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Revision as of 02:32, 27 July 2010 by Sapperbdl(talk | contribs)(→2010: Updated entry on Larry Rudd - was member of Royal Canadian Dragoons with the 1RCR Battlegroup, as such only his unit should be mentioned.)
Canadian Forces personnel carry the coffin of a fallen comrade onto an aircraft at Kandahar Air Field, 1 February 2009
The number of Canadian Forces' fatalities resulting from Canadian military activities in Afghanistan is the largest for any single Canadian military mission since the Korean War between 1950 and 1953. A total of 151 Canadian Forces personnel have been killed in the war since 2002.[1]
Specifics
The first casualties occurred in the Tarnak Farm incident, in which four Canadians were killed and eight seriously wounded when a United States warplane dropped a bomb on a training exercise in the belief that the Canadians were enemy soldiers. The four servicemen were honoured at an event unprecedented in Canada 2002, Skyreach Centre in Edmonton, Alberta, was filled to capacity for a tribute ceremony for the four fallen soldiers that included personal messages from the Governor General, Prime Minister, Chief of Defence Staff, Premiers of Alberta and Manitoba, and the Mayor of Edmonton, most of whom also attended the service. Subsequently, deceased soldiers have been honoured by much smaller services, though, at the rededication of the Vimy Memorial on 9 April 2007, Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, made reference to all the fallen Canadians in Afghanistan when she rededicated the monument "to their eternal remembrance, to Canada, to all who would serve the cause of freedom, and to those who have lost their lives in Afghanistan."[2] Further, in honour of all those who died during the Afghan mission, the section of Ontario's Highway 401 along which fallen soldiers are carried from Canadian Forces Base Trenton to Toronto after repatriation was named the Highway of Heroes.[3] All those Canadian Forces personnel who are killed during the mission are posthumously awarded the Sacrifice Medal and their spouse or next of kin receive the Memorial Cross.
The first deployed Canadian woman to die in combat was CaptainNichola Goddard, and the death of Anthony Boneca initiated debate around the combat readiness of Canadian reservists, wherein questions were asked not only about the suitability of employing reservists, but also the role of the media in reporting comments by grief-stricken relatives, such as those made by Boneca's partner's father. The suitability of the Iltis vehicle was also questioned heavily following a land mine incident that claimed the lives of Canadian soldiers, leading the military to thereafter acquire Mercedes-Benz G-Class and RG-31 Nyala armoured patrol vehicles.[4]
The first Canadian woman to commit suicide on an overseas deployment was Major Michelle Mendes, an intelligence officer, who killed herself in her sleeping quarters at Kandahar Airfield only a few days after her arrival.[5][6]
The highest ranking casualty was sustained on 18 May 2010, when Colonel Geoff Parker was killed after a suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into a NATO convoy during a morning rush hour on the edge of Kabul. 5 U.S. soldiers and 12 Afghan civilians were also killed in this attack.[7]
Four soldiers were killed and eight wounded in a "friendly fire" incident when an AmericanF-16 fighter jet dropped a laser-guided 225-kg bomb on the Canadians who were on an exercise at Tarnak Farm, near Kandahar.[8]
Land mine incident along a road regularly used by Canadian patrols leaving Camp Julien. The mines were believed to have been placed along the road two hours before the patrol. Three other Canadians wounded.[9][10]
All four soldiers killed, and several others wounded, during an attack on their foot patrol by a suicide bomber riding a bicycle in Panjwai district, west of Kandahar.
