland during the first half of 1942, there was
still a very large vulnerable area: the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The huge
commitments on the ocean shipping routes left very few aircraft and
almost no warships to defend the Gulf.
On the night of May 11, just 13 kilometres off the Gaspé Peninsula,
a 5,000 tonne dwt freighter was torpedoed. Within hours a second
23 Valour at Sea
VICTORY BOND ADVERTISEMENT IN THE MONTRÉAL DAILY STAR, NOVEMBER 2, 1942.
(LAC NL12595)
freighter was hit. Suddenly, the war was right at home. The fire and
glare from the explosion were clearly visible from land as exhausted
survivors from the first ship, the Nicoya, a British banana boat now
carrying war supplies, were brought to shore. Six men were lost. The
crew of the second ship, a Dutch freighter called the Leto that was
chartered to the British Ministry of War Transport, was picked up
by passing ships. Some were clinging to small rafts and wreckage
because there had been time to launch only one small boat. A dozen
seamen were lost.
Once again the navy organized convoys and the air force kept as many
aircraft overhead as they could, but the U-boats continued to take their
toll. The crowded shipping routes in the gulf and river, the many deepwater
hiding places for U-boats, and the problems of underwater
detection equipment in the complex waters seemed to make defence
methods ineffective. By early October, seven U-boats had sunk 19
merchant ships and two naval escorts in the St. Lawrence. One of the
victims was a 16-year old galley boy from Verdun, Quebec, on his first
ship, the SS Carolus, which was sunk on October 9, 1942.
Then on October 14, the ferry Caribou, which for years had carried
passengers between Sydney and Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland, was
sunk, virtually in the middle of Cabot Strait, 64 kilometres short of its
Newfoundland destination. Of the 237 people on board, 136 perished.
The ferry had gone down so quickly that only one lifeboat could be
properly launched. A total of 237 people had sailed in Caribou:
73 civilians, 46 crew and 118 Canadian and American military
personnel. Only 101 survived. Half of the military personnel and two
thirds of the civilians, including at least five mothers and 10 children,
were lost. All but 15 of the crew died, which shows the heroic efforts they
made to get disoriented passengers clear of the plunging hull. Captain
Ben Taverner, two of his sons and five other pairs of brothers were among
the crew members lost, ripping the heart out of many families in
Port-aux-Basques and Channel, the towns in southwest Newfoundland
for whom the ferries had long been a business and way of life.18
Faced with the possibility of many U-boat attacks within sight of
land, the government closed the gulf and river to overseas shipping
in 1942. It remained until 1944. Only small coastal convoys and
warships were allowed in or out.
The loss of access to the port of Montréal significantly hampered
shipping from Canada. Not only were such important manufacturers
as the Montréal Locomotive Works (which built tanks) located in
Valour at Sea 24
FRONT PAGE OF THE HALIFAX HERALD, MAY 13, 1942.
(NATIONAL LIBRARY NL12600)
that city, but it was well served by rail from throughout the
Ontario/Quebec industrial corridor. Moreover, the port was the best
in Canada in terms of facilities and skilled and abundant labour
force, and a ship sailing from Montréal at 10 knots was half a day
closer to Liverpool than the same ship sailing from New York.
The result was that the amount of cargo shipped out of Canada
fell by more than 25 per cent. This amounted to a victory for the
U-boats won at virtually no cost to Germany.
The Grimmest Period
The struggle entered its grimmest phase in the fall of 1942. As Dönitz
scaled back the offensive in Canadian and US waters because of
improved defences there, he concentrated large numbers of submarines
in the mid-Atlantic. Despite bombing raids on German construction
yards and bases, the U-boat force increased. Now, with nearly 300
submarines available – more than 10 times as many as at the outbreak
of war – Dönitz was able to send 20 or more against a single convoy.
25 Valour at Sea
At first the Canadian escort groups held their own, but as the size of
the ‘wolf packs’ increased and winter storms swept the Atlantic,
several convoys escorted by the RCN suffered heavy losses. In
November alone, 119 Allied ships were lost.
Our country’s navy was expanding rapidly, but it was still too small
and lacked the latest weapons and advanced training programs
necessary for the enormous commitments. The RCAF’s Eastern Air
Command did its best to help the beleaguered convoys, pushing its
aircrew and aircraft to the limits. It did not, however, have the latest
‘very long-range’ aircraft needed to reach the Black Pit, which
harboured packs of U-boats ready to attack.
The Battle of the Atlantic reached its climax in March 1943; in that
month the U-boats sent 108 Allied ships – 569,000 tonnes of vital
shipping – to the bottom. These figures were lower than in November
1942, but what was most disturbing was that 85 of the ships lost had
been in convoy or straggling and most had been sunk in the North
Atlantic. The only glimmer of hope lay in the success the air and
naval escorts had, sinking 16 U-boats.
In March, worried senior officers of the British, Canadian and
American navies met in Washington for the Atlantic Convoy
Conference. One important result of this meeting was that Britain
and Canada were placed in complete charge of trade convoys
on the northern routes. Rear-Admiral Murray was appointed
Commander-in-Chief Canadian Northwest Atlantic, replacing
the United States command.
The Tide Turns
Fortunately, the desperate holding actions of the merchantmen bought
time for an adequate military buildup. In April and May 1943, the tide
finally began to turn as the Allied counter-measures started to come
together. A number of factors combined to defeat the U-boat menace.
There were now more escorts ships with better trained and more
experienced crews, and fitted with improved equipment. Support
Groups were formed to come to the aid of a threatened convoy. They
consisted of fast ships which, instead of being tied to one convoy, could
sail rapidly to any spot to intercept attackers before they could close in
on the convoy. They were particularly effective when they included the
aircraft carriers converted from merchant ships. Also, the British
innovation of small flight decks on merchant ships, equipped with three
or four aircraft that flew off as needed, provided additional defence for
the convoys. Furthermore, British Intelligence had broken the top secret
German code that gave advance information to U-boat commanders.
Valour at Sea 26
A CONSOLIDATED LIBERATOR PROVIDES AIR-COVER FOR
A TRANSATLANTIC CONVOY, 1943. (NAC PA107907)
Most important, the dreaded “Black Pit” was closed by Liberator
bombers, which now provided long-range aerial surveillance. The
combination of these powerful new forces was too much for the U-boats,
and in May, no less than 41 of them failed to return to their bases.
During June, July and August the destruction of merchant ships
markedly declined. Anti-submarine air and sea forces were now on
the offensive, forcing the Germans to abandon their wolf-pack
tactics that had been so successful earlier in the war.
The turn of the tide in Allied favour did not, however, spell the end
of the war at sea. The Battle of the Atlantic still had two long years
to run. At times, notably in the fall of 1943 and in 1944, Allied
losses increased dramatically. U-boats with new equipment
threatened to swing the balance back to the submarines. For
example, the schnorkel, a breathing device which enabled the
submarines to operate continuously underwater, allowed them to
hover close to the entrances to Canadian and British ports.
By March 1945, the German navy had 463 U-boats on patrol, compared
to 27 in 1939. They continued to wreak havoc up to the last weeks of
the war. Although the U-boats were unable to regain the initiative after
May 1943, they had significant successes. A stealthy schnorkel U-boat
sank the minesweeper HMCS Esquimalt just off the entrance to Halifax
harbour on April 16, 1945. The last Allied ship lost during the war was
the merchant ship, Avondale Park, torpedoed on May 7, 1945.
Meeting the Need
The number of ships that poured from Canada’s shipyards during the
Second World War was extraordinary. In fact, it was described by an
official of the British Ministry of War Transport as “remarkable,”
“astonishing” and “magnificent.” From the first delivery in December
1941 to shortly after war’s end in 1945, Canada produced three
hundred and fifty-four (354) 10,000 tonne dwt cargo ships; fortythree
(43) 4,700 tonne dwt cargo ships; and six (6) 3,600 tonne dwt
cargo ships. They also turned out astonishing numbers of naval
vessels: 281 escort ships (destroyers, corvettes, frigates), 206
minesweepers, 254 tugs and 3,302 landing craft.
