New study discounts depleted uranium’s role in Gulf War illness

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

A new scientific study claims sarin gas is a possible cause of Gulf War illness, not debris from depleted uranium munitions.

The University of Portsmouth School of Earth and Environmental Sciences says it has proven that depleted uranium did not cause the acute and chronic symptoms plaguing more than 250,00 Allied service personnel.

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One of the original 62 officers of the Royal Canadian Air Force

Story by Sharon Adams

Wounded in the leg during his service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1917, Sergeant Arthur Lawrence Morfee transferred to the Royal Flying Corps.

He trained as an observer, took an aerial photography course and advanced from cadet to second lieutenant before his Royal Air Force service ended in February 1919. That photography course was to ensure him a long and productive aviation career, starting with mapping Canada.

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Boarding parties in the Persian Gulf
Story by Stephen J. Thorne

Canadian sailors had limited to no experience in boarding potentially hostile ships at sea when they embarked on their mission to the Persian Gulf in August 1990. Yet this was to be one of their primary roles.

Their British and American allies had marines and others specially armed for and trained in hailing foreign vessels and boarding them.

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Operation Moshtarak

Story by Sharon Adams

In mid-February 2010, Canadian troops and helicopters were involved in launching the largest NATO attack to that date on the Taliban. It was called Operation Moshtarak, which means ‘together’ in the Dari language.

More than 15,000 coalition soldiers and 50 helicopters converged on the small city of Marjah and surrounding farmland, a hub for the Taliban and the opium poppy production that supports them.

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