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Managing Personnel in Cyprus

Heroes Remember

Managing Personnel in Cyprus

Transcript
Then went out and joined a regiment, Lord Strathcona’s Horse in Calgary, where I became a Squadron Armoured Corps Commander and as a Squadron Commander I took my squadron to Cyprus. We did a tour in Cyprus. In those days Cyprus was relatively quiet. There were still some hot spots and flash points. It was an interesting tour. It was a tour that challenged your leadership because most of your people by this time had done one or two tours in Cyprus and you know, it was relatively boring and you had a problem of keeping their morale. You had a problem of watching how much alcohol was used, the whole ten yards. I approached it very simply again as a band of brothers. We were all responsible for each other. You went downtown with somebody, you signed out with that individual, you came back with that individual. If you didn’t come back with that individual either my Sergeant Major or I had a few short, sharp words with you and maybe you ended up doing some extra duties. In my tour there I went over with my squadron and I came back with the same number of people I went over with, which in those days was relatively unusual because we had a lot of people they had morale problems. We didn’t. We had a lot of fun too.
Description

Mr. Henry describes being deployed to Cyprus and successfully managing his squadron in a somewhat uneventful theatre.

William Henry

William Henry was born September 2, 1939 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. His father was a Second World War Veteran, which inspired Mr. Henry to join the School Cadet Corps. He received officer training and was commissioned in the 17th Recce, PEI Regiment. Upon completing his degree at Dalhousie University, he was re-commissioned in the Royal Canadian Dragoons. Mr. Henry eventually joined the Lord Strathcona’s Horse, attaining the rank of Major. His tours of duty included Cyprus, writing the orders of occupation for Sinai, and acting as an observer in Lebanon, a role he found difficult given his training as a military strategist.

Meta Data
Medium:
Video
Owner:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:
1:55
Person Interviewed:
William Henry
War, Conflict or Mission:
Canadian Armed Forces
Branch:
Army
Units/Ship:
Lord Strathcona’s Horse
Rank:
Major
Occupation:
Observer, Controller

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