The achievement is particularly impressive considering that in 1940
there were just four Canadian shipyards with a total of nine berths
capable of handling ships of the 10,000 tonne dwt category. By the
end of 1943 – at the peak of production – the number of berths
engaged in 10,000 tonne dwt construction had grown to 38,
operated by ten yards.
Canada-wide, the delivery rate by mid-1943 averaged three per
week for 10,000 tonne dwt ships, and when the smaller ships
were factored in, the average rose to almost 3.5 merchant ships
per week, or one every two days.
This achievement by the Allied shipyards was an important reason
for the turn of the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic. By mid-1943
it was clear that, no matter how many merchant ships German
U-boats could still send to the bottom, sinkings would no longer
outpace the production of new ships.
Equally impressive was the expansion of Canada’s shipbuilding
industry. From an estimated 2,000 skilled workers engaged primarily
in repair work, the workforce grew to 85,000 men and women,
57,000 employed in building or repairing merchant ships with the
remainder in naval construction. There was also the large volume of
routine and emergency repairs needed to keep this large fleet and
those of its Allies at sea.
Canada’s shipbuilding industry resulted in a spin-off effect
to other businesses as manufacturers were needed to supply
component parts – from rivets to engines. Eventually, more than
300 Canadian firms were involved in the program.
Valour at Sea 28
HULL NO. 133 UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN BURRARD
DRY DOCK, DECEMBER 1941. (NAC PA187473)
The need for shipbuilding was a significant factor in Canada’s
remarkable industrial transformation during the war.
The Park Ships
Two main types of cargo ships were produced under the Canadian
program: those ships built for Britain and named mainly after
Canadian forts, and those constructed for Canada and the
Commonwealth and named after federal, provincial and municipal
parks. They followed the British designed “North Sands” ships
which made them easier to repair; however most, were coal burners
rather than oil which later made them a liability. Some of the “Park
ships”, as they became known, were built as tankers.
The Park ships began arriving in 1942 and quickly dominated the
wartime merchant fleet. Altogether, 176 of these ships hoisted the
Park flag at one time or another. The Parks were registered in Canada
and operated by the Park Steamship Company, a Crown Corporation
that was incorporated on April 8, 1942. On June 30, it took delivery
of the Prince Albert Park, the first of five 10,000 tonne dwt ships it
would receive from Canadian shipyards by the end of that year.
These five were followed by 50 new Park Ships in 1943.
In 1944, Park deliveries from the booming Canadian yards accelerated
rapidly, reaching 94 – incredibly almost two per week. 1945 brought
the surrender of Germany early in May followed by that of Japan in
29 Valour at Sea
SS FAIRMONT PARK, ONE OF MANY SHIPS IN WHICH
MILITARY DEMS GUNNERS SHARED THE HAZARDS FACED
BY MERCHANT NAVY SHIPMATES. (NAC PA181330)
MERCHANT SEAMEN. THE MANNING POOL. PAINTING BY JACK NICHOLS. (MCG 10518)
August. With the ending of war, most contracts were cancelled, but
another twenty-seven (27) 10,000 and 4,700 tonne dwt dry cargo
ships were delivered before the end of the year.
The Park Steamship Company contracted the operation of the ships
to private steamship companies and shipping agents, who assumed
responsibility for the care of the ships, furnishing the crews, payment
of all expenses and collection of revenues. Government wartime
authorities determined how the ships were used and where they
would sail, and influenced working and living conditions on ship.
On July 6, 1943, the Jasper Park was the first Park Ship lost to
enemy action when it was torpedoed and sunk in the Indian Ocean.
Four of the crew lost their lives. Another three Parks were lost to
enemy action – all in 1945. The Point Pleasant Park was torpedoed
northwest of Cape Town, South Africa, on February 23 with nine
lives lost. The Tabor Park was sunk while in coastal convoy in the
North Sea on March 13 and the Avondale Park, with a British crew,
went down on May 7. Two others, the freighter Green Hill Park and
the Silver Star Park, were destroyed by marine accidents.
Manning the Ships
Merchant ships were now being produced at an unprecedented rate.
But finding the men to take them to sea was not easy.
Only those who have known both can appreciate the true differences of
ocean life in peace and war. A death in battle is not the worst way of
going; it’s often a swift end, the soul ready. But there’s no zest for combat
when the sailor, trained to cope with hurricane or iceberg, with reef or
traffic or fire, must endure his ship’s crawling on imposed course in a
drab huddle of strangers. All the while there is the suspense of waiting to
see which vessel will be the next to burst into flame or a soaring cloud of
debris, leaving a gap in the ranks of floating steel. In convoy the active
searover must bind himself on voiceless, lightless, crowded passage to
strange secret points. He must bear as trained passivity, week after week,
entirely dependent on the competence of a thin escort.19
In the first two years of the war Allied Merchant Navy casualties were
disastrous, reaching more than 25,000, most of whom were British.
The hoped-for assistance from British crews was simply not available,
and the Royal Canadian Navy had already recruited almost every
civilian with any seafaring experience, including many of the licensed
deck, engine room and radio officers. As well, the army, the air force
and the expanding armaments manufacturing industry were competing
Valour at Sea 30
TAKING SURVIVORS ON BOARD. PAINTING BY JACK
NICHOLS. (CWM 10529)
for any available able-bodied men. As the Canadian fleet expanded, the
critical shortage of senior officers was offset in part by many British
officers who volunteered to join the Canadian Merchant Navy.
Somehow, approximately 12,000 deep sea merchant seamen were
found by war’s end. Some were too young to be soldiers, but at age
15 or 16 (some even younger) they joined the merchant ships as
seamen or apprentice officers. There were others who were too old
for the armed services; men in their forties were common in the
merchant navy and occasionally a 70-year-old master, mate or bosun
would appear on a Park ship bridge or deck.
In between these extremes of youth and age were the thousands who
might be within the age limits for service enlistment but had been
rejected for some minor physical shortcoming, or had served and
been discharged for various reasons. There were also many who saw
the merchant navy as their preferred way to serve.
Ensuring that the merchant ships were fully crewed and sailed
without unnecessary delays was a formidable task. The life of
merchant seamen was miserable and hazardous, and the chances of
survival from a torpedoed and sinking ship were small. During the
early years of the war it was necessary to press into service many very
old and unsuitable ships that had been laid-up or sent to the breakers
yard. The living conditions on these ancient ships were deplorable.
Morale was cracking under the cumulative effects of mounting
shipping losses, German successes in war and propaganda, the
occupation of the homelands of many of the seamen, and the
oppressions of ship-board life. It was all too clear that something
was needed to strengthen this crumbling morale. A number of
measures were introduced to overcome this serious difficulty and to
ensure a degree of control over merchant seamen.
One of these measures was unofficial and came about as a result of
the Admiralty’s warning that explosives could be planted in ships by
enemy agents. To prevent enemy sabotage, the Naval Control Service
in Halifax organized the Naval Boarding Service consisting of
boarding parties of naval officers and ratings to inspect all shipping
destined for the United Kingdom. These boarding parties also
inspected to ensure that a ship was in all respects ready for sea.
“This meant it must be seaworthy in hull, engines, guns (if supplied),
lifeboats and in the minds and hearts of its crew. Battleworthy, in
short, and tallied as such by the Naval Boarding Service.”20
31 Valour at Sea
NAVAL CONTROL SERVICE LAUNCH DELIVERING ORDERS
TO A MERCHANT SHIP. PHOTO BY R. SHAW (NAC
PA166887)
These contacts also offered an unusual opportunity to solve some of
the crew problems as well. The navy staff selected to carry out this
task were sensitive to human factors and many had pre-war merchant
service. During their ship searches they began to hear the complaints
and genuine concerns of the merchant seamen. They were able to
solve many problems on the spot, and brought the more serious ones
to the attention of those in authority. They also helped coordinate
volunteer groups led by the Navy League and the Red Cross, which
worked to provide decent accommodation ashore between voyages,
recreation, and additional comforts to make life afloat less grim.
