Jean Paul Presley

Three months after completing Boot Camp, about 150 of us were given our orders that we were going to Cyprus on a Peacekeeping Mission. I was unsure if I was prepared to do my duty representing Canada, but I relied on my training. In February of 1969, we landed in Cyprus experiencing for the first-time temperatures of over 110 F in the shade. My station was in the Capital city of Cyprus, Nicosia, where we set up quarters in an abandoned Schoolhouse. I later found out that our accommodations were luxurious compared to our comrades staying in the hills.

First order of business was to set up round-the-clock shifts on six-hour rotations. We had at least 20 to 30 outposts on the Green Line, which is Nicosia’s urban no-man’s land, forming the de facto border between the Greek-majority Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Our purpose was to keep the Turks and Greeks separated. Each side has their own bunkers to stop entry into their territory. By installing the Canadian Peacekeeping forces between them, it ensured that there was no chance of starting a conflict. Part of our duties was to report any changes we saw to the bunkers or barricades. Not only did we have soldiers posted at these posts, but there were also soldiers that did constant patrolling of the perimeters. It wasn’t hard to notice the different lifestyle between the Greeks and the Turks. In Cyprus, back then, the Greeks were quite advanced in technology where the Turks held on strong to the old ways.

One particular outpost was on the roof of a six-story apartment building, where I would walk and keep check using binoculars on the situation on both sides. One day, as I was doing my rounds, on the Greek side where their building was many stories taller than where I was, I spotted a Greek soldier looking down at me from the top of his building pointing his rifle directly at me. So here I am wondering if he was going to shoot at me or what? We always carry a magazine of live ammunition. So, I pretended to cock my rifle and pointed it directly at him just in case he started to shoot. He eventually put his rifle down and I followed suit. Being 18 years old, I don’t know if I would have fired back if he did shoot at me. Thankfully, I didn’t have to find out. I called in the incident to the officer of the day and reported the close call.

Another time, around midnight, my comrade and I were patrolling between the outposts, when we heard two people yelling at each other, one from the Greek side and one from the Turk side. We quickly approached the noise to try to defuse the situation. My comrade and I split-up and we each took a side to find out what was going on. To our surprise, these two men were friends and were yelling in order to hear each other.

Six soldiers and I were given orders to do an exchange with six Danish Peacekeepers. Their quarters were situated up in the hills. It was very different out in the open where the post is directly between the Greeks and Turks. We constantly checked their position on both sides because of the danger of crossfire, which happened from time to time. The Danish lifestyle was very different than ours and I’m glad that my comrades and I got to experience it.