On May 17, 2006, Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard gave her life while serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. Aged 26 and from Calgary, Alberta, a proud member of the 1st Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (Shilo, Manitoba), the captain was killed during a ground offensive in Afghanistan. She was the first Canadian female soldier killed in combat.
Captain Goddard arrived in Afghanistan in January 2006, and had been serving with Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry as a Forward Observation Officer at the time of her death; her parent unit was the 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery.
A Lament for Captain Goddard
The firefight in the Panjwaye District was part of a joint two-day operation between Canadian and Afghan troops, to secure Kandahar's outskirts after a rumor of Taliban preparations to launch an assault on the city. As troops were moving into a mosque to capture 15 alleged Taliban members, several dozen hidden militants began firing from neighbouring houses.
As a crew commander, Goddard was standing half-exposed in her LAV III, which was hit by two rocket-propelled grenades early in the battle. The battle lasted most of the day on the 17th and into the night, and ended shortly after an American B-1 Lancer dropped a 225 kg bomb. In the end, the two-day operation saw Goddard, an Afghan National Army soldier, and 40 Taliban killed, as well as approximately 20 Taliban captured.
The Legacy of Nichola Goddard.
Nous nous souviendrons d'eux
1 comment:
RIP CAPTAIN and Thank you for your service.
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