As well, a Merchant Seamen’s Club was built in Halifax. These
developments helped contribute to the atmosphere of goodwill
especially for visiting ships. Most important, members of the
boarding parties listened and they helped to give the seafarers a
sense of purpose and meaning. They realized that, “if a demoralized
sailor realizes he is the hope of millions of people, if someone lets
him know by tone or gesture that his work, his sacrifice, is known,
then he cannot, but choose to sail again.”21
The achievements were impressive and helped avert more serious
situations. Similar parties were established at Sydney; Montréal;
and Saint John, New Brunswick. They later extended to St. John’s;
Québec; Victoria; Vancouver; and Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
In fact, their achievement prompted Britain’s Admiralty to adopt some
of the same methods in an effort to solve similar crew problems.
Valour at Sea 32
SURVIVORS OF TORPEDOED MERCHANT SHIPS ABOARD THE RESCUE TRAWLER HMS NORTHERN
GIFT, ST. JOHN’S, NFLD., APRIL 1943. (NAC PA153052)
In 1941 other major reforms were instituted. A ‘Director of
Merchant Seamen’ was appointed and made responsible for the
welfare of the seamen and overseeing their needs. He moved quickly
to set up manning pools and training schools.
Manning pools, originally set up to provide a ready reserve of
seamen to replace crew shortages, were established, first in Montréal,
then in Vancouver, Halifax, Sydney and Saint John. Under this
system, when a seaman joined the manning pool he was assured of
food, lodging and pay while ashore between ships. In exchange, he
was required to accept whatever ship he was assigned to, when his
name was posted.
Merchant Seaman Order22 provided that the Naval Boarding Service
Officer, with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer could
remove and detain for up to nine months any crew member they
believed might delay a ship’s sailing. This Order also applied to
masters and officers.
Since so many of the new recruits had never been to sea, a training
program was needed. The Canadian government set up training
centres where new volunteers were given basic training as unlicensed
deck and engine room personnel, and advanced training was provided
for navigating, engine room and radio officers, and for ships’ cooks.
Two key programs for unlicensed seafarers were at St. Margaret’s Sea
Training School for Ordinary Seamen and Cadet Officers in
Hubbards, Nova Scotia, and the Prescott Marine Engineering
Instruction School for engine room personnel. Radio operator
33 Valour at Sea
STUDENTS IN THE MERCHANT NAVY MARINE ENGINEERING SCHOOL, PRESCOTT, ONTARIO.
(NAC PA174479)
training was provided by radio schools approved by the government,
such as the Marconi Schools, where the future “sparks,” as the radio
operators were nicknamed, had either been sent by the manning
pool director or had sought out their operator papers on their own.
From these training centres, the recruits proceeded to manning
pools to be assigned to a ship.
The Toll
While the convoy routes of the North Atlantic and the notorious
Murmansk Run to northern Russia claimed the most ships and
men, there were no safe havens anywhere for merchant seamen.
Whether in the coastal waters of North America, the North or
Valour at Sea 34
ADMIRALITY HISTORICAL SECTION. DEFEAT OF ENEMY ATTACK ON SHIPPING 1939-1945: A STUDY
OF POLICY AND OPERATIONS. NAVAL STAFF HISTORY SECONDWORLDWAR. LONDON, 1957.
Area
3.9.39 à 2.9.45 NORTH ATLANTIC
AND FAR NORTH
SOUTH ATLANTIC
MEDITERRANEAN
INDIAN OCEAN
PACIFIC OCEAN
U.K. COASTAL WATERS
N. SEA AND BALTIC
%
N.A. = 12,090* 57
S.A. = 1,338 7
MED. = 1,711 8
I.O. = 1,445 7
PAC. = 1,148 5
U.K.C. = 3,462 16
TOTAL 21,194 100
* VESSELS OF ALL TONNAGE
FIGURES ARE IN THOUSANDS
OF GROSS TONS
CAUSE
3.9.39 à 2.9.45
%
U-BOAT = 14,573 * 69
MINE = 1,385 7
SURFACE CRAFT = 1,558 7
AIRCRAFT = 2,828 13
OTHER AND UNKNOWN CAUSES = 850 4
TOTAL 21,194 100
U-BOOT
BY MINE
BY SURFACE CRAFT
BY AIRCRAFT
BY OTHER AND
UNKNOWN CAUSES
* VESSELS OF ALL TONNAGE
FIGURES ARE IN THOUSANDS
OF GROSS TONS
South Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean or the Pacific,
all the waters were dangerous and Canadian ships with Canadian
crews traversed them all.
Yet between late September 1939 and late May 1945, a total of
25,343 merchant ships with 164,783,921 tonnes of cargo on board
sailed from North America to Britain.
While statistics provide an awesome account of ships and tonnage
lost, the true cost of the war at sea was in the human toll. British
merchant shipping, the main target of the U-boats lost over 1,300
vessels, and nearly 32,076 seamen.23 Canadian losses were fewer, but
equally tragic. The Royal Canadian Navy’s casualties included 2,024
personnel killed, the vast majority in the Battle of the Atlantic; 752
members of the RCAF died in maritime operations. The Canadian
Merchant Navy suffered more heavily, losing fully one seafarer in
eight of the 12,000 who served in the crews of the Canadian, British
and Allied merchant ships.
The Book of Remembrance for the war dead of the Merchant Navy
lists, by name, 1,629 Canadians and Newfoundlanders, or others, who
served on ships registered in Canada or Newfoundland, who lost their
lives in the Second World War. It includes the names of eight women.
Many other Canadians, whose names are unknown, died serving on
ships of Allied merchant navies. Also, 198 Canadian seamen were
taken prisoner when their ships were captured or sunk, often in the
very early years of the war. Many spent more than four years interned
and eight died as prisoners of war or during repatriation.
Epilogue
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest battle of the Second World
War, continuing unbroken from the first day of the war, September
3, 1939, to the last day of the war in Europe, May 8, 1945. The
Merchant Navy was committed from the first day to the last.
In addition to its central role in the Battle of the Atlantic, Canada’s
Merchant Navy shipped cargo to ports around the world. Inland
and coastal shipping formed an integral part of the worldwide trade
network on which the outcome of the war depended.
In sheer volume, overseas trade was, in fact, far outstripped by that of
coastal trade. And as we have seen, these trade routes were not safe from
attack. This was especially true of the ore-trade routes from Wabana,
Newfoundland to Sydney, Nova Scotia, the bauxite trade from the
Caribbean, the tanker routes from Halifax to ports in the Caribbean and
35 Valour at Sea
the Gulf of Mexico, and the supply route to the important air station at
Goose Bay in Labrador. There were also important movements up and
down the St. Lawrence and between Halifax and Newfoundland, Sydney
and Saint John respectively, as well as the Sydney to Port-aux-Basques
ferry route that proved so vulnerable.
On the Pacific Coast, thanks to the protected inshore passages and
the absence of a serious submarine threat, coastal shipping was
comparatively unrestricted. However, our West Coast ports were an
asset that was not fully exploited during the war. Ships provided
assistance to the war in the Pacific, to the Commonwealth countries
of India, Australia and New Zealand. They made voyages into the
Atlantic through the Panama Canal, and ships such as the
SS Kensington Park and SS Manitou Park were taken off the Pacific
runs for D-Day use. Ships carried priority cargoes such as lumber
and other commodities through the Panama Canal, and stopped in
the West Indies, New York, Halifax or St. John’s before continuing
in convoy across the Atlantic. There was, however, a scarcity of ships
and, as a result, many of these cargoes simply complemented what
was sent by rail across the continent to Atlantic ports.
Women played only a very small role in the Canadian Merchant
Navy. Those who sailed the ships were almost exclusively men, but
there were a few exceptions. Stewardesses, for example, served on the
Lady Boats in the West Indies, and the Lady Nelson was converted to
a hospital ship, carrying nursing sisters and Red Cross workers. As
well, a few Canadian women trained as radio officers and served on
ships of the Norwegian Merchant Navy, which joined the Allies after
the conquest of that country. Eight women gave their lives, including
Hannah Baird who died while serving as a stewardess on the SS Athenia
on September 3, 1939, becoming the first Canadian service person
to die from enemy action in the Second World War.
On the other hand, the number of women employed in Canadian
shipyards was significant. For example, at the Foundation Maritime
Ltd., Pictou, Nova Scotia, yard alone, 699 women worked at what
had previously been considered exclusively male tasks. That yard
would eventually account for more than half of all Canadian
launchings of the Gray class of 4,700 tonne dwt ships.24
Just as the merchant fleet constructed in the First World War almost
disappeared in the 1920s, the huge fleet of wartime-built ships of
the Second World War was soon dispersed at war’s end. While
Canadian-owned ships would continue to sail the oceans, most did
so under foreign registry.
Valour at Sea 36
HALIFAX MEMORIAL
IN HONOUR OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF
THE NAVY, ARMY AND MERCHANT NAVY OF
CANADA…THEIR GRAVES ARE UNKNOWN
BUT THEIR MEMORY SHALL ENDURE.
At the end of the war, there was a strong feeling in Canada that
there should always be a Canadian flag merchant fleet that would
provide employment to merchant seamen as well as to others in
shipbuilding, and the repair infrastructure required to support it.
However, the government determined that Canadian flag ships
would be costly to operate and, faced with the prospect of
subsidizing the operation, allowed the ships to be sold off and
transferred to foreign registry. The great Canadian fleet and
shipbuilding industry rapidly declined.
By 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War, there were few
merchant ships available to participate in that conflict. Twelve
Canadian flag ships sailed into Korean waters during the war,
fortunately there were no casualties.
All told, the history of the Merchant Navy in Canada’s wars is one
of fortitude, courage and achievement. The ships and the volunteers
who served on them made the difference between victory and defeat
for the Allies. The free world could not have survived without them.
Fortress Europe could not have been invaded without them. It is
reasonable to conclude, therefore, that there was no battle more
crucial to the war than the battle to maintain the sea lanes.
On May 10, 1945, the British Admiralty, sent a message expressing
its own, and the Royal Navy’s, thanks and admiration to the
Merchant Navy:
37 Valour at Sea
ATLANTIC CONVOY. PAINTING BY LEONARD BROOKS. (CWM10078)
…For more than five and a half years side by side with the Allied Merchant
Navies in the face of continual and merciless attacks by the enemy you have
maintained the ceaseless flow of sea traffic on which the life and strength of
this country depend... In this historic hour we think with special gratitude
of the many merchant seamen who have fallen in the fight and whose
service and sacrifice will always be a proud memory.25
Acknowledgements
Veterans Affairs Canada wishes to thank members of the Merchant
Navy Coalition for Equality for their invaluable assistance and
advice in the preparation of this booklet.
Valour at Sea 38
References:
1. Winston S. Churchill, Their Finest Hour. (Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1949), p. 598.
2. This number is based on the number of names in the Merchant
Navy Book of Remembrance. There are now 570 names for the
First World War and 1,629 for the Second World War. Research is
continuing to find names of those who are still unknown, and as
these names come to light they will be added to the Book’s Addenda.
3. Only a very few women sailed on the ships of the Merchant Navy.
See p. 36.
4. Quoted in Tony German, The Sea is at our Gates. The History of
the Canadian Navy. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1990), p. 44.
5. Ibid., p. 45.
6. Quoted in Robert G. Halford, The Unknown Navy. Canada’s
World War II Merchant Navy. (St. Catharines: Vanwell, 1995), p. 15.
7. Deadweight, usually abbreviated dwt, represents the cargo carrying
capacity of a merchant ship expressed as weight in tonnes. It represents
the difference in the weight of water displaced when a ship is unladen
(but fully ready for sea with all necessary fuel and stores aboard), and
the weight of water displaced when fully loaded with cargo.
8. Metric measurements have been used throughout this booklet. It
should be noted that nautical miles is the measurement used at sea.
A nautical mile is equal to 1,852 metres.
9. F. Griezik, “Manufactured Mythology of Canada’s Merchant
Seamen of WW II.” Quoted in Report to the House of Commons,
Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs,
June 20, 1991. p.2.
10. Ibid., p. 2.
11. The Erik Boye was an ex-Danish ship.
12. C.B.A. Behrens, Merchant Shipping and the Demands
of War. (British Crown Copyright, 1978).
13. Quoted in German, The Sea is at our Gates. p. 192.
14. Frederick B. Watt, In All Respects Ready, The Merchant Navy and
the Battle of the Atlantic, 1940-1945. (Toronto: Prentice-Hall
Canada 1985) p. 4.
15. The first convoy attacked by a wolf pack was HX-72 on September
20-21, 1940. There were nine attacking U-boats and out of 41
ships 11 were lost.
16. Roger Sarty, Canada and the Battle of the Atlantic. (Ottawa: Art
Global and the Department of National Defence, 1998), p. 68.
17. Ibid., p. 71.
18. Ibid., p. 114.
19. Watt, p. xiv.
20. Ibid., p. vi.
21. Ibid., p. xiv.
22. P.C. 11397/1942.
23. Registry of Shipping and Seamen. Cardiff.
24. Halford, The Unknown Navy. p. 133.
25. Message from Lord Leathers, Ministry of War Transport... to all
officers and men of the Merchant Navy. British Bams Lettered
Message QQ Ck 248.
39 Valour at Sea
Selected Bibliography
Churchill, Winston S. Their Finest Hour. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1949.
Douglas, W.A.B., and Brereton Greenhous. Out of the Shadows. Canada
in the Second World War. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1977.
German, Commander Tony. The Sea is at our Gates. The History of the
Canadian Navy. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1990.
Goodspeed, Lt-Col. D.G., Ed. The Armed Forces of Canada, 1867-1967.
Ottawa: Department of National Defence, 1967.
Hadley, Michael. U-Boats against Canada. German Submarines in Canadian
Waters. Kingston/Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1985.
Halford, Robert G. The Unknown Navy. Canada’s World War II Merchant
Navy. St.Catharines: Vanwell, 1995.
Harbron, John D. The Longest Battle. The RCN in the Atlantic 1939-
1945. St.Catharines: Vanwell, 1993.
Lamb, James B. The Corvette Navy. True Stories from Canada’s Atlantic
War. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, nd.
Sarty, Roger. Canada and the Battle of the Atlantic. Ottawa: Art Global
and the Department of National Defence, 1998.
Schull, Joseph. Far Distant Ships. An Official Account of Canadian Naval
Operations in the Second World War. Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1961.
Tucker, Gilbert Norman. The Naval Service of Canada.
Vol. II. Ottawa, Department of National Defence, 1952.
Watt, Frederick B. In All Respects Ready, The Merchant Navy and the
Battle of the Atlantic, 1940-1945. Toronto: Prentice-Hall Canada, 1985.
Valour at Sea 40
Epilogue
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest battle of the Second World War, continuing unbroken from the first day of the war, September 3, 1939, to the last day of the war in Europe, May 8, 1945. The Merchant Navy was committed from the first day to the last.
In addition to its central role in the Battle of the Atlantic, Canada’s Merchant Navy shipped cargo to ports around the world. Inland and coastal shipping formed an integral part of the worldwide trade network on which the outcome of the war depended.
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Halifax Memorial
IN HONOUR OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE NAVY, ARMY AND MERCHANT NAVY OF CANADA…THEIR GRAVES ARE UNKNOWN BUT THEIR MEMORY SHALL ENDURE
In sheer volume, overseas trade was, in fact, far outstripped by that of coastal trade. And as we have seen, these trade routes were not safe from attack. This was especially true of the ore-trade routes from Wabana, Newfoundland to Sydney, Nova Scotia, the bauxite trade from the Caribbean, the tanker routes from Halifax to ports in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, and the supply route to the important air station at Goose Bay in Labrador. There were also important movements up and down the St. Lawrence and between Halifax and Newfoundland, Sydney and Saint John respectively, as well as the Sydney to Port-aux-Basques ferry route that proved so vulnerable.
