Ted Barris, Author / Historian Topic: “The Great Escape” a Canadian Story

Volume 49 | Number 2 November 2014 CAHS Toronto Chapter Meeting Saturday November 1, 2014 1:00 PM CANADIAN FORCES COLLEGE 215 Yonge Blvd. at Wilson Avenue, Toronto Speaker: Ted Barris, Author / Historian Topic: “The Great Escape” A Canadian Story Illustration by Les Waller Flypast V. 49 No. 2 October Meeting Topic: Air Power in UN Operations: Wings for Peace Speaker: Dr. Walter Dorn Reporter: Greg Winson CAHS Toronto Chapter President Sheldon Benner introduced our speaker, Dr. Walter Dorn. Dr. Dorn is a Professor of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) and the Canadian Forces College (CFC). Dr. Dorn previously spoke to the Chapter on April 14, 2012. Dr. Dorn serves as the Chair of the Masters of Defence Studies at CFC. Previously, he served as chair of the Department of Security and International Affairs. He is also Vice-Chair of Canadian Pugwash, an organization of physical, life and social scientists seeking to reduce the threats to global security. He is a graduate of Scarborough College (University of Toronto) in Physics and Chemistry. Dr. Dorn received his Doctorate in Speaker Dr. Walter Dorn Chemistry at the University of Toronto in 1995. While Dr. Dorn Photo Credit - Neil McGavock is a scientist by training his doctoral research was aimed at chemical sensing for arms control. His basic research on the methods of detecting chemicals can also be applied to many different areas, including biological arms control. He is continuing his work on the technology for peacekeeping and arms control. His passion for the combining of lab research to the technical aspects of peace-keeping began at Scarborough College in 1982. He had the opportunity to attend the United Nations (UN) in New York with one of his professors for the Special Session on Disarmament. He became fascinated with the United Nations and started to attend about every two months. By chance he became aware that the organization named “Science for Peace”, a Canadian NGO, had applied for membership in the UN, but that process seemed stalled. On his next visit to New York he inquired about it. The application had been misplaced, but because of his inquiry, it was put on track again. After reporting back to Toronto, he became somewhat of a “hero” and was appointed the group’s official representative to the UN. He dove into the job with such enthusiasm that by 1988 at the Second Special Session on Disarmament, he was given the privilege of addressing the UN General Assembly. Dr. Dorn spent 5 years observing the UN before he felt competent enough to write about it. One of his first articles was for Peace Magazine. He also wrote a book titled, “Peacekeeping Satellites: The Case for International Surveillance and Verification”. This led him to reviewing a proposal for establishing a UN reconnaissance capability. As a scientist, he took a special interest in the verification of biological and chemical weapons disarmament treaties. He began to work at Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), an organization based near the UN that enables parliamentarians of many different countries to work together. As the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was nearing the final stages of negotiation, the PGA wanted to promote the process and inform parliamentarians about their responsibilities under the treaty. Dr. Dorn was expected to attend some of the meetings and make suggestions. He subsequently assisted with the negotiation, ratification and implementation of the CWC. He addressed parliamentary bodies on several continents and drafted a parliamentary declaration that was signed by more than one 2 Flypast V. 49 No. 2 thousand parliamentarians. In Canada, he testified before the Foreign Affairs Committee, which produced an acceptable law. About 150 countries have signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, but only about 50 have ratified it. In 2011, he finished writing a book titled, “Keeping Watch: Monitoring, Technology, and Innovation in UN Peacekeeping Operations”. In September of this year, he published his latest book “Air Power in UN Operations: Wings for Peace”. He is also hoping to finally complete a related book on a broader theme, tentatively titled “The Emerging Global Watch: UN Monitoring for International Peace and Human Security”. At the Canadian Forces College, Toronto he teaches officers of rank, Major to Brigadier from Canada and over twenty other countries in the areas of arms control, Canadian foreign / defence policy, peace operations and international security. His interests are broad, covering both international and human security, especially the operations in the field to help secure them through peacekeeping and peace enforcement by the United Nations. More than just believing in the UN, Dr. Dorn is devoted to making it work. Dr. Dorn began by saying that he wanted to get into aviation from a very early age. “My first profession that I ever wanted to be was a pilot, and this fascination