The Persian Excursion:
The Canadian Navy in the Gulf War

Commodore Duncan (Dusty) E. Miller and Sharon Hobson
The Canadian Peacekeeping Press and The Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, 1995
ISBN: 0-919769-0
PRICE: $35.00 (+ shipping + GST)

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This is a first-hand, inside account of the Canadian Navy action in the Gulf War. Through the recollections and anecdotes of Commodore Miller and others who served at the front, the reader is given a bird's-eye view of the Canadian Navy undertaking a dangerous operation, 13,000 kilometres from home.

The Allied victory over Iraq has been hailed as a triumph for high technology, but it must be kept in mind that the high tech weapons and ships were operated by people. Commodore Miller and Ms. Hobson introduce us to those people, both as individuals and as part of a proud fighting force. The story makes clear that it was the Navy's professionalism and ingenuity which convinced the Allies to give Canada a major role in combat logistics supply.

The Persian Excursion is the first comprehensive account of the Canadian Navy in the Gulf War. It will be of interest to professional military personnel, as well as to the general public.

"Commodore Duncan Miller and Sharon Hobson have produced a clear, engrossing and fact-filled book which details the service of Canada's naval force in the Gulf conflict. It is not only a definitive study of Canada's naval forces seen in a modern warfare situation, but a ringing testament to the quality of the men and women who serve Canada at sea today."
Victor Suthren, Director, The Canadian War Museum

"Canada's significant naval contribution to the Coalition's Gulf War victory is yet another example of our low-key approach to publicizing our nation's military achievements. Commodore Miller and Sharon Hobson set the record straight in layman's language, from the first hint of Canadian involvement to the rum issue celebrating victory some seven months later."
MGen (Ret'd) Lewis W. Mackenzie, MSC, CD "This book is an eye-opener, not only for Canadians but also for Americans. Its detailed and thoroughly professional account of the Canadian Navy's preparations for and activities during the Gulf War should put to rest any doubts in Ottawa or Washington about the value-added worth of a professionally competent, small but modern navy in the post-Cold War era. The Persian Excursion is a much-needed reaffirmation of the Canadian Armed Forces' longtime, but all too often overlooked, tradition as a key provider of international stability and security."
Dr. Jan Breemer, US Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey

Commodore Duncan (Dusty) E. Miller commanded the Canadian Navy action in the Gulf and also coordinated the movement of some 60 ships of the Allied Combat Logistics Force during the war.

Sharon Hobson has been the Canadian Correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly since 1986. She is Research Fellow of the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax.