City soldier braved secret toxic tests; He knew his comrades were being cut down in war so somebody had to do it, his widow says.

For years, Jerry Telfer's three sons wondered how he got the scars the size of silver dollars up and down his arms.

When they were old enough to understand, the Hamilton old soldier told them: He had been exposed to chemical weapons during the Second World War.

Voluntarily.

"He used to call himself a guinea pig," says his wife, Jean Telfer, 88.

David Gerald Telfer was one of almost 4,000 Canadian soldiers who took part in Canada's secret chemical and biological warfare research.

"Jerry was a very moral man," and the ill-fated raid on Dieppe -- in which Canadian and allied troops suffered heavy casualties -- affected him deeply, his widow says.

Jerry told Jean that people were being decimated in Europe and somebody had to do it.

"At the time, I was annoyed with him for volunteering," Jean says.

Allied forces were worried the Germans would use chemicals similar to the First World War's mustard gas to kill soldiers.

As early as 1937, Canada's military leaders began secretly using human subjects to test toxic substances.

Volunteers were sent to the Chemical Warfare Laboratories in Ottawa or to an experimental station in Suffield, Alta., northwest of Medicine Hat.

Author and former MP John Bryden says some soldiers were told to stand in a field with gas masks on while a plane released chemical weapons.

The soldiers ended up with burns on their shoulders, backs and buttocks.

Jean says Jerry only talked to her once about what was done to him in Ottawa in late 1943.

He told her he was taken into a room and told to bare his arms. Then someone applied droplets of unknown liquid.

"When he came home, he had horrible scars up and down his arms," Jean says.

But Jean was in for a greater shock. Jerry was shipped to Europe shortly after his six-week stint as a human guinea pig.

The next thing she knew, Jerry and his Queen's Own Rifles gun carrier crew were on the beaches of Normandy within days of D-Day.

Then, in late 1944, came the awful news -- Jerry had been badly wounded. His gun carrier had hit a landmine and the blast killed everyone but Jerry.

He avoided most of the blast's force, but the carrier's gun struck him in the face.

"They told me that the end of his nose was located under his ear," Jean says.

Last year, the Canadian government finally recognized veterans of the Canadian Chemical Warfare tests, unveiling a plaque in Ottawa and compensating veterans or their surviving families with a one-time payout.

They had to sign a waiver never to join a class action suit to receive the $24,000 payment.

After the war, Jerry worked for decades as a die setter at Westinghouse. He also became president of the War Pensioners of Canada.

Jerry died in 1993 of chronic lung disease.

Last year, Jean received a letter from Veterans Affairs Canada acknowledging that the chemical warfare testing may have played a part.

"Mr. Telfer's active service posting sheets show that he was involved in the physiological test Number 2009 in Ottawa from the 14-20 December, 1943, ... and might have been exposed to mustard gas or a similar agent," the letter says.

"Although there is no medical documentation to show he suffered respiratory effects as a result of this testing, current medical research suggests that development of long-term respiratory effects such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may occur in the absence of acute respiratory response following exposure to mustard agents.

"The department ... concludes your late husband's chronic lung disease was attributable to his active force service."

As a result, Veterans Affairs decided to increase Jerry's pension 25 per cent.

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