Article ID: CBB591798079

Posted to Germany: Early Cold War Canadian Military Policy and Its Impact on One Family’s Experience (2022)

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In the summer of 1954, military surgeon Major Robert Elliott was posted to the British Military Hospital in Iserlohn, Germany, to provide medical care to Canadian soldiers, members of the 5,500-strong Canadian Brigade that had earlier been stationed there as part of Canada’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Like many other military families, Elliott’s family had to remain behind until suitable accommodation for them could be found. Based on the letters that Elliott wrote home to his wife during their eight-month separation, this article provides a glimpse of how both old and new Canadian military policies during the early Cold War period had an impact on his work and his family. The Canadian government’s decision to place the Brigade under British control reflected, in part, the long-standing attachment to Britain, but Elliott was often frustrated with how imperial/colonial relations played out in the hospital setting. And the military’s initial reluctance to officially allow dependents to join their loved ones overseas, a new phenomenon in Canadian military life, undoubtedly contributed to his confusion and anxiety over when family quarters would finally be finished.

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Authors & Contributors
Bickford, Andrew
Farquharson, Jennifer
Mant, Madeleine
Fitzpatrick, K. Meghan
Street, Alice
Edward Kaplan
Concepts
Health care
Medicine and the military; medicine in war
Hospitals and clinics
Soldiers
Patients
Cold War
Time Periods
20th century, early
20th century, late
20th century
21st century
19th century
Ancient
Places
United States
Labrador (Canada)
Newfoundland (Canada)
Germany
Soviet Union
Commonwealth countries
Institutions
United States National Security Council
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; Partial Test Ban Treaty; Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963)
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