On the Pacific Coast, thanks to the protected inshore passages and the absence of a serious submarine threat, coastal shipping was comparatively unrestricted. However, our West Coast ports were an asset that was not fully exploited during the war. Ships provided assistance to the war in the Pacific, to the Commonwealth countries of India, Australia and New Zealand. They made voyages into the Atlantic through the Panama Canal, and ships such as the SS Kensington Park and SS Manitou Park were taken off the Pacific runs for D-Day use. Ships carried priority cargoes such as lumber and other commodities through the Panama Canal, and stopped in the West Indies, New York, Halifax or St. John’s before continuing in convoy across the Atlantic. There was, however, a scarcity of ships and, as a result, many of these cargoes simply complemented what was sent by rail across the continent to Atlantic ports.
Women played only a very small role in the Canadian Merchant Navy. Those who sailed the ships were almost exclusively men, but there were a few exceptions. Stewardesses, for example, served on the Lady Boats in the West Indies, and the Lady Nelson was converted to a hospital ship, carrying nursing sisters and Red Cross workers. As well, a few Canadian women trained as radio officers and served on ships of the Norwegian Merchant Navy, which joined the Allies after the conquest of that country. Eight women gave their lives, including Hannah Baird who died while serving as a stewardess on the SS Athenia on September 3, 1939, becoming the first Canadian service person to die from enemy action in the Second World War.
On the other hand, the number of women employed in Canadian shipyards was significant. For example, at the Foundation Maritime Ltd., Pictou, Nova Scotia, yard alone, 699 women worked at what had previously been considered exclusively male tasks. That yard would eventually account for more than half of all Canadian launchings of the Gray class of 4,700 tonne dwt ships.24
Just as the merchant fleet constructed in the First World War almost disappeared in the 1920s, the huge fleet of wartime-built ships of the Second World War was soon dispersed at war’s end. While Canadian-owned ships would continue to sail the oceans, most did so under foreign registry.
At the end of the war, there was a strong feeling in Canada that there should always be a Canadian flag merchant fleet that would provide employment to merchant seamen as well as to others in shipbuilding, and the repair infrastructure required to support it. However, the government determined that Canadian flag ships would be costly to operate and, faced with the prospect of subsidizing the operation, allowed the ships to be sold off and transferred to foreign registry. The great Canadian fleet and shipbuilding industry rapidly declined.
By 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War, there were few merchant ships available to participate in that conflict. Twelve Canadian flag ships sailed into Korean waters during the war, fortunately there were no casualties.
All told, the history of the Merchant Navy in Canada’s wars is one of fortitude, courage and achievement. The ships and the volunteers who served on them made the difference between victory and defeat for the Allies. The free world could not have survived without them. Fortress Europe could not have been invaded without them. It is reasonable to conclude, therefore, that there was no battle more crucial to the war than the battle to maintain the sea lanes.
On May 10, 1945, the British Admiralty, sent a message expressing its own, and the Royal Navy’s, thanks and admiration to the Merchant Navy:
…For more than five and a half years side by side with the Allied Merchant Navies in the face of continual and merciless attacks by the enemy you have maintained the ceaseless flow of sea traffic on which the life and strength of this country depend... In this historic hour we think with special gratitude of the many merchant seamen who have fallen in the fight and whose service and sacrifice will always be a proud memory.25
-------------------
Women's Contribution During Wartime
Canadian Women in the First World War
(from Canada's Nursing Sisters by GWL Nicholson, Samuel Stevens Hakkert & Company, Toronto, 1975)
For the most part, Canadian women who served in the First World War were attached to the Canadian Army Medical Corps (CAMC).
Nurses were the first women to be welcomed into the Canadian military, and first served in the field during the North West Rebellion in 1885. In 1901, because of the work of Canadian nurses serving in the South Africa War, the Canadian Nursing Service was established as part of the armed forces.
During the First World War, more than 3,100 nursing sisters served in the medical corps, which also included doctors, orderlies, clerks and laboratory workers.
Those responsible for providing care to the wounded and sick also risked their lives. On May 19, 1918, the No. 1 Canadian General Hospital was bombed during a two-hour air raid at Etaples, France. Some of the buildings were levelled, while others caught fire. The casualties amounted to 66 people killed and 73 wounded. Most of the victims were hospital staff - three of the dead were nursing sisters. Ten days later, the No. 3 Canadian Stationary Hospital at Doullens, France, was hit by bombs and it, too, caught fire. Eleven patients, two medical officers, three nursing sisters, and 16 other ranks (including orderlies) were killed; 16 were wounded. Only weeks later, tragedy struck anew when the hospital ship Llandovery Castle, one of five ambulance transports assigned to the Canadian service, was sunk. It had finished delivering 644 patients to Halifax on June 17 and on June 27 was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland. The toll was 234 lives lost including all 14 of the nursing sisters aboard and 77 other CAMC personnel. Only 24 of the ship's passengers survived.
Many members of the CAMC succumbed to the diseases to which they were frequently exposed. For example, in 1915, an epidemic of amoebic dysentery struck the Greek island of Lemnos, having been carried there from Gallipoli, Turkey, by sick and wounded soldiers. At one time, 17 of the 28 nursing sisters on strength at one of the Canadian stationary hospitals on the island fell ill. Two died, prompting an order for extra graves to be dug. No more would die of this disease, but none failed to notice the sign by the interment trench which read "For Sisters Only."
Dozens of gallantry awards were issued to members of the medical corps. Among the corps' recipients of the Military Medal, an award for bravery in the field, were eight nursing sisters. Six earned the medal during air raids.
Throughout the war, the Corps suffered 1,325 casualties, 631 of them fatal. Forty-six nursing sisters were lost, 18 of them taken by disease, and 15 as a result of enemy action at sea.
Canadian Women in the Second World War
Approximately 50,000 women served in the Second World War, in the nursing services of the army, navy and air force; in the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC); in the Women's Division (WD) of the Royal Canadian Air Force; and in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS, or Wrens). Approximately 8,000 served overseas. Casualties included 73 killed: 6 navy, 25 army, 32 air force and 10 from the nursing services.
