Woodstock, NB, Canada
Harold A. Skaarup
Current Location: Fredericton, NB, Canada
Shortly after his arrival in Petawawa, I was handed a message which read, in part, “you are hereby warned for United Nations Duty, OP SNOWGOOSE, Cyprus, etc.” The notice was short, as I was flown out of Ottawa to Germany within a few weeks and arrived in Larnaca, Cyprus on 19 Aug 1986. I replaced the RCR Int O who had to return to Canada early, and remained in theatre when the RCR was rotated out and replaced by the Canadian Airborne Regiment.
Nicosia was a one-hour drive north of Larnaca and, since it was August, I found the ancient city to be hot, congested and very interesting, much like Athens. I was billeted in the Ledra Palace, a partially damaged hotel located in the centre of the green line downtown and between the Turkish and Greek belligerent factions. The tour stated off with an abrupt “stand-to” as there was a flare-up over movement of flags and markers at a site called “Beaver Lodge.” One side moved markers forward, the Canadians moved them back, guns were pointed, and people became agitated. The situation was resolved after some tense interaction between RCR officers and their counterparts to the north.
The UN was intensely adverse to the use of anything having to do with military intelligence, therefore, I was designated “the Ops B Information Officer” at CCUNFICYP. During my handover with the members of the RCR Ops B Information Section, I visited the “Blue Beret Camp” (BBC), and was shown the ground from West to East on the island in the buffer zone between the Greeks and the Turks. The enormous waste and destruction of buildings and property in the zone had changed little since the war following the Turkish invasion of the northern part of the island in response to Greek declarations in 1974.
I took part in routine morning briefings to the CO and his staff, and participated in meetings with other UN Ops B Information representatives. In August, WO Gilmore took me south through the Sovereign Base Area (SBA) that belongs to the UK, and on down to Larnaca along the coast, passing through several Greek, UN, and Turkish checkpoints. The Swedish guards at these checkpoints put on a spectacular salute twirling their rifles high in the air as we drove back to Nicosia.
During the Turk-Canadian confrontation, later referred to as the “Beaver Lodge” incident which took place on 22 Aug 1986, I was flown on a reconnaissance flight over Sector 4, Nicosia, in a British Alouette helicopter to get an overhead view of the situation. The CO expected an interesting and perhaps difficult day, with a crisis on the line over a change to the status quo boundaries. The situation calmed down after a great deal of discussion. The following day, we went on a patrol with a Recce team to Kyrenia via the NW route through the mountains. Several Turk sentries waved, some saluted, but one pointed his rifle at us, which was interesting.
In spite of a great deal of negotiation and talk, the confrontation on the Green Line in the Canadian Sector continued to fester, forcing the RCR’s Col James Cox to put the Turks on the defensive again after they decided to push their luck on 28 Aug. Armed Canadian soldiers reoccupied the Beaver Lodge site, and shortly afterwards the Turkish Commander agreed to remove the Turk flags from the Canadian position. Shortly afterwards, the vanguard of the CAR began to arrive in theatre even while tension was still high on the Greek side of the line.
In December, the Ops/Info conference was held at BBC. Afterwards the group visited FINCON with the Finlanders and Austrians, and were invited to enjoy their sauna. While relaxing in the heat, members of the Swedish contingent swiped everyone’s clothing, then had their UN police order us out of the hut by loudhailer for not having our identification cards. There were a few unhappy campers over the incident.
On 6 Dec 86, BGen Ford from the UK Int Corps visited the CAR for a line tour. Unfortunately, this day the Regiment lost a soldier when MCpl Mark MacRae was killed in a climbing accident while touring St Hilarion castle. The evening was a sombre one for the contingent, as every soldier is well known to each other. The Regimental Chaplain, Capt Reg Gilbert, spoke to everyone in the HQ and Signals Sqn about the accident.
