On the eve of her death, Captain Nichola Goddard knew she was facing one of the biggest dangers of her life. She was tired -- as tired as every other soldier who pulls long hours on the job -- but she was filled with excitement.
She was embarking on one of the most arduous battles of Canada's military mission in Afghanistan: a crucial fight to break the Taliban's grip on a strategic district at the western entrance to Kandahar city. She knew it could determine the fate of Afghanistan's second-largest city, which has been increasingly vulnerable to attack from a heavily armed gang of insurgents to the west.
Within 24 hours, Capt. Goddard, 26, was dead. She is the first Canadian female combat soldier killed in battle.
"There was a firefight out there," said General David Fraser, the Canadian officer in charge of the multinational brigade in Kandahar, "and some time during the firefight she was killed."
Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard is seen in this undated photo. (DOD handout)
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In Shilo, Man., yesterday, her husband Jason Beam said that she "loved her job. . . . She was glad to be in Afghanistan."
As a forward observation officer, Capt. Goddard's job was to call artillery fire on enemy targets. It was a risky assignment, one of the most dangerous in the artillery, but she was known as a strong leader who inspired loyalty and courage among the soldiers of her unit.
"They would do anything for her," said Captain Harry Crawford, her friend and a chaplain at Camp Nathan Smith, the Canadian base on the outskirts of Kandahar. "The soldiers knew her. They would follow her into hell and back."
Capt. Goddard was killed in an intense firefight with up to 200 Taliban insurgents near Panjwai, about 24 kilometres west of Kandahar city, where hundreds of Canadian soldiers were supporting Afghan security forces in one of the largest Canadian operations yet against the Taliban rebels.
"This was a big operation and she wanted to be part of it," said Capt. Crawford, who had talked to her on the eve of the battle. "It was something she looked forward to doing. She knew it was dangerous, but she was excited."
Capt. Goddard, of the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery based in Shilo, Man., died at 6:55 p.m. local time yesterday. The exact details of her death were still unknown last night as soldiers prepared for the fighting that was likely to erupt again today when dawn broke.
She was the 17th Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan since 2002. One Canadian diplomat also died.
Female soldiers, according to Capt. Crawford, bring everything that a man brings to the army -- and something more. "She was caring. She wanted to define the position for a woman. She wanted to bring the best of both worlds. She was tough but fair, and she wanted to make sure she cared for her soldiers."
She knew she was a pioneer in the army. "She was, in some ways, a pathfinder," Capt. Crawford said. "There's not a tremendous number of women in her role or above, and she embraced it.
"There are just not a lot of women in the combat arms or the officer ranks. She was unique in that way. She was well aware of the risks over here, and yet when any mission came up, there was no chance that she would duck her responsibility or be hesitant."
Canadian military spokesmen said a "significant number" of Taliban rebels were killed in the operation by the Canadian and Afghan forces. They said the operation was succeeding in getting rid of insurgents who were harassing Afghans in the district.
Just four days ago, about 200 Taliban had mobilized near Kandahar and were preparing to attack the town of Panjwai. In the ensