Dad was artillary so we lived in Petawawa, Shilo and good old Gagetown. I remember both in Petawawa and Shilo running behind the fogging truck. No one chased us away and it always seemed to be around supper time. I have serious neurological problems and so does my brother and sister. We were there in Petawawa from 1955 to 1966 and then Shilo from 1966 to 1969. I moved to Gagetown and lived within 5 kms of the training area from 1970 to 1975 and have put in for Agent Orange and was denied. Merchant Law has stopped the legal proceedings and say it isn't going to proceed.

Hi Karen

My name is Ralph Killoran and I have noticed your postings in the Air Force Brat's Association as well as the Petawawa Guest Book regarding DDT and the Canadian Armed Forces. I also have multiple health issues which I feel start from 1952 and birth at RCAF Trenton, Ontario. Would it be possible for you and I to communicate on this subject and how the government is to take their responsibilities towards our loses. I would expect in the near future other victims becoming interested in this cause.

I hope this message greets you in better health and I look forward to your response.

Sincerely

R. D. Killoran

Email: ralph_killoran@hotmail.com

My Father was infantry RSM Black Watch. He passed from prostate to bone cancer. There were many times he and other men were subjected to Agent Orange while on manoeuvres in the bush. His Colonel had passed as well. It was his wife, while suffering breast cancer, who got things rolling in NB. Through the process she advised my Mother to take action on behalf of my Father. She did and it went nowhere..

The fogger is more of the same except it was targeting the PMQ's..
Cheryl Lawson
Oromocto NB early 60'S
Base Borden ON. later 60's early 70's

I made three Access to Information requests seeking information involving the Canadian Armed Forces usage of DDT on their properties which were all denied due there being no such records. The requests were;

1) I have become aware of DDT aerial spraying o the military family housing area at station RCAF Trenton, Ontario. I seek information as to the DDT's manufacturer(s), chemical compound(s) DDT amount and area sprayed for the years 1946 through 1956.

2) I have become aware of the RCAF 1955 and 1956 aerial DDT spraying at various military bases. I seek information as to the DDT's manufacturer(s), chemical compound(s), DDT amount as well as military bases sprayed under pest control "Swing Fog".

3) I am seeking information as to the DDT spraying at the Canadian Army post, Fort Reliance NWT. I seek information as to the DDT's manufacturer(s), chemical compound(s) of the DDT, years of spraying, amounts and area sprayed at this Canadian Army location.

My follow-up complaint to the information Commissioner, after time and more expense, placed these records within the chemical warfare vaults of the Defence Research Board filed under Chemical Warfare. This complaint was also denied by telephone and request for written refusal has also been denied.

Through a library search I was able to obtain reports of the RCAF 1947 - 1950 DDT spraying at Churchill MN, Fort St John and Fort Nelson BC and Whitehorse and Watson Lake YK, which included information on apparatus and materials, methods, operational data, assessments of DDT deposits and effects of spraying on insects. Briefly;

The spray solution used consisted of approximately 4% DDT in a mixture of 1 part methylated naphthalane (Velsical AR-50 and other Velsicol solvents) to 9 parts fuel oil.
The spray droplets ranged from a maximum diameter of 1.12 mm down to infinite size.
Average spray 0.7 gallons of spray to 0.235 lb of DDT per acre.


Average larval mortality 91% reducing adult mosquito populations from 2 weeks to 2 months from date of spraying.


If there are any people who feel victimized by the military's usage of DDT in their personnel housing areas wishing to pursue this matter please feel free to contact me. Perhaps recourses are available.



ralph_killoran@hotmail.com

Hi Ken, I too lived in Portage on the airbase at Southport and remember the fogging machines. My dad was a squadron leader there from 1958 to 1961, My last name was Kaye.

Does anyone have a map showing the streets of the PMQs that were torn down.
1960 - 1967 (76 Bedford )

Hahaha. I always remember that. The parents were told to shut the Windows while the kids ran behind the truck! Mind you that was the time smoking in cars and no seat belts. Amazing we survived. I was in CFB Mont Apica where the black flies were brutal! I doubt the foggers helped though. Maybe for a few minutes LOL.

We were based at Cold Lake between 1955 and 1958 and I clearly remember the aerial fogging, but my older brother, John, told me that they used an old B-25.

Hi David. Library & Archives Canada gave me over 3,000 pages of the Canadian Armed Forces DDT program for the 1960s and CFB Cold Lake was using a Dakota for their spraying. The Surgeon General approved the bases for spraying by airplanes or vehicle spraying but some of the Air Force stations got around this policy by paying for the air operation out of base funds. Their were even back then concerns of using pesticides indoors (schools, mess halls, hospitals) but not much action, if any, went to monitoring this and certainly no follow up.

Ralph,

Thanks for the info. I will speak sternly to my brother for misleading me. Not by the way, some years ago I had to do some research for a small documentary on Canadians who flew in the Battle of Britain. The National Archives were and are a fantastic resource and more to the point, were very helpful. Cool that you got all that stuff from them. You were a Brat, I take it. What bases and when?

Hi David. My father was RCAF (Marine Section) and we were at Trenton right after the war until 1956 when we moved to Comox. I got interested in the military and DDT by way of other health issues. If your body's defenses are damaged in infancy then in later life you can expect harder than average damage if exposed to other sources of contamination. Yes Library and Archives Canada are great but I feel much of the national embarrassing records have been recently destroyed between 2006 and 2016.

Several members of our family have serious health issues. We were in Chatham and Bagotville in the late 50's early 60's. Makes you wonder.

I remember playing tag in the cloud from the fogger at CFB Petawawa in the early 1970s. Anyone know when they stopped the fogging program?