with the air has stayed with me my whole life.” He first pursued interests in physical and political science, and then applied interest in aircraft with his professional background to his current passion for international peace and security with UN operations. He then read excerpts from his latest book “Air Power in UN Operations,” to explain the important role of aircraft in UN peacekeeping operations. The book has 17 chapters written by 12 authors, with Dr. Dorn having written five of the chapters. The book begins with a forward by retired Lieutenant – General Romeo Dallaire. Dr. Dorn read several passages from Dallaire’s forward, beginning with a defence of UN operations. “The operations of the United Nations, no matter how flawed, understaffed, or ill equipped, are a vital expression of human concern,” wrote Dallaire. “All nations should have a strong interest in using peace operations to prevent conflict, minimize human suffering, preserve human dignity, and reduce radicalization and extremism in many forms. Yet these peace operations remain poorly equipped to do the job.” Dallaire then argued air power is a vital capability for UN forces. “Aircraft often serve as a lifeline for survival and sanity,” Dallaire wrote. “In Rwanda in 1994, it is hard to describe the joy and relief we felt from the sound of incoming aircraft landing with essential supplies, new personnel and packages from home. “The aircrew risked their lives to save ours.” Canadian Forces Hercules were the only aircraft that flew regularly to Kigali during the Rwandan Genocide. The planes took fire from the ground, and had to land on unsecured hazardous airfields. “The courage and skills of the aircrews made our work possible so that we in turn could save thousands who would have otherwise perished,” wrote Dallaire. He continued with “No nation can be completely unaffected. Illegally exported natural resources are exchanged for weapons, contraband that creates a vicious cycle that has to be stopped in partnership with international forces on the ground. Thus there is a strong humanitarian imperative to support the UN operations. It is ethically impossible to stand by as people are slaughtered. The UN peace operations, with their 21st century mandates to protect civilians and support human rights, are an expression of this humanitarian imperative.” Flypast V. 49 No. 2 3 CC-130H Hercules Transport Photo Credit - DND Map showing the location of the Congo and Rwanda in Central Africa - Map Courtesy - WTS The United Nations Operation in the Congo from 1960 to 1964 shaped the role of aircrews in peacekeeping missions. The Congo is a huge territory, the size of Western Europe, which was part of a larger decolonization process in the mid-20th century. There was little preparation for the decolonization when the Belgians very reluctantly gave it up in late June 1960. There was a mutiny of Congolese soldiers against their Belgian officers, leading to widespread chaos. To make things worse, the eastern province of Katanga, the richest part of the Congo, declared independence. Republic of 4 Flypast V. 49 No. 2 the Congo Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba turned to the United States for help to suppress the mutiny, which in turn referred them to the UN. A major peacekeeping mission was proposed, with 20,000 troops to bring order to the Congo. It also became a proxy war with the Soviet Union, as Lumumba also sought Soviet aid after the UN refused to suppress the Katangan uprising as Lumumba had hoped. In the Congo, the UN had to deal with coup d’etats, secessionist provinces, tribal wars, ethnic massacres, and very real threats to its own personnel. In October 1960, a Russian TU104 military jet transport landed in Leopoldville, likely with the purpose of lifting Patrice Lumumba out of the country. Looking for a way to delay the departure, the tires on the high performance jet were slyly flattened by UN forces. The plane departed late and without Lumumba. The air mission began in 1960, when the UN had to bring over 20,000 troops to the vast Congolese territory. Soon over a dozen nations contributed to the air mission. UN personnel rightly boasted that they had created the UN’s first air force, as this was the first time air support was used for transport, surveillance and combat. A lone fighter jet, flown by a mercenary pilot from Katanga, was able to paralyze UN efforts and embarrass the international community. The UN was obliged to participate in an air arms race to protect itself and to protect the breakup of the newborn country. Air reconnaissance provided by Swedish jets was essential to predict and preempt Katangan attacks on UN forces. Bombers provided by India were able to destroy airfields used by mercenaries. Operation Grand Slam, in late 1962 and early 1963, and air support by Swedish jets assisted ground forces to assert the UN’s freedom of movement and capture key airfields and centres in Katanga, finally winning both the war and the peace.

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