MAIL, MITTENS AND MORALE: THE QUIRKY SIDE OF WAR
On an overseas assignment, there are few things as important as the mail. When a bag shipped from Halifax went AWOL in the fall of 1990, it was, as Summers says, “a heck of a hoofarah.” Every week, Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Gregory would send two or three Hercules aircraft to the Gulf, packed with operational supplies and, if there was space, “other things related to morale.” The response from Canadians was overwhelming.
Hand-knitted socks
Veterans from the Second World War, Korea, even the First World War, along with their families, were watching the Gulf and wanted to help. It had been around 40 years since Canadians had fought in a war, so the conception of what soldiers might need was, for some, a little stuck in the past. “Believe it or not, we received parcels and boxes of hand-knit mittens and socks for troops in the Persian Gulf,” Gregory says. “If you look at the reasons for it, this is what was done during the Second World War and the Korean War.”
Walkmans
Halifax business Wacky Wheatley’s sent a yellow Sony Walkman to every Canadian sailor in the gulf. “Families were invited to go down and put their message on a tape,” Ken Summers remembers. “So you got this thing, you turn it on, and there is your son, daughter and wife talking to you at Christmastime.”
Large-screen TVs
The Veterans Association sent $120,000 worth of big-screen televisions, and video rental companies sent hundreds of movies, sporting events and TV shows on VHS, according to the official history. “The videos went a long way to relieve the hours of boredom and inactivity experienced by the troops between periods of duty.” Lobster
Halifax seafood company Clearwater sent thousands of live lobsters to the troops in the Gulf for Christmas Eve. Summers says two aircraft were involved, one as a backup “in case they were stuck with a thousand stinking lobsters.” They all arrived alive.
Freshly baked bread
One sailor told an embedded reporter he missed the fresh bread from Ben’s Bakery in Halifax, so one of the company’s managers called Gregory to see if they could co-ordinate a delivery. “Within an hour of coming off the assembly line, (the loaves of bread) were going to the Persian Gulf.”
Fruitcake
One day, Gregory came into his office to find a large box from British Columbia. Because of the concern about parcel bombs and chemical warfare, two military police monitored as he opened it. Inside was a letter from an elderly lady. “She didn’t know who to send it to, but she had baked some fruitcakes and wanted to send it to the Gulf by Christmas.”
Giant pumpkin
When an officer on one of the ships said it would be nice to have pumpkins for Halloween, giant pumpkin farmer Howard Dill offered a 350-pounder from his farm in Windsor, N.S. An officer asked if he could fly the jack-o’-lantern around in a Sea King on Halloween night. Dusty Miller said if he had a training flight and the pumpkin happened to be aboard, “I’ll make sure they all know not to shoot at you.” The pumpkin flight was a highlight of Halloween. “I got more messages back saying, ‘You know you guys were crazy in the First World War, you were crazy in the Second. We’re still so glad you’re just as crazy as you were then,’ ” Miller says. Katie Daubs
“Believe it or not, we received parcels and boxes of hand-knit mittens and socks for troops in the Persian Gulf.” LT.-CMDR. BILL GREGORY