Interview with Ross Fetterly
Narrator: Ross Feterly Interviewer: Justin Lucoe Interview Date and Location: March 14 2024, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Synopsis: Interview begins with a brief description of entering military service and overall career in the armed forces, including final rank achieved and medals awarded. Followed by background questions regarding the UN tour in the Golan Heights, such as the main goals of the UNDOF mission, size and composition of the contingent and previous knowledge or beliefs. Mission specific questions followed regarding daily life, interactions with locals, challenges and successes, and accomplishment of goals. Next were questions regarding the thoughts on the deployment in hindsight, current situation in the Middle East and connections drawn between the two, and overall success of the mission. Ended with post career questions about service in the armed forces, biggest lessons learned, favourite memories and advice for young soldiers. 0:00:06 - 0:03:20 - Introduction, growing up in Northern Quebec, moving to Kitimat and back to Montreal. Job at RBC before joining RCAF as finance and logistics officer. 0:03:20 - 0:08:53 - Overall career postings, overseas deployments, rank progression and medals. 0:08:53 - 0:18:25 - Description of UNDOF mission, members and size of contingent, personal roles and living conditions, rank during mission. 0:18:25 - 0:25:45 - Previous knowledge of the area, preconceived views on area, work with Israeli liaison officer, description of Second Intifada. 0:25:45 - 0:38:20 - Daily life, rest and relaxation time travel to Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Israel. Living conditions, interaction with Syrian conscripts, armed on deployment, thoughts on locals and combatants. 0:38:20 - 0:49:38 - Biggest challenges encountered and successes achieved, mission accomplished goals, overall views on deployment, changes in opinion, success in short term, thoughts on present day. 0:49:38 - 0:53:58 - Connections between mission and present, changing perspectives, possible future solutions. 0:55:58 - 1:05:24 - Overall views of career in CAF, biggest lessons learned, best memories from deployment, advice for younger soldiers and leaders. Suggested Clips for Archive: 0:35:25 - 0:36:05 - Interacting with the Syrian conscripts in Damascus who were sent for two week blocks at checkpoints, providing all water and food supplies themselves. 0:24:05 - 0:25:40 - Interaction with a Syrian man in Damascus who believes he has a house in the Golan Heights where Israeli villages are, and at some point he will be back there to live.
- In Collection:
- Interview #SC141_FR_930
- 01:05:24
- Canadian UN Peacekeeping in the Middle East
- 33.13906, 35.85869
- Canadian Military Oral History Collection
- Accession Number: 2025-002; Series 9; Item: 930
- Special Collections Finding Aid: https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/military-oral-history-collection
- Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2024. Recorded in digital format by interviewer. Keywords supplied by interviewer. Metadata by KD.
- Rights
- This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
- DOI