All six killed by a roadside bomb while riding in a LAV III 75 km west of Kandahar City near the border between Kandahar and Helmand provinces. One other soldier was seriously wounded, another lightly wounded, and two others escaped injury. They were conducting a convoy security operation in support of Operation Achilles. It was the single worst attack on NATO troops since June 2005 and the single costliest day of combat for Canadian troops since 26 members of the RCR were killed in Korea in 1953.[32][33][34]
All six killed, along with a translator, by a roadside bomb while riding in an RG-31 Nyala armoured vehicle. The attack occurred in Panjwai district.[41][42]
Killed by a roadside bomb planted by retreating insurgents after an hour-long battle in the Zhari district, about 50 km west of Kandahar. A third soldier also wounded.[44][45]
Found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his room at ISAF headquarters in Kabul. The death was ruled a suicide by both the CFNIS and the Ontario Officer of the Chief Coroner.[46][47]
Died of injuries following firefight involving coalition forces, insurgents and security personnel from a civilian convoy in Zhari District. A military police investigation said he died from an enemy bullet, as opposed to gunfire from private security personnel, a conclusion his family has questioned.[66][67][68]
Killed (with one soldier injured) in the Panjwayi District when insurgents attacked their combat outpost with rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire.[69]
Killed by an IED on Highway 1 in Zhari District while conducting a survey of a route to be used in future operations. A fourth Canadian soldier seriously wounded.[10][70][71]
Killed when armoured fighting vehicle was fired upon "while they were conducting a security patrol in Zharey district". Five other soldiers were wounded.[72][73]
Killed when their armoured vehicle was hit by the blast from another large roadside IED while on patrol in Arghandab district, approximately 14 km west of Kandahar City and within 1 km of the site of the December 5 deaths.[78][79][80]
Killed by a roadside IED along with two Afghan police officers and Afghan interpreter while inspecting an IED 25 km west of Kandahar city. Four other Canadians wounded.[84][85][86]
Killed by a massive roadside bomb that detonated near their armoured Bison vehicle as they headed back to base after having defused another IED that had been called in by the Afghan National Police. Two other Canadian soldiers were wounded in the blast that occurred in the Arghandab District about 10 km northwest of Kandahar city.[90][91][92]
Killed when a large IED detonated near his armoured vehicle in the southern Shah Wali Kot district. Four other Canadian soldiers were wounded by the explosion, with three of them having to be evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.[93]
Killed when a roadside bomb detonated while on a mission in Zhari, about 40 km west of Kandahar City, as part of a massive operation to attack Taliban command centres and supply routes. Five other Canadian soldiers wounded in the blast.[94][95][96][97]
Killed when a roadside bomb detonated under their vehicle in the Shah Wali Kot district about 20 km northwest of Kandahar City, while taking part in a massive operation to attack Taliban command centres and supply routes. Three other Canadian soldiers wounded in the blast.[94][95][96][97]
Killed by an IED while travelling in a light armoured vehicle in the Shah Wali Kot district. Four other Canadian soldiers were wounded in the blast.[98][99]
Found dead in her accommodation room at Kandahar Air Field; enemy action was ruled out, and, according to a Canadian government source, "all evidence points toward a self-inflicted gunshot wound."[100][101][102] Her death has since been reported as a suicide.[5][6]
Killed by an explosive device while on foot patrol in the southern Afghanistan town of Nakhoney in the Panjwai district. His unit had been involved in a 6-day sweep to find and remove materials used to make IEDs.[103][104]
Killed in the Panjwai district about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city when the explosive device he was trying to defuse detonated. The explosion also killed the police chief of the Panjwai district and seriously wounded an Afghan interpreter.[105][106]
Killed when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Zhari district of Kandahar province. The explosion occurred seconds after the bomb was narrowly missed by the vehicle carrying the senior commander of coalition forces in the province. Five other Canadian soldiers were also wounded in the IED blast, with three sustaining injuries serious enough to require evacuation to Germany for further medical treatment.[107][108]
Died in a Quebec City hospital of his wounds sustained 11 days earlier on June 23 when he stepped on a land mine while on foot patrol in the Panjwaii district, southwest of Kandahar city. He had first been evacuated by helicopter to the hospital at Kandahar Airfield, then flown to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany, before being flown to Quebec City on 28 June, but had never regained consciousness. The extent of his wounds had required amputation of his left leg.[109][110][111]
