Canadian soldier killed in firefight

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This article was published 18/05/2006 (7326 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A soldier from CFB Shilo in Manitoba was killed yesterday in Afghanistan, the first female Canadian soldier to die during the controversial military mission.

Capt. Nichola Goddard, 24, a forward artillery observer whose job it was to send targeting information back to the crews firing some of the military’s new 155-mm long-range howitzers, was killed during operations near Kandahar.

Her death came as the House of Commons in Ottawa debated a government motion to extend the mission in Afghanistan for another two years past the current February 2007 date.

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer immediately had the flags in front of the Legislative Building lowered to half-mast. The Canadian and Manitoba flags will remain at half-mast until sundown the day Goddard is buried.

“I just want to say on behalf of the people of Manitoba we respect her life of bravery and honour on behalf of Canada,” said Doer.

Goddard is the 17th Canadian killed in Afghanistan. Sixteen soldiers and one diplomat have died since Canada first became involved in Afghanistan in 2002.

Women constitute approximately 10 per cent of the 2,300 soldiers now in the country. Most are in support positions — clerks, medics and other trades, but Goddard was in the thick of things yesterday.

Military sources are divulging little information about how Goddard died except to say it was in a firefight that occurred in the midst of a large operation.

“Capt. Goddard was part of a combined operation today,” said Brig. Gen. David Fraser, commander of the multinational brigade based in Kandahar.

“Intelligence received by Afghan officials put together an Afghan national security force supported by Canadian soldiers who went out to the Panjoway District to counter the concentration of Taliban in that area and they have been engaged in the fighting for most of the day.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper informed the House of Commons of Goddard’s death only an hour before debate on the Afghan mission began.

Forty-three uniformed women died in the First World War, 29 of them as the result of enemy action. Another 71 died in the Second World War.

Only five of those perished as a result of enemy action — four air force members who are believed to have died in bombings plus one member of the Royal Canadian Navy who died in the sinking of a ferry.

All those women were non-combatants. Only recently have women been allowed to serve in battle, but that doesn’t matter, said public affairs officer Maj. Marc Theriault.

“For us, it’s a soldier.”

Goddard, who was born in Papau, New Guinea, is survived by her husband, a retired member of the Armed Forces who lives in Shilo. She joined the army in 1998.

— CanWest News Service, with files from Brandon Sun