Canadian Impact

Heroes Remember

Canadian Impact

Transcript

It was fine, I know I was, the Kurds (sp) called it detained, I held a record, detained 8 times in one day. We were stopped and radioed in and escorted out of the area, usually by what we called the Turk Turks, because each of the national countries, were permitted to have one battalion there and the Turkish national battalion, was big and hard nosed and they didn't like to see UN reconnaissance platoons watching what they were doing, so that would be a little tension filled. The Greeks battalion was back in Nicosia and it was out of our area so we didn't see them too much. The Greek Cypriots and the Turk Cypriots, particularly the Turk Cypriots, were a hodge-podge of people, including young 12 - 13 year old children carrying weapons at check points and so forth, which could cause a bit of a problem. I think our Canadians, being Canadians they have a soft spot for kids, particularly, you know it wasn't, we weren't there very long, in fact we took it over, sorry from a previous Canadian battalion the orphanage in Kirinia had been adopted and the guys in their off days and so forth, with a hammer and a saw and scrounging clothing and so fourth and the same in the local villages, if you were living out there obviously you're gonna talk to the village leader and so forth and there's gonna be a school there, Canadians love kids. They make their presence felt.

Description

Mr. Ethell describes how the Turk Capriots and the Greek Cypriots interacted with the Canadian Peace Keepers and how the Canadians impacted the Communities in which they were stationed.

Donald Stewart Ethell

Donald Stewart Ethell was born in July 1937 and was raised in Victoria, BC. His father was a Veteran of both the First and Second World Wars. His mother was a nurse. He and his sister attended boarding school because of his parents' jobs and he was only home at Christmas and during the summer. His mother passed away when Mr. Ethell was 10 years old.

When he enlisted, Mr. Ethell joined the Queen's Own Rifles in Calgary. After several years of serving as an infantryman he was recommended for the officer training. Mr. Ethell graduated from the program and rose to the rank of Colonel. He went on to command Canadian, and United Nations, forces in various missions all over the world. In the mid 1990s, Col. Ethell retired with over thirty-five years of distinguished service.

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