UN / Canada / Cyprus beginings

[rob love]

I have a series of press release photos which show the Canadian ferrets being prepped, loaded, unloaded (in Famagusta) and used in Cypress. The vehicles were unloaded March 30th, and there are photos of them being used for patrols in April.

According to a CF website, the advance elements of the Cdn Army started showing up in Cypress on 15 March. It would have been the LDSH who operated the ferrets, and the site does not mentin when they started showing up, or if the LDSH came at the same time, or even with the ferrets.

I would suggest that if Canada did borrow any British ferrets, then it would have been for a two week period or less. It would be very unlikely that the Canadians would re-mark them given the very short period of loan, and that is if it even happened.

As to Bedfords, we were still using them in the late 80s. But not because they came from the British army. We just often used fleets that were more easily sustainable in those outward theaters, just as you would see Mercedes Benz and VW used more often in Germany. That way we could draw on existing civilian supply sources, as opposed to trying to find pieces for North American vehicles where the civilian supply chain did not exist. Or even worse, trying to hold every piece to support every type of equipment.

During my tour in 89, the Iltis were already being packed up to return home as failures, and they were replaced with a fleet of Pajeros for the Jeep class, Toyotas for the 5/4 ton cargo class, and 3 ton Hinos to replace the 5/4 ton van style. All were chosen because similar civilian vehicles were available on the Island so their supply chains could be used. We also installed a commercial Holmes wrecker unit on the back of a Hino which replaced an old militia type 1980 Chevrolet 1 ton we had been using up to then. I was quite involved in that project in my last week there, and even was the one of the first to take it out on the line if I recall.

In those days, for parts, you filled out a paper 2302, they went out with the plane on Wednesdays back to Germany, and if Germany had it, then the part might be on the plane the next week, or maybe the week after. If it was coming from Canada, then you could be waiting weeks to months.

Things were quite a bit better for Afghanistan, however we still used local fleets of vehicles either as rentals or in some cases purchased. I won't go into specifics on those.