Operation Friction

Operation Friction
Part of the Gulf War
HMCS Protecteur during Operation Friction
Locations
Planned by Canada
Commanded byCanada Brian Mulroney
Canada Bill McKnight
Canada Kim Campbell
Canada John de Chastelain
Canada Charles Thomas
Canada John Rogers Anderson
Canada David Huddleston
Canada Kenneth J. Summers
ObjectiveImplementation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait
Date24 August 1990 – 28 February 1991
Executed by Canadian Armed Forces
OutcomeOperational success

Operation Friction was a Canadian military operation that saw the contribution of 4,500 Canadian Forces personnel to the 1991 Gulf War. The larger US components were Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.

Operation Friction initially saw Canadian Forces Maritime Command order the destroyers HMCS Terra Nova and HMCS Athabaskan to assist with enforcing the United Nations trade blockade against Iraq. The supply ship HMCS Protecteur was deployed with the destroyers to provide underway replenishment as well as command/control and at-sea medical services to the small task force which operated in the Persian Gulf, Straits of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.

Canada suffered no casualties during the conflict but since its end many veterans have complained of suffering from Gulf War syndrome.[1]

  1. ^ Granatstein, J. L. (2011). Canada's Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace. University of Toronto Press, p. 381. ISBN 1442611782