Christopher Chance

Cyprus 1977 and 1983

Before leaving the Army in 1983 (immediately after my 2nd tour with UNFICYP), I had completed  two tours of Cyprus, in 1977 and again in 1983. My first tour was probably the most interesting, as I was the Economics Officer for the Canadian Contingent which was based in Sector Four, which encompassed all the city of Nicosia. 

The military situation was very quiet, and there was a ceasefire in place that was holding, unlike Canada's subsequent peacekeeping tours in the Balkans, Somalia, and beyond. What made my job particularly interesting was that I liaised with the Greek and Turkish civilian communities, which despite the Green Line had vital interdependencies. As an example, the wells that supplied the city of Nicosia were in the Turkish part of the Danish Sector in Morphou. The reservoir that served all of Nicosia was located on the Greek side and was connected by underground pipeline back to the wells in Morphou. 

Consequently, one of our tasks was to pick up broken water pumps from the Turkish side, transport them across the Green Line to the maintenance shop on the Greek side and, once repaired, return them to the Turkish side for reinstallation down the wells. One can imagine a 10-foot-long downhole electric water pump weighing several hundred pounds hanging out the back of our UN Dodge One Ton Power Wagon. 

We also used our Power Wagon to transport bodies of Turkish civilians who had been taken to the main hospital in Nicosia for medical care, but who had subsequently died in the hospital. The hospital was located on the Greek side, and we were provided with a "coffin" in which to place the body of the Turkish-Cypriot citizen, but this "coffin" was more like an old wooden ammo crate, and with no top. A white bed sheet stamped "DND" was subsequently commandeered from the Ledra Palace laundry, with which to at least cover the body. We did two of these runs during the 1977 tour, which was rather “interesting”, given the 100+ ° F heat while trying to find the Turk medical center in the old part of the city of Nicosia. 

Perhaps the most interesting challenge that I had to address was the threat by the local Turkish liaison officer who handled the area east of Nicosia, to put a 106mm round through the next Greek sewage truck (Honey Wagon) that dumped its load in the grove of trees in the buffer zone, immediately next to the highway that led from Nicosia to Larnaca. In the heat of the summer, the ground had dried up, and the daily parade of Greek honey wagons all dumping their contents in the same location, and the subsequent lake of sewage that had formed, was making its way towards the Turkish lines. In the week that I was given by the Turks to “resolve the situation.” 

I was able to convene a meeting in the Buffer Zone with Turkish Cypriot public works director, Mr. Ali Haydar and his Greek Cypriot opposite number, Mr. George Charalambous. Mr. Charalambous’ initial response had been to respond that there was no solution, but when offered the opportunity to “Ride Shotgun” on the next Greek sewage truck, he came around and agreed to the meeting. The solution was pretty simple, which was to spread out the dumping of the raw sewage so that it could soak into the ground vs. contribute to the growing lake. While still not ideal, the “Battle of Shit Creek” was peacefully resolved with no shots fired. One could never tell what challenges one was going to receive when the office phone rang, which made this tour notably enjoyable particularly for me as a Junior Captain, and for my faithful driver, Cpl Claudel Dery.