Tito’s Tactics: Behind Canada’s 2 Peacekeeping Stints in Yugoslavia

Commentary The 16,000 Canadian soldiers who served in Yugoslavia during the 1990s were not the first. Canadians had deployed to the war-torn Balkans half a century earlier. Most of the latter were not conventional soldiers and had a very different (and, it may be said, more successful) mission from the peacekeepers who came later. It was their success during World War II that, ironically, led to Canadian troops being drawn back into the Balkan morass five decades later. Deploying as part of the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia and Croatia from 1992 to 1995, the Canadians’ status as peacekeepers was a misnomer and 11 were killed. Sent to set the conditions for negotiations, they had a rough ride, including being attacked by the Croatian army in the Medak Pocket on Sept. 15, 1993. Repelling the attack, the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry earned a unit citation, although 80 percent of the rifle companies were not PPCLI but volunteer reservists from small part-time units across Canada....