Killed in a CH-146 Griffon helicopter crash possibly caused by mechanical failure or human error, along with a coalition soldier from another country, at an American forward operating base in Zabul province, about 80 km northeast of Kandahar city.[112] Three other Canadian soldiers were injured in the crash.[113]
Thrown off a cliff edge after stepping on an IED or landmine while conducting a combat operation in the Panjwayi District. The incident occurred approximately 17 km southwest from Kandahar City during a rare firefight between Canadian troops and insurgents.[114][115][116][117][118][119][120]
Killed when their resupply convoy was struck by two improvised explosive devices in southern Afghanistan's Zhari district. They had come out of their vehicle to secure the area after the first explosion, when another IED exploded. One other Canadian soldier was seriously wounded in the blast.[121][122][123][124][125]
Killed by a powerful roadside blast while riding in an armoured vehicle as part of a convoy in Dand district southwest of Kandahar city. Pépin was the highest-ranking Canadian soldier to die in combat to date in Afghanistan. Five other Canadian soldiers were also injured in the blast.[126][127]
Killed by a roadside blast when the armoured vehicle he was riding in struck an improvised explosive device (IED) about 13 km southwest of Kandahar city. Four other Canadian soldiers were also injured in the blast.[128][129]
Killed by a roadside blast when the armoured vehicle he was riding in struck an improvised explosive device (IED) about 25 km southwest of Kandahar city while returning from an operation launched against insurgents in Panjwaii district 11 other Canadian soldiers were also wounded by the blast.[130][131][132]
Killed by an IED in Panjwaii District about 20 km southwest of Kandahar city while leading a foot patrol with Afghan National Police. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast.[133][134][135]
All four soldiers killed when the vehicle they were riding in was struck by an IED in Kandahar city. Canadian journalist Michelle Lang reporting for the Calgary Herald was also killed in the blast.[138]
Died in a weapons training range accident northeast of Kandahar city. Four other Canadian soldiers were wounded in the incident which the military said it would investigate.[141]
Wounded by an improvised explosive device during a patrol in the Zhari district, west of Kandahar city, on 6 March 2010, he was initially treated in Kandahar, moved to Germany, before being taken to an Edmonton hospital where he died of his wounds.[142]
Killed by an improvised explosive device that detonated about 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. Blake was an explosive ordnance disposal operator. Canadian military officials refused to disclose whether any other soldiers were wounded in the explosion, citing a new policy decision to withhold any mentions of injuries outside of yearly statistics.[146][147]
Killed when a man believed to be working for the Taliban drove a car full of explosives into a NATO convoy during morning rush hour on the edge of Kabul. [150]
Killed by an improvised explosive device after he had dismounted from his armoured vehicle in Nakhonay about 15 km southwest of Kandahar city in the Panjwaii district, on one of the deadliest days for foreign soldiers in the war, with nine deaths. MacNeil was on his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan.[155][156][157]
Killed when their vehicle detonated an improvised explosive device about 20 km southwest of Kandahar city while responding to a report of a mine found in the doorway of a home. A third Canadian soldier was also wounded in the blast.[158][159]
Killed by an improvised explosive device after he had dismounted from his armoured vehicle in Nakhonay about 15 km southwest of Kandahar city in the Panjwaii district. [160]
13
TOTAL YEAR TO DATE
Non-fatal casualties
Figures released by DND in December 2009 show that the total number of Canadian soldiers injured and wounded in nearly seven years of war reached 1,442 by the end of December.[161] 913 of these are listed as NBI (Non battle injuries) and 529 of these are listed as WIA (wounded in action)The Canadian military releases information on injuries and wounds only at the end of each calendar year. Officials claim they withhold current-year figures for security reasons.
The Department of National Defence also does not disclose the nature or severity of injuries and wounds.
^"DND/CF". Canadian Department of National Defense/Canadian Forces. 04 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "News Release" ignored (help); Text "One Canadian Forces member killed by improvised explosive device" ignored (help)
^"DND/CF". Canadian Department of National Defense/Canadian Forces. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010. {{cite news}}: Text "News Release" ignored (help); Text "One Canadian soldier killed by improvised explosive device" ignored (help)