Page 34 - Presbyterian Connection

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PRESBYTERIAN
WINTER 2021
presbyterian.ca
Connection
INTERNATIONAL
Canairelief: Air Delivery of Emergency Food
to Biafra
The Rev. E.H. Johnston and the Rev. R. T. Hall, meeting with Nigerian military in Biafra, Nigeria, 1968. PHOTO CREDIT: PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ARCHIVES
(Sunday–Monday), a Canairelief plane (CF-NAJ) crashed on approach to Uli airstrip. Four crewmen died: Captain Donald Merriam (49) of Kingston, a dual Canadian and Swiss national; First Officer Raymond (Ray) Levesque (27) of Montreal; Flight En- gineer Vincent Wakeling (37) of Mon- treal; and Loadmaster Gary Libbus (29) of Toronto, originally from Syd- ney, Nova Scotia. The actual cause of the accident was never determined, but an explanation of sorts may be found in the fact that the aircraft flew into trees 1,500 feet up on the top of a hiII, 15 kilometres off course, shortly after reporting their approach to the airstrip and calling for lights. It seems likely that after being passed from the Area Control Centre to Uli tower, which was acknowledged by all parties, the aircraft took a wrong heading and, in fact, never flew over the radio beacon beside the runway at Uli. 0ne possible explanation for the location of the crash site is that the aircraft was tuned in to the wrong radio beacon and was actually ap- proaching the second seldom-used Biafran military airstrip at Uga.
The end of the civil war came swiftly on Jan. 11, 1970. Colonel Ojukwu flew out that night and went into exile; second-in-command, Brig- adier-General Phillip Effiong, surren- dered to the Nigerian forces and the last humanitarian flights concluded that night. Today, the remnants of the largest civilian humanitarian airlift in history—two Canadian Super Con-
Angela Nnenne Onuora, host of the docu- mentary Operation Lights Out: The Story of Canairelief.
stellation aircraft—can still be seen at the end of the runway on the island of Sao Tome in the Bight of Biafra, off the southern coast of Nigeria.
The “Biafran War” gave birth to several non-governmental agencies and brought about many international protocols, establishing standards for the protection and care of vulner- able populations in times of war and disaster. Today, the United Nations, the Red Cross, Action by Churches Together (ACT-International) and all such non-governmental organiza- tions subscribe to these standards in all of their interventions. Biafra was the beginning.
Visit operationlightsoutmovie.com to learn more about the documentary. To learn more about the PCC and Bia- fra, visit presbyterian.ca/biafra-pcc for a detailed Presbyterian History article.
By the Rev. Richard Fee,
Moderator of 2004 General Assembly, former mission staff to Nigeria
“How does one of Canada’s finest hours of bravery, selflessness and humanitarianism get left in the past and forgotten?” This is the opening line of the documentary, Operation Lights Out: The Story of Canairelief, by Angela Nnenne Onuora. The film tells the story of one of the first two “television wars”—the Vietnam War and the Biafran War/Nigerian Civil War. It is the story of heroism, sac- rifice and daring carried out by civil Canadian society.
Canairelief was part of the much larger Joint Church Aid (JCA) airlift operation, fondly called “Jesus Christ Airlines” by the pilots and aircrews who took part. JCA was formed in November 1968 by 27 agencies from 17 countries. It was supported by European and North American churches and the wider American Jewish Community. JCA served as the umbrella facilitating smooth and coordinated air-relief delivery of food and medicines, and carried expatriate personnel into and out of Biafra. Cap- tain Axel Duch, a Danish-Canadian who served as Chief of Operations, stated that JCA was made up of agencies from the Netherlands, Swe-
den, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Belgium, France, Caritas (The Vatican), Scotland, Ireland, USA and Austria. As such, it was the first major ecumenical humanitarian ven- ture ever carried out.
When the breakaway Republic of Biafra separated from Nigeria in 1967, it entered a two-and-a-half year civil war that ultimately saw two million people die by starvation—pri- marily women and children. Failing to broker successful peace negotia- tions, a band of Canadian non-gov- ernmental humanitarian agencies ultimately purchased five Super Con- stellation aircraft to join with Joint Church Aid. The Rev. Edward (Ted) Johnson, Canadian Presbyterian Overseas Secretary, tirelessly shut- tled between Canada, USA, Europe and Africa throughout 1968 and 1969, first trying to broker peace and then seeking all ways and means to keep Canairelief flying. Along with the Rev. Johnson, Henry Fletcher, Ox- fam-Canada Executive Director, and Jack Grant, a Canadian Jewish busi- nessman, these were three of the key personalities behind the founding of Canairelief. The Presbyterian Church in Canada loomed large throughout the entire operation of Canairelief.
During 1968 and 1969 planes flew into Biafra only at night, landing on
a widened portion of highway known as Annabelle, (Uli Airport), which quickly became the second busiest airport in Africa. Flying medicine and food into the beleaguered nation— which was only recognized by four nations, including France—the pilots and crew are credited with saving the lives of over one million people. From the Uli airport, the relief materials entered an amazing network run by foreign and national humanitarians spread throughout the Biafran nation and headed by Colonel Chukwueme- ka Odumegwu-Ojukwu.
The on-the-ground distribution was ostensibly initiated by the Inter- national Red Cross, but the role of that agency collapsed when it was accused by both sides of breaking protocols and mutual agreements. Distribution fell to the churches, which were uniquely positioned and organized into World Council of Churches (WCC) and Caritas (Vati- can) arms. Each took alternate nights in receiving the aid at Uli airstrip and delivered whatever arrived each night to their distribution centres. Cana- dian Presbyterians Ron and Hazel McGraw were in charge of such dis- tribution for four major provinces and stayed in Biafra until the last flight out.
On the night of August 3–4, 1969
The Rev. E. H. Johnston (left) and the Rev. Russell Hall (right), with prisoners of war in Biafra, 1968. PHOTO CREDIT: PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ARCHIVES