“As this year marks the 60th anniversary of Canada’s initial contribution to the Cyprus mission, as well as the 50th anniversary of the war in which Canadians had to try to keep the peace amid fighting, it was important for us to mark it as an essential chapter of the history of Canadian peacekeeping,” says Dr.Andrew Burtch, Canadian War Museum Historian and curator for this exhibition.
Cyprus–A Divided Island is a captivating new exhibit going on from now until Jan. 31, 2025. It highlights the experiences of more than 30,000 Canadian soldiers who played an important role in maintaining peace on the island from 1964 to 1993.
Richard Barrington Nevitt, Corporal Smith, G.W. Temblos Outpost. Cyprus, 1968
The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national military museum, educating us on Canada’s military history. This exhibition delves into the mission’s origins, the early peacekeeping efforts to stabilize Cyprus, as well as the intense 1974 crisis where Canadian soldiers brokered ceasefires and evacuated refugees.
“Visitors walking towards the exhibition from the main entrance will see a survey in brief of the Cyprus peacekeeping mission, from the originating crisis in late 1963, the arrival of Canadian peacekeepers as part of the international force in March 1964, the work of supervising peaceful activities on the island such as harvests and escorting civilians across hostile areas,” says Dr. Burtch. “The video also captures footage of the 1974 war that resulted from an attempted coup on the island and a subsequent Turkish intervention, Canadians were caught in the middle. The footage also captures the lengthy watch that followed the 1974 crisis, ending for Canada in 1993 as we ended major contribution to Cyprus.”
A civilian jet destroyed during the first wave of Turkish attacks lies on the tarmac of Nicosia International Airport.
Most of the personal stories the visitor will encounter are through the supporting graphic materials, he adds. There are different sections dedicated to specific decades and missions, from the visitors meeting Terry Cowan, who served in the mission with an armoured patrol, to meeting Captain Alain Forand, who was also awarded the Star of Courage for his actions during a firefight in July 1974, where he directed his troops to fire back at Greek Cypriot positions while he crawled over exposed ground to help evacuate a wounded Canadian who was stuck in a shallow river.
Geoffrey George Jamieson, Liaison with the Louroujina Mukhtar, Cyprus – LdSH(RC), 1989
“The Canadian War Museum, as the national museum for military history, is dedicated to exploring how war has shaped Canada in its national, international, and personal dimensions,” continues Dr. Burtch. “So with this exhibit and others we are trying to relate important details about crises that shaped, in this case, generations of Canadian soldiers who were deployed to the island as part of a peacekeeping mission, which has historically been a very important military commitment. By showcasing these ordinary people living through extraordinary times, it affords visitors an opportunity to connect with the past in a different way than if they encountered it in a textbook, perhaps.”
Canadians established the observation post, OP Mojave, on the “Green Line,” where Greek and Turkish forces were a mere two metres apart, in August 1974.
Despite Canada’s withdrawal of major contributions to the Cyprus mission in 1993, its presence remains. This Middle Eastern country remains a site of memory for those who served and a hub for contemporary operations, and for Canadians returning from the war in Afghanistan, it was a waypoint where they had a chance to decompress before returning home. The island’s strategic importance was reaffirmed during the 2006 Lebanon crisis when it served as a key evacuation point for over 15,000 Canadians.
“As the curator, I certainly hope that veterans who served in the mission, or families of veterans, will see in the exhibition something familiar from their service,” says Dr. Burtch. “For those who did not know about the mission, I hope they come away with a sense of the stakes and the risks associated with this 29-year-long commitment to international peacekeeping, and the ongoing military and commemorative links between Canada and Cyprus.”
Robert Shipley sketched Canadian observation posts during a visit in 1978. In 2022, he returned to Cyprus to sketch many of these sites again. Side-by-side, his images reflect continuity and change on the island. OP Bastion, 2022 Courtesy of Robert Shipley. Photo provided.
Cyprus–A Divided Island will be presented at the Canadian War Museum from Sept. 25, 2024, to Jan. 31, 2025. Visitors are welcome to reserve their tickets online ahead of their visit. For more information, please visit warmuseum.ca.
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