July 18, 1993 was a sweltering 40-degree Mediterranean day. Capt. (Ret'd) Andrew Webb was a 23-year-old Lieutenant and his Vandoos were on security detail at the camp in Visoko, about 30 minutes north of Sarajevo. He and the Seven Platoon were asked to escort two Croatian nurses, who had walked for three days to the UN lines, back to the children's hospital they'd been forced to abandon.

The Canadians understood the urgency—a large number of children were in peril. A British liaison officer and a translator joined their patrol.

Sarajevo was still besieged and tens of thousands of mines had been strewn across the country. The road to Fojnica was blocked by the Bosnian Army that had driven Croatian forces from the area in intense fighting. Some of Fojnica had been set on fire and the Drin Hospital—which treated mostly children living with physical and intellectual disabilities—had been abandoned when the fighting threatened staff and patients.

United Nations troops and humanitarian aid convoys had been trying for days to reach two abandoned hospitals. Bosnian Army checkpoints on the main road from Kiseljak had turned them back.

Webb and his troops set out on a different path, out of radio range.

“We were on our own.”

It was a harrowing journey - they encountered anti-tank mines, local fighters and lost track of their armoured vehicles. After finding another abandoned hospital taken over by Croatian troops in Bakovici, they reached Fojnica late on the afternoon Sunday, July 18.

The former spa town, known for its centuries-old curative springs, looked like a ghost town.

“Doors of the houses were left open, dogs were running wild, there were still goats and horses in the fields,” Webb remembers. “You can see that people just scattered quickly, they left clothes on the clothesline.”

As they approached the abandoned Drin Hospital, Webb heard children's screams and saw their tiny arms hanging out of bars on the windows. Staff who were forced to flee had locked patients in their rooms and wards to keep them safe.

“This is a children's hospital, in a communist country, in a war zone, that has been abandoned for at least three days and it's 40-45 degrees out. We had the task of opening up the wards and keeping the nurses safe as they did their rounds, we kind of know what Hell smells like.”

The children were in great distress.

“There were kids shaking in the corner, their feet are blue, there are babies in their cribs in their filth, they're in advanced states of dehydration, there are kids under their beds, screaming. They're famished, they're panicking.”

As the nurses began tending to the babies in cribs, there were gunshots outside. They were out of radio range and had limited troops and supplies. They made the difficult decision to lock the doors and go back for more help.

The next day, members of the Canadian battle group's pioneer platoon and medics secured the site. They tended to the most urgent patients and began cleaning up. A large United Nations and Red Cross convoy loaded with medics, food and medical supplies arrived a few days later. Canadian troops and medics of CANBAT 2 remained onsite until the end of their tour in November 1993.

“It was definitely gratifying, some people were almost in tears thanking us.”

“These are absolutely some of the most innocent victims of a war, they have no comprehension of what is going on and they have nothing to do with this. It's just…insanity.”

Webb joined the Forces at 17, and after graduating from the Collège Militaire Royal de St-Jean, served with the 2nd Battalion Royal 22nd Regiment, headquartered in the Citadel, Quebec City. He is the descendant of a long line of military members. His great-grandfather fought with the infantry in the First World War. His grandfather was on the D-Day landing with the North Shore Regiment. His father was one of the first peacekeepers in Cyprus, while his older brother served on UN missions to Cyprus and Somalia.

Webb now teaches leadership at l'École nationale d'administration publique in Quebec City.

The little teddy bear Webb found at the Drin hospital has been donated to the Juno Beach Centre, in Normandy France, It will be featured in the new Faces of Canada Today permanent exhibition opening on the 80th anniversary of D-Day on 6 June 2024.

His reflections on finding the Drin Hospital are bittersweet.

“It was the kind of place that nightmares are made of, but we saved a couple of hundred kids, it's not bad, all told.”

The Fojnica patrol members who found the Drin Hospital were;

• Pte. Sylvain Verreault
• Pte. Kenney McCutcheon
• Pte. Steeve Roberge
• Cpl. Claude Belisle
• Pte. Camil Gagnon
• Pte. Steeve Leblond
• Sgt. Andre Latreille
• Pte. Pierrot Hamel
• Pte. Stephen Charest
• Pte. Pascal Ouellet
• Cpl. Luc Morissette
• Pte. Mario Leblanc
• Lt. Andrew Webb

With courage, integrity and loyalty, Andrew Webb is leaving his mark. He is one of our Canadian Armed Forces members. Watch Andrew tell his own story, and discover more stories.