Stanley Carr

In 1977, I was deployed as part of the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) as a platoon commander in H Company, Second Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (2RCR). My Company Commander was Major Larry Bowen. As platoon commander, I was understandably quite junior, having only graduated from my final phase of Infantry Training that summer. I was quite close to my soldiers, like most young junior Lieutenants, and often went out on the lines in the United Nations buffer zone between the Greeks and the Turks, inspecting and watching for ceasefire violations. Two anecdotes are worth recalling. 

Moustache Story

One evening in a moment of weakness, to show my cohesion with the platoon, off-duty and drinking, if I recall, we had a bet that I lost. The result was that my driver and I had to shave off half of our moustaches for 24 hours. Not wanting to lose face, I did follow through and let the guys shave half my moustache off; they did the same to my driver, only on the opposite side to mine. We were supposed to keep it that way — they all suspected we wouldn’t and would return the next morning cleanly shaven. My fellow Company officers had a great chuckle, especially Captain Tom Geburt, who fashioned a great bushy ’stache. Much to the platoon’s surprise, I insisted my driver and I maintain the half moustache for the agreed-to 24 hours. However, the next morning I had an important meeting with the local Greek National Guard Colonel on a UN buffer zone issue. Not wanting to display any sign of weakness, and despite feeling very awkward, I attended the meeting with half a moustache — which of course caught the Greek officers completely off-guard and bewildered. When they saw me with half of a moustache on one side of my face matched by my driver, also with one half of a moustache, they had a good chuckle. They must have thought “those crazy Canadians”. To make matters even more comical, the Greek Colonel and most of his staff all wore full bushy moustaches.

Danger on the Line

The next anecdote involved a more serious lapse in judgment. One day at our Company Commander briefing, we received a directive to watch for Turkish officers (and others on the line) carrying weapons with magazines in the weapon. This was a violation. So that day, whilst patrolling the line, I had occasion to dismount to meet a young Turkish officer about an issue in my sector. During the conversation, and in full view of his soldiers and mine, I noticed his pistol was loaded with a magazine, contrary to the agreed upon protocol. I told him in English no magazines and pointed to his pistol. He didn’t acknowledge the comment and remained steadfast. So, I repeated in what I thought was the Turkish equivalent word...No “chargers”. He ignored me again. So in a moment of frustration (and stupidity), I reached for his pistol and loudly shouted “No Chargers’. At that moment, all I heard were various weapons on their side of the line cocking. In response, my soldiers cocked their weapons as well. The heat of the moment was short, as the Turkish officer removed his magazine and ordered his troops to stand down. The moment was scary, in retrospect; however, I was pleased by my soldiers’ immediate reaction to hearing the Turkish soldiers arming their weapons. However, it easily could have escalated into a dangerous if not deadly incident, predominantly of my making.