Although the end of the tour seemed to take its time in coming, I turned in my pistol at BBC on 24 Feb 1987, then I and my chalk cleared customs and boarded a bus for the trip to Larnaca and marched straight onto the B-707. As the aircraft lifted off the island from Larnaca headed for Lahr, everyone onboard cheered. After a 1½-hour stop in Lahr, the cheer was even louder when the aircraft lifted off for the second time and headed back to Canada, and home.
Biography
Harold “Hal” Aage Skaarup joined the Reserve 56th Field Squadron, RCE in St. John’s, Newfoundland in Feb 1972, then transferred to 723 Communications Squadron in Halifax while attending the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, graduating in 1974. He enrolled as a ROUTP cadet in the fall of 1972. From 1977 to 1979 he was a member of the Canadian Forces Parachute Team, the Sky Hawks, in Edmonton, Alberta. From 1979 to 1981 he served with the HQ Northern Alberta Militia District Intelligence Section, while working in Edmonton as a Cartography Supervisor with the NorthWest Aerial Survey firm. From 1981 to 1983 he was on Class C Reserve service as the SO3 Intelligence Officer at HQ Canadian Forces Europe in Lahr, Germany.
In July 1983, he transferred to the Regular Force Intelligence Branch and attended the Canadian Forces School of Intelligence and Security (CFSIS) at CFB Borden, remaining on staff as an instructor after graduation. In March 1984 he was posted to Ottawa, where he was a CF Attaché trainer and Intelligence Analyst in the Directorate of Defence Intelligence Section 6. From 1986 to 1989, he was the Regimental Int O for the Canadian Airborne Regiment at CFB Petawawa, and took part in a 7-month United Nations deployment to Cyprus from Aug 1986 to Feb 1987. From 1989 to 1992, he served with the HQ and Signals Squadron, 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Lahr, as the G2 Operations Officer. He completed the Arms Verification Control course and took part in verification taskings and training in Germany and Iceland. He also completed courses in Advanced Electronic Warfare in Germany, as well as Interrogation and Conduct after Capture training at Ashford in the UK.
In 1992 he returned to CFSIS as an Instructor then, as a Major, he became the OC Int Trg Coy, then OC Distance Learning Coy. In 1994, he was posted to the Tactics School at the Combat Training Centre, CFB Gagetown, serving as the Intelligence Directing Staff officer. In May 1997, he completed his Master’s degree in War Studies at the Royal Military College. From June to Dec 1997, he served as the CO of the Canadian National Intelligence Centre with the NATO-led Peace Stabilization Force in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
From 1998 to 1999 he attended the Land Forces Technical Staff Officer’s Course at RMC, then was then posted to North American Aerospace Defence HQ in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 2003, he was posted to Land Forces Atlantic Area, Halifax, as the Area G2. From January to July 2004, he was the Deputy G2 and Chief Assessments Officer in the Kabul Multinational Brigade, Kabul, Afghanistan, returning to LFAA in August 2004. In 2006 he was posted to 3 Area Support Group, CFB Gagetown, where he served as the G3 Operations Deputy Commanding Officer. He retired after serving 40 years with the Canadian Forces in August 2015.
In 2015 Harold was appointed Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel for 3 Intelligence Company, Halifax, NS, serving until 2018.
Harold is a volunteer tour guide at the New Brunswick Military History Museum in Oromocto and serves on the Board of Directors of the Fredericton Region Museum. He is the author of several books including four volumes of “Out of Darkness — Light, a History of Canadian Military Intelligence”, and continues to write with a focus on military history.
Ops B Information Section (Canadian Airborne Regiment Intelligence Section), Cyprus, 1986–87. WO Dean J. Dunlop, MCpl Chuck J. Spillane, Capt Harold Skaarup, and MCpl Rick G. Oliver, Camp HQ on the grounds of the former Ledra Palace Hotel, Nicosia.
Skaarup, jumping with the “Red Devils” into the British Medals parade at Blue Beret Camp, Cyprus, Sep 1986.
Skaarup in Kabul, Afghanistan.