Cyprus 2024
Mission: To commemorate Canada’s contribution to peacekeeping in Cyprus since 1964, on the 60th anniversary of the UN mission and the 50th anniversary of the 1974 war.
You may be aware that in November 2024 up to 200 Cyprus Veterans and family members will undertake a pilgrimage to Cyprus to commemorate Canada’s 60th Anniversary of peacekeeping on the
island and the 50th Anniversary of the 1974 war that led to it being partitioned.
The Cyprus 2024 Committee has engaged Special Travel International as our travel agent, who has put together the attached brochure which provides potential participants with the information they need to make an informed decision on attending. The tour program is comprehensive, allowing plenty of time for remembrance, exploration, and camaraderie. We think you will be impressed by its contents and what we are receiving by way of inclusive activities for the cost.
Registration has commenced and we anticipate filling all the 200 seats (the link for registration is below). We would ask that you get the word out on the Log net for all veterans of Cyprus to consider signing up and going. There are likely hundreds of Ordinance Corps, Army Service Corps, Pay Corps and Logistics Branch veterans who served in Cyprus since 1964. As well, we are looking for veterans willing to share their memories of their time in Cyprus on video through our oral history project. Again, there is a link to Survey #6 for an interview in the Communiqué, or simply contact Col (Ret’d) Jim Holsworth directly at jaholsworth@cogeco.ca .
Our return to Cyprus and history collection enjoys the full support of DND, VAC and GAC. The VAC and CAF team will conduct the Remembrance service at the Canadian Cairn in Wolseley Barracks, Nicosia, on November 11th. It is anticipated that the Minister of Veterans Affairs will be the present, along with a full contingent of CAF soldiers. The overall commemoration is self-sustaining, cost-neutral, with all participants paying their own way. However, the Cyprus 2024 Committee is seeking donations to complete the oral history project. The funds will pay the travel and production costs for our professional team from Combined Forces, a company in Calgary that has done great work for the PPLCI history and oral histories of the Afghanistan campaign. Their remit is to complete the interview process, which has been ongoing for over a year, and deliver interviews, transcripts for historical record, and a documentary of the events that unfolded
before, during and after the 1974 war. Soldier’s stories will be central to the telling.
The budget for the interview team to travel to Cyprus and to complete their work leading to the production of a documentary is approximately $40,000. The intent is to present a copy of the
documentary to the Canadian War Museum, the Airborne Collection at CFB Petawawa, other Canadian military museums, including the Logistics Museum if interested, and make video products available to Canadian school programs.
We have collected 34 interviews so far, mostly from combat arms veterans but we hope to find other ‘Loggies’ willing to tell their stories either prior to the reunion, or when on the ground in Cyprus next November. There are hopefully others who wish to share their stories before time passes and memories
fade.
Donations by cheque can be sent to the Treasurer of the Canadian Airborne Forces Association, made out to Canadian Airborne Forces Association annotated “for Cyprus 2024.” The mailing address is: CAFA Treasurer, 874 Unity Road, Glenburnie, ON, K0H 1S0. As well, e-transfer can be made to David Pentney
cafatreas_mbrshp@yahoo.ca
As well, personal donations can be made by going to the CanadaHelps site.
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/canadian-airborne-forces-association/
We sincerely hope that the Logistics community considers supporting this project, one that will leave a legacy for Canadians of peacekeeping and a forgotten war. Please let us know if you require additional information.
Again, many thanks for your consideration.
Download the Cyprus Tour Program
Download the Registration Form