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Index of Medals and Decorations
International Commission for Supervision and Control Service Medal (Indo-China); International Commission of Control and Supervision Service Medal (Vietnam);
· 125 TH. Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal (1992)
· 1914 Star *
· 1914-1915 Star *
· 1939-45 Star *
· Africa Star *
· Air Crew Europe Star
· Air Efficiency Award
· Air Force Cross
· Air Force Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
· Air Force Medal
· Applicant for Enlistment English and French
· Army Class A Badge *
· Army Class B Badge *
· Army Class C Badge *
· Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
· Atlantic Star * British War Medal *
· British Empire Medal
· Burma Star *
· Canada General Service Medal 1866-1870
· Canadian Centennial Medal (1967)
· Canadian Volunteer Service Medal *
· Canadian Forces Decoration
· Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea
· Central America United Nations Observer Group ONUCA (1989-1992)
· Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officers' Decoration - VD
· Colonial Auxiliary Forces Long Service Medal
· Commander of the Order of Military Merit
· Commander of the Order of the British Empire
· Companion of the Order of the Bath
· Companion of the Order of Canada
· Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Navy)
· Cross of Valour
· Dieppe Bar * Hong Kong Bar *
· Defence Medal *
· Distinguished Flying Medal
· Distinguished Conduct Medal
· Distinguished Service Order
· Distinguished Service Medal
· Distinguished Flying Cross
· Distinguished Service Cross
· Efficiency Decoration Canada
· Efficiency Medal
· Efficiency Decoration Territorial
· Egypt Medal 1882-1889
· Fire Fighters Canada and Overseas
· France and Germany Star *
· General Service *
· George Medal
· George Cross
· Gulf and Kuwait Medal
· International Commission for Supervision and Control Service Medal (Indo-China)
· International Commission of Control and Supervision Service Medal (Vietnam)
· Italy Star *
· King George V Jubliee Medal (1935)
· King George VI Coronation Medal (1937)
· King's South Africa Medal 1901-1902
· Korea Medal *
· Korea Service Badge *
· Medal of Bravery
· Member of the Order of the British Empire
· Member of the Order of Canada
· Member of the Order of Military Merit
· Memorial Cross GR VI" href="sub.cfm?source=collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group09/mcgrvi"Memorial Cross GR VI *
· Memorial Cross GR V *
· Memorial Cross ERII *
· Mercantile Marine War Medal
· Meritorious Service Medal
· Meritorious Service Cross
· Military Cross
· Military Medal
· Naval Volunteer Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
· Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
· Navy Class AA Badge *
· Newfoundland Volunteer Service Medal
· North West Canada 1885
· Officer of the Order of Military Merit
· Officer of the Order of the British Empire
· Officer of the Order of Canada
· Officer of the Naval Volunteer Reserve Decoration
· Pacific Star *
· Permanent Overseas Forces Long Service and Good Conduct Medal
· Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal (1977)
· Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (1953)
· Queen's South Africa Medal 1889-1902
· RCAF Reserve
· Royal Red Cross Class 1
· Royal Red Cross Class 2
· Service Medal of the Order of St. John
· Special Service Medal
· Star of Courage
· UN Iraq/Kuwait Observer Mission UNIKOM (1991- )
· UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda UNAMIR (1993- )
· UN Angola Verification Mission UNAVEM (1988- )
· UN Transition Assistance Group (NAMBIA) UNTAG (1989-1992)
· UN Mission for the Referendum in the Western Sahara MINURSO (1991-
· UN Operation in Mozamibique ONUMOZ (1992- )
· UN Operation in the Congo (ONUC)
· UN Military Observation Group in Iran\Iraq UNIMOG (1989-1991)
· UN Operation in Somalia UNOSOM (1992- )
· UN Observer Mission Mission in El Salvador ONUSAL (1991- )
· UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia UNTAC (1992- )
· UN Advance Mission in Cambodia UNAMIC (1991-1992)
· UN Protection Force (Yugoslavia) UNPROFOR (1991- )
· United Nations Military Observation Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP)
· United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
· United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL)
· United Nations Temporary Executive Authority in West New Guinea (UNTEA)
· United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine (UNTSO)
· United Nations Yemen Observation Mission (UNYOM)
· United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF)
· United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)
· United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF)
· United Nations Service Medal (Korea) *
· United Nations India Pakistan Observation Mission (UNIPOM)
· United Nations Emergency Force Middle East (UNEFME)
· Victoria Cross
· Victory Medal *
· Volunteer Long Service Medal
* Additional information and a list of qualifing areas of service are available from the Honours and Awards section, Veterans Affairs Canada, 66 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0P4
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NURSING SISTERS
(from Canada's Nursing Sisters by GWL Nicholson, Samuel Stevens Hakkert & Company, Toronto, 1975)
Army
In all, 3,656 members of the army's nursing service served in the war, more than two-thirds of whom went overseas. They served in hospitals in Canada, England and Europe, and in casualty clearing stations near the battlefields. Some were employed in field surgical units in operating theatres in forward areas. Nursing sisters treated Dieppe casualties, served in Sicily, mainland Italy, North Africa, Normandy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Nursing sisters of the No. 3 Casualty Clearing Station were the first Canadian army nurses to land in France during the war -- July 9, 1944, near Caen, where heavy fighting was still in progress.
All personnel, including 99 female staff, of the No. 14 General Hospital were en route to Italy on the SS Santa Elena when it was attacked by German dive-bombers on November 6, 1943. The ship was hit twice, forcing all to abandon it. They were rescued 2-3 hours later.
Two nursing sisters of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC) spent 21 months behind barbed wire in the Far East. Kathleen G. Christie of Toronto and Anna May Waters of Winnipeg had sailed from Vancouver on October 27, 1941, and were taken prisoner when Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on Christmas Day, 1941. Both were made associate members of the Royal Red Cross recognizing their service in these adverse conditions.
Some of the women at the casualty clearing stations were required to participate in military training, involving revolver practice, rifle firing on ranges, route marches, army manoeuvres. In one operation, they pitched/took down tents, set up wards and operating facilities...Some got their army driver's licence by learning to drive ambulances, trucks, motorcycles...
A total of 1,029 nursing sisters served in Canada only. Sixty military hospitals were in operation in Canada, with a total bed capacity of 13,057. As well, Canada operated two hospital ships.
Navy
The Nursing Service Branch of the Royal Canadian Naval Medical Services was established in the autumn of 1941. Membership grew to 343 by war's end.
"The only nursing sister of the three services to die as a result of enemy action during the war was the assistant matron of RCNH [naval hospital] Avalon, N/S Agnes W. Wilkie, of Carman, Manitoba. She was one of 137 passengers and crew members who were lost in October 1942 when the Newfoundland Ferry Ship Caribou, on which she was returning from leave, was torpedoed and sunk in the Cabot Strait. For more than two hours Miss Wilkie and her companion, Dietitian Margaret Brooke, clung to a raft, until the former lost consciousness in the chilling water. Finally, as the sea roughened, Miss Brooke could no longer hold on to her colleague, who slipped away from her benumbed grasp. The body of N/S Wilkie was recovered and interred with full naval honours in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, St. John's. Later her name was given to one of the nurses' residences in Halifax. For her heroic attempt to save the life of her comrade, Dietitian Brooke was awarded the MBE - the only naval nursing sister in the Second World War to receive this honour." (page 187)
Air Force
In November 1940, the RCAF Nursing Service was authorized. A total of 481 would serve. Some were involved in air-sea rescue missions, and flights to pick up sick and injured service people from bases in Canada. About one in seven served overseas. Air Force mobile field hospitals gave early medical treatment before evacuating patients to base hospitals. One Air Force field hospital unit landed in Normandy on June 19, with two nursing sisters -- F/O Dabina Pitkethly of Ottawa and F/O Dorothy Mulholland of Georgetown, Ontario.
General
There were five branches of the nursing service: Nursing sisters, dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, home sisters. Some facilities also had lab technicians.
In April 1942, nurses from the nursing division of the St. John Ambulance Brigade and the nursing auxiliary of the Canadian Red Cross Corps were allowed to work in military hospitals. About 100 voluntary aid detachments served in Canada and overseas with British and Canadian military hospitals.
When the war ended, the various nursing services had recruited 4,480 nursing sisters and their professional associates. They staffed over 100 major hospital units; admitting more than 60,000 Canadian wounded, as well as Allied wounded. They won 386 awards of the Royal Red Cross, including four bars.
There were 28 Canadian general hospitals, five casualty clearing stations, two convalescent hospitals, a hospital in South Africa, and the RCN Hospital Niobe.
CWACS (Canadian Women's Army Corps)
(from Greatcoats and Glamour Boots: Canadian Women at War (1939-1945) by Carolyn Gossage, Dundurn Press, Toronto, 1991)
Women staffed approximately 55 army jobs in the war, becoming military writers, drivers, messwomen, cooks, paymasters, telephone operators, typists, clerks, messengers, laundresses, supply assistants, artists, photographers, postal clerks, teletype operators, sick berth attendants... Some served in occupied Germany after VE-Day. By war's end, more than 22,000 women served in this branch.
RCAF WOMEN'S DIVISION (THE WD's)
The division would staff about 65 different jobs. By war's end more than 17,000 women served.
July 13, 1945, two months after Victory in Europe but before Victory in Japan, three servicewomen lost their lives, along with 11 men, when an RCAF Liberator aircraft crashed near Bamfield, B.C. The aircraft was on a mission to familiarize the craft's seven-member crew with various airfields. Seven passengers had been picked up along the way. (The women were Sergeant P.G. Bennett, Corporal N. Johnson, Ldg. Aircraftwoman M. Mann, all WD's)
WRCNS (Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service or WRENS)
About 40 naval trades were occupied by women. By war's end nearly 7,000 women had served.
