Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Canada. Dept. of National Defence. Board of Inquiry Croatia
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1999-2000
History
The Croatia Board of Inquiry was called in 1999 to investigate whether Canadian soldiers who served as peacekeepers in Croatia over a span of three years were exposed to environmental toxins. The terms of reference did not, however, limit the Board to this singular issue. Given the flexibility to report on other relevant matters, the Board examined a broad range of subjects that influenced the health and welfare of Canadian soldiers. As a result, many of the Board's findings and recommendations addressed matters relating to the support and care provided to Canadian Forces (CF) members.
The soldiers who took part in OPERATION HARMONY, as the Canadian portion of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Croatia was called, were the main interest. During 1993 to 1995, soldiers from three Regular Force infantry battalions, augmented heavily by Reservists and a number of other Canadian military members, served in an area called "Sector South" over a period of about 18 months. During the fall of 1999, Board members listened to testimony from more than 90 witnesses, commissioned studies on topics as diverse as combat stress and command and control, and collected and analyzed thousands of documents, including battalion war diaries.