This year is the 70th anniversary of the start of Canada’s involvement in UN Peacekeeping missions.
Canadian service people have served as peacekeepers throughout the world, from the Far East to the Middle East, from the Mediterranean to Africa, and from the Balkans to the Caribbean.
In all these theatres, Canadian servicepeople served with honour and courage, and have been respected for their integrity. On this important anniversary, it is worthwhile to consider the story of one of our proud service members whose experience was that of a peacekeeper.
John Voutour lives in Kisbey with his wife Brenda, and is a member of the Carlyle branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. He is the sergeant-at-arms of the Carlyle branch and has been the chairman of the poppy campaign for the last couple of years. Voutour has a history of service, and his story of service is one of many, which should be told.
Voutour was born in Sussex, N.B., and was the eldest of 10 full siblings and 5 half siblings. As the eldest, he needed to find his place in the world soon after high school graduation.
His initial desire to join the RCMP was rejected as he did not meet the then-stringent physical stature requirements.
However the Canadian Armed Forces did not have similar rules regarding height, and very shortly after graduation, Voutour chose to join the Canadian Army.
This was not a unique choice as his father had served as a dispatch rider for the Canadian Army in the Second World War in Italy, France and Germany.
Voutour took his basic training in Cornwallis, N.S., and then took 12 weeks of training to become an infantry soldier at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Gagetown. Once that training was complete, Voutour chose to come out west and joined the Princess Patricia, Canadian Light Infantry, C Company, and was situated in Winnipeg. After Voutour was in Winnipeg for three months, C Company was assigned to peacekeeping duty in Cyprus.
The peacekeeping mission in Cyprus was set up in 1964 because the two geographically separate ethnic groups, the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, were warring to take control of the entire island and join with their respective homelands. The United Nations established a peacekeeping mission to keep the belligerents separate and to save lives. This was the mission to which C Company, including Voutour, was assigned by the Canadian government.
It was on this mission that Voutour saw his first active duty, with everything that entails. Peacekeeping in Cyprus in the early 1970s was a critical service, and nothing was done that could have been construed by either side as a provocation. Peacekeepers were sent by many nations and were dressed in different uniforms, but could be identified by the blue berets they wore. They did not wear body armour or helmets as those could be misinterpreted. Their duties were to walk the Green Line which separated the two sides and to monitor all activity on both sides.
The sensitivities were so high at the time, that the moving of sandbags or the movement of a sheet of galvanized metal could be read as improving fortifications, so those on duty had to report all activity and senior personnel had to act to defuse each and every situation.
Any unresolved “provocation” could have led to gunfire from both sides. All other physical activity, such as vehicular traffic and movement of livestock, also had to be reported and dealt with to prevent misunderstanding and the potential of hostilities.
Twenty-eight Canadians have lost their lives in the Cyprus mission since 1964, however no Canadian was killed on Voutour's tour in Cyprus. However, a soldier he knew, from another country, was on patrol and using binoculars to observe the environment.
A belligerent saw a light flash off of the binocular lens, assumed it was a reflection of a telescopic sight on a weapon on the other side and fired, killing the peacekeeper. This was the first soldier that Voutour knew personally who died on duty, but unfortunately, was not the last.
Voutour's six-month tour in Cyprus, consisting of foot patrols, vehicle patrols and static service in stockades, finally ended and he and C Company returned to Canada. He was in Canada for six months and assigned to bases in Wainwright, Alta., Shilo, Man., and Dundurn.
After the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur war in 1973, a peacekeeping force from the United Nations was sent into Israel to separate those who had gone to war. Members from Voutour's battalion were asked to volunteer for a lottery to work in Egypt as support staff to the active peacekeepers.
Voutour volunteered, was selected and was sent on a tour in Egypt. It was on this tour that another peacekeeping colleague lost his life.
A corporal from Senegal that Voutour had gotten to know was on patrol in a Jeep and drove over a land mine. The ensuing blast injured the officer who was with him, but the Sengalese corporal was killed.
After his six-month tour in Egypt, Voutour returned to Canada and in the spring of 1974, he and Brenda Beatty were married. He had met Brenda in 1972 on a blind date in Kenosee Lake on a trip from Manitoba with a couple of his friends in C Company.
Three months after their wedding, Voutour was assigned to Baden Baden, West Germany, where they spent four years. This was during the height of the Cold War with the U.S.S.R., and the Canadian Forces base was in place as part of Canada’s commitment to NATO.
During this tour, their oldest daughter Crystal was born, and Voutour became aware that, although he was serving his country, his wife was also serving. In order to maintain combat readiness, those serving in West Germany would be assigned to training maneuvers and he would be gone for six to eight weeks at a time. During this time, Brenda was responsible for maintaining their home and parenting by herself.
Although the Cold War was a very tense time worldwide, a hot war did not erupt, and after their four-year tour in West Germany, the Voutours returned to Canada and were based in Winnipeg. A second daughter, Amy, was born during their time in Winnipeg.
Shortly after returning to Canada, Voutour changed his direction in the military and took training in electrical construction engineering. This required a six-month training course in Chilliwack, B.C. Voutour was trained as an electrician, and he returned to Winnipeg for six months of duty and then took six more months of training.
Upon completion of this training, Voutour was assigned to a road crew and was involved in maintaining bases and armouries. This assignment would at times require him to be away from his family for six weeks at a time.
After five years of serving in this position, the Voutours felt it was time to move back into civilian life and have more control over where they lived. At this point, Voutour had served for 12 years in the military. After his retirement, he served for five more years as an air cadets officer.
As a peacekeeper and service member assigned to a NATO operation, Voutour was not involved in a shooting war, but the stress and danger was present at all times during his service. Like so many soldiers, in wartime or peace, Voutour regards his service as a job that needed to be done.
Remembrance Day is important to Voutour, because that is the day the sacrifices of so many, including his colleagues in Cyprus and Egypt whose lives were lost in the pursuit of peace, are at the forefront of his mind.
On this Remembrance Day, let us not only honour those who fought and sacrificed, but also the many thousands of those, like Voutour, whose service was no less necessary, but is often overlooked.