Throughout the war 244 Canadian servicewomen were awarded military decorations, including the MBE.
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Background Information
Commemorative Candlelight Tributes
· In 1995 the citizens of the Netherlands held a special ceremony to commemorate the liberation of their country by Canadian Forces in 1945, at the end of the Second World War.
· In this commemorative ceremony Dutch children placed lighted candles on the overseas graves to honour the fallen Canadian Soldiers.
· The candles remained lit overnight on the gravestones, in silent tribute to Canadians.
· Throughout the night people from many surrounding towns visited the cemeteries, drawn by the soft red glow of the candles burning in the sacred, picturesque settings.
· Commemorative Candlelight Tributes have now become an annual ceremony in The Netherlands and other European countries.
· In 1997 Veterans Affairs Canada Pacific Region introduced this ceremony in British Columbia to commemorate Victory in Europe Day and the return of world peace.
· The first Commemorative Candlelight Tribute in British Columbia was held in the Mountainview Cemetery in Vancouver. 500 children placed 500 lighted candles on the gravesites of Canadian Servicemen and Servicewomen.
· The involvement of children and parents with Veterans and Peacekeepers is very important, as it is not only a commemorative ceremony but also a learning experience. Children learn from involvement, and Candlelight Tributes afford that opportunity.
· The Mountainview Cemetery Candlelight Tribute was so successful that in the next year, over 31 communities planned Candlelight Tributes throughout British Columbia.
· Commemorative Candlelight Tributes can be planned at any time of the year, to commemorate whatever is important to any specific community.
· British Columbians have embraced this commemorative ceremony. This year 12,000 candles have been purchased from communities throughout British Columbia, quite a significant accomplishment from the first 500.
· As well this year, Commemorative Candlelight Tributes have been held in Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Ottawa. Canadians are starting to embrace this commemorative ceremony across the nation.
· And as recently as last week, a Commemorative Candlelight Tribute was held in Hovander Park Ferndale, Washington, USA to honour Canadian Vietnam Veterans. The interest has been inspired internationally through the efforts of Veterans Affairs Canada, Pacific Region and the Veterans' Commemoration Committee.
-------------------
PLS NOTE:
Each year.... since the Vietnam war.... American heroes come to our small communities (it took us 18 long damn years to get our Vietnam memorial) to celebrate and honour Remembrance Day in Canada. Many Canadians are still to proud and angry over the treatment of their brothers and sisters and the vicious cruelty thrown on them by the free world countries and ugly public behaviour of movie stars, artists, singers etc. These free world countries who SENT (our military forces) THEM THERE to Vietnam in JFK's war. And upon returning home..... many of my friends cried ... and said it would have been better to die on the fields of Vietnam..... we will never forget.
Also the government of Canada (Liberal) at the time our heroic Canadian military, militia and reservists were sent to the Balkans (the Liberal government complety ignored all our Canadian forces... not recognizing their deaths in the Balkans... nor the thousands injured.... like our Canadians signed on to commit suicide over their whim with signing a pen to appease world agendas and 'in' crowds)... where many died and over thousands badly wounded.... there has NOT been one memorial or apology by the Government of Canada for the public and governments treatment of our vets of both these wars (Vietnam and the Balkans.... (NOR ARE THEY MENTIONED ON REMEMBERANCE DAY)... yet Canada harboured the draft dogers (Vietnam).... like their were kings..... God Bless our Canada and our Canadian Military, Militia and Reservists..... and shame, shame, shame on kerry, John and fonda, Jane (who stood in a Vietnam enemy tank which was surround with USA Prisioners of war.... who were murdered by the enemy.... as soon as Fonda returned to the American forces side. We will never forget.... or forgive.
Today the liberal, ndp and bloc hold the bloodstains of 5 Canadian sons and a Canadian daughter for bringing up the anti-military cry of the treatment of islamic terrorists in Afghan prisons (in war.... it's war... period- no mercy) ..... imagine.... our troops in that ugly dirty place.... called Afghanistan in a theatre of war which the liberals, ndp and bloc sent them IN THE FIRST PLACE. Then to pull up their political points they screamed around the world about the abusive treatment of islamic terrorists in Afghan prisons by Afghans handed over by Canadians and NATO troops.
However, not a peep on the bloodstains and tears of the 99 per cent of Canadian crying over our dead and injured precious Canadian sons and daughters wearing Canada's flags on their shoulders in this godforsaken place; not one show of care and support- the lib, ndp and bloc EVEN BOYCOTTED THE REMEMBRANCE of 14 Canadian girls murdered by a freak in 1989 in Quebec... and that's when Canadians... started moving away in droves from these parties- they are an embarrassment to Canada.... and I'm Liberal (well I was.... but this kind of party over Canadians is way too much... even for me... and to not put our Canadian forces 1st above all else... is the mark of cowards- Canada's sons and daughters did not sign on to commit suicide serving our country's highest honour- and Canada knows that.) We want another election.... and this time there will be a majority... and these me, me, me party hacks are so going down.... and hard.. Shame on them.... Shame on them.... Shame on them..... God is watching.... and on Judgement day.... they will answer to The Highest Power.
We love our NATO troops and no more greedy-seedy-giddy-ups from world leaders and useless greedy seedy NATO and useless greedy seedy mafia thug run UN..... that day is now over. They need to be disbanded now. We need a new League of nations and new global laws.
Muslim Islamic Terrorists are everywhere around the world..... and we are going to clean house everywhere. God for citizens standing up and saying 'no more of your political correctness bullsh**'- no more sons and daughters dying because of 2% of the world and their 'saviour complex'. The majority of our world is taking it back. Political parties be damned..... we, the people are standing up and moving forward... and it's time, in my opinion.
We are going to clean up Afghanistan; Iraq is a democracy ONLY because of Nato troops.... specifically USA, UK, Australia and a handfull of others- and pass the bullsh** and beans on why there or whatever.... the bottom line is Iraq is a superpower in oil and the centrepiece of democracy.... and our troops made it happen.
Canada chose Afghanistan over Iraq....and it would take over 1,000 pages of typing to place the great and wonderful things on my blogs here as well as some up to date news and favored blogs (and boy do we have tons of supporters of our beloved troops.) It's a new day..... stealing money from the innocents of this world from taxpaying dollars ... is now over. Example Katrina... Canadians sent almost half a million dollars they did not have..... tons of people did.... to the effect each and every citizen of Katrina should have recweived $160,000 American tax free dollars..... and you can be damn sure the Republicans didn't take it.... and the citizens DID NOT receive it.... so what happened. The travesty to me is the political meanness of spirit of the democrats who never lifted one damn finger to help.... and now they are in power and still not a damn thing. Millions and millions of every day voters in the free world are moving away from hardcore party politics..... we want our communities to be cared fore and grassroots movements the way they were.... when people counted over political party mantra. Tons of us are leaving our old belief party folds.... we see not one damn bit of difference from one party to another.... and are still poor and same life worries. It's a disgrace in these times. imo.
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Canadian Vietnam troops
International Commission For Supervision And Control Service - ICSC
Terms
The ICSC medal is awarded for 90 days consecutive or non-consecutive service as a member of the commission, calculated from the date the member came under the command of the commission; or less than 90 days if such service was terminated by death, injury or any disability received in carrying out official duties and a certificate is given to this effect by the Senior Military Advisor.
Mandate
The mandate of the ICCS in Vietnam was to supervise the cease-fires and withdrawal of French troops and to supervise the movement of refugees. The ICSC Laos was to supervise the cease-fire and promote negotiations between the Royal Laotian government and the Pathel Lao. Canadian participation in the ICSC Laos was 1954 - 1958 and then 1961 - 1969. The ICSC Cambodia monitored the Geneva Accords and helped the Khmer resistance forces disband and return home and the Viet Minh to leave the country. Much of the work was done from 1954 to 1955 and Canada had only token representation after 1958. The commission withdrew completely in 1969.
Description
A circular dark brown (bronze) medal, 1.42 inches in diameter.
