Princess Pats Lose Princess
The Canadians have lost a woman in combat in Afghanistan.
A Canadian soldier was killed during a firefight with insurgents that occurred approximately 24 kilometres west of Kandahar. The incident occurred at approximately 6:55 p.m. Kandahar time (10: 25 a.m. EDT) on 17 May.
Killed was Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard who was serving with Task Force Afghanistan as part of the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (1 PPCLI) Battle Group. Captain Goddard was stationed with the 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery in Shilo, Manitoba; her next-of-kin have been notified.
The repatriation of Captain Goddard’s remains is now being planned.
Capt Goddard was engaged in a significant operation, one in which Canadian soldiers were in support of Afghan authorities, when she was killed. That operation was a clearance operation by Afghan security personnel in Kandahar province north of the Arghandab River and west of Kandahar City.
Canadian Forces, in cooperation with the Government of Afghanistan, assist Afghan security forces in the conduct of these operations to rid the region of those insurgents seeking to destabilize the security situation in which the Afghan people live and raise their families.
The Afghan security forces, assisted by Canadians, are succeeding. Preliminary results of this contact indicate that a significant number of Taliban were killed in this action.
Canada’s mission in Afghanistan is part of our contribution to the international campaign to help bring stability and security to the people of Afghanistan. The overarching goal is to help the Afghan people achieve peace by preventing their nation from relapsing into a failed state that gives terrorist and terrorist organizations a safe haven.
There are significant risks involved in these operations, but Canadian Forces members are among the best trained, and most experienced soldiers in the world. We are achieving results – we are assisting the Afghan authorities to achieve the results necessary to bring security and stability to this region. And Capt Goddard’s death was the price today of ensuring that tens of thousands of men, women and children of Afghanistan can have hope that their future will be brighter.
Although Canadian women lost their lives in action in both the First and Second World Wars, Goddard was the first to do so in a combat role.
“I believe it’s safe to say she was the first woman in a combat-arms military occupation (such as artillery, infantry, or armoured) killed in front-line combat,” said Lieut. Morgan Bailey, a media liaison officer in Ottawa.
Goddard was serving as a forward artillery observer, helping to target the artillery guns by observing where the shells fell.
Combat roles were first opened to Canadian women in 1990.
Canadian forces were acting in support of the Afghan National Police and the Afghan National Army, who had received information a large number of Taliban fighters were massing in the Panjwai district, about 24 kilometres west of Kandahar, an area that has seen off-on fighting for weeks, said Fraser.
Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, to which Goddard had been attached, were supporting the Afghans by forming a ring around the battle area, Fraser said. “We were there to back them up and support them, providing outer cordons. All the inner work was being done by the Afghan security forces.” Coalition air support was also involved.
Details were still sketchy around Goddard’s death, said Fraser. “There was a firefight out there and sometime during the firefight she was killed.” Fighting had stopped Wednesday night but Fraser said the operation was expected to continue Thursday.
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