Obverse
The emblem of the ICSC; crossed flags, a maple leaf on the left one and a central horizontal line on the right one, with a dove of peace where the flag staffs cross and lions between the flags facing left, centre and right. Around the edge are the words INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SUPERVISION AND CONTROL - PEACE with the word PEACE at the bottom and in larger, more widely-spaced letters.
Reverse
The reverse has a map of Indochina showing the three countries, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos with their names in the script of the respective countries.
Mounting
A floral attachment is welded to the top of the medal and joins a wide bar marked with three indented horizontal lines. A narrow horizontal bar is held above the first bar by ends supports and the ribbon passes between.
Ribbon
The ribbon is 1.25 inches (32 mm) wide, with three equal stripes of dark green, white and red. The green represents India and the red represents Canada and Poland.
Naming
The recipient's rank, surname and initials appear on the edge of the medal.
Dates
The medal was created in 1967 and awarded for service between 07 August 1954 and 28 January 1973.
Issued
Canadians have received 1,550 (133 on duty at any given time).
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CANADIAN VIETNAM VETS
International Commission of Control and Supervision Vietnam 1973 - ICCS
(Operation Gallant)
Terms
The ICCS medal was awarded for 90 days service with the Commission between 28 January 1973 and 31 July 1973. The 1,160 personnel of the commission were from Canada, Hungary, Indonesia and Poland and their role was to monitor the cease-fire in South Vietnam as per the Paris Peace Conference. The Commission arranged the release and exchange of more than 32,000 prisoners of war.
Canada contributed 240 Canadian Forces personnel and 50 officials from the Department of External Affairs. The ICCS operated until 30 April 1975, two years after the Canadians withdrew.
Description
A circular, bright gold medal, 1.42 inches in diameter. (The medals awarded by the ICCS were very cheap in appearance and often referred to as the Cracker Jacks box medal. In 1990, Canada produced the medal as described, but in a much improved quality, and presented them to the civilian members of the ICCS who had not received the original medal. Military personnel could purchase the better medal.)
Obverse
The symbols of the four contributing countries are displayed in the centre with the Canadian maple leaf in the upper left position, Hungarian coat-of-arms, Polish Eagle and the Indonesian coat-of-arms making up the other three symbols. Around the edge are the words: INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF CONTROL AND SUPERVISION.
Reverse
The reverse has a wreath of laurel around the edge and the legend in three lines: SERVICE / VIETNAM / 17-1-73.
Mounting
It is the mounting that helps give it the Cracker Jacks box appearance. There is a small ring welded to the top of the medal. A small ring passes through this ring and attaches the medal to a ring at the bottom end of a thin laurel bar.
Ribbon
The ribbon is 1.50 inches wide and consists of nine equal stripes: red, white, red, white, light green (centre), white, red, white, and red.
Naming
The medals were issued unnamed.
Issued
352 members of the Canadian Forces
32 to civilians (these were the Canadian produced medals)
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Veteran's Affairs Canada
Recovering from the war: A woman's guide to helping your Vietnam vet, your family, and yourself. Viking ...
PTSD and Relationships
A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet (Veterans Affairs Canada Adaptation)
How does trauma affect relationships?
Trauma survivors with PTSD often experience problems in their intimate and family relationships or close friendships.
PTSD involves symptoms that interfere with trust, emotional closeness, communication, responsible assertiveness, and effective problem solving.
· Survivors may experience a loss of interest in social or sexual activities, they may feel distant from others, and they may be emotionally numb.
· Partners, friends, or family members may feel hurt, alienated, or discouraged because the survivor has not been able to overcome the effects of the trauma, and they may become angry or distant toward the survivor.
· Feeling irritable, on guard, easily startled, worried, or anxious may lead survivors to be unable to relax, socialize, or be intimate without being tense or demanding. Significant others may feel pressured, tense, and controlled as a result.
· Difficulty falling or staying asleep and severe nightmares may prevent both the survivor and partner from sleeping restfully, which may make sleeping together difficult.
· Trauma memories, trauma reminders or flashbacks, and the avoidance of such memories or reminders can make living with a survivor feel like living in a war zone or like living with the constant threat of vague but terrible danger.
· Living with an individual who has PTSD does not automatically cause PTSD, but it can produce vicarious or secondary traumatization, which is similar to having PTSD.
· Reliving trauma memories, avoiding trauma reminders, and struggling with fear and anger greatly interfere with a survivor's ability to concentrate, listen carefully, and make cooperative decisions. As a result, problems often go unresolved for a long time.
· Significant others may come to feel that dialogue and teamwork are impossible.
Survivors of childhood sexual and physical abuse and survivors of rape, domestic violence, combat, terrorism, genocide, torture, kidnapping, and being a prisoner of war often report feeling a lasting sense of terror, horror, vulnerability, and betrayal that interferes with relationships.
· Survivors who feel close to someone else, who begin to trust, and who become emotionally or sexually intimate may feel like they are letting down their guard. Although the survivor often actually feels a strong bond of love or friendship in current healthy relationships, this experience can be perceived as dangerous.
· Having been victimized and exposed to rage and violence, survivors often struggle with intense anger and impulses. In order to suppress their anger and impulsive actions, survivors avoid closeness by expressing criticism toward or dissatisfaction with loved ones and friends.
· Intimate relationships may have episodes of verbal or physical violence.
· Survivors may be overly dependent upon or overprotective of partners, family members, friends, or support persons (such as healthcare providers or therapists).
· Alcohol abuse and substance addiction, which can result from an attempt to cope with PTSD, can destroy intimacy and friendships.
In the first weeks and months following a traumatic event, survivors of disasters, terrible accidents or illnesses, or community violence often feel an unexpected sense of anger, detachment, or anxiety in their intimate, family, and friendship relationships. Most are able to resume their prior level of intimacy and involvement in relationships, but the 5-10% who develop PTSD often experience lasting problems with relatedness and intimacy.
Yet, many trauma survivors do not experience PTSD, and many people in intimate relationships, families, and friendships with individuals who have PTSD do not experience severe relational problems. People with PTSD can create and maintain successful intimate relationships by:
· Establishing a personal support network that will help the survivor cope with PTSD while he or she maintains or rebuilds family and friend relationships with dedication, perseverance, hard work, and commitment
· Sharing feelings honestly and openly with an attitude of respect and compassion
· Continually strengthening cooperative problem-solving and communication skills
· Including playfulness, spontaneity, relaxation, and mutual enjoyment in the relationship
What can be done to help someone who has PTSD?
For many trauma survivors, intimate, family, and friend relationships are extremely beneficial. These relationships provide:
Companionship and a sense of belonging, which can act as an antidote to isolation
Self-esteem, which can act as an antidote to depression and guilt
Opportunities to make a positive contribution, which can reduce feelings of failure or alienation
Practical and emotional support when coping with life stressors
As with all psychological disturbances, especially those that impair social, psychological, or emotional functioning, it is best to seek treatment from a professional who has expertise in both PTSD and in treating couples or families. Contact Veterans Affairs Canada for assistance in locating a VAC designated therapist in your area. Survivors find a number of different professional treatments helpful for dealing with relationship issues, including individual and group psychotherapy for their own PTSD, anger and stress management, assertiveness training, couples communication classes, family education classes, and family therapy.
Suggested Readings
John N. Briere and Diana M. Elliott. (1994). Immediate and long-term impacts of child sexual abuse. Future of Children 4(2), 54-69.
Rebecca Coffey. (1998). Unspeakable truths and happy endings: Human cruelty and the new trauma therapy. Sidran Press, ISBN 1-886968-04-7 or 1-886968-05-5.
Patience Mason. (1990). Recovering from the war: A woman's guide to helping your Vietnam vet, your family, and yourself. Viking, ISBN 0-670-81587-X; Penguin, ISBN 0-14-009912-3.
Aphrodite Matsakis. (1996). Vietnam wives: facing the challenges of life with veterans suffering post traumatic stress. Sidran Press, ISBN 1-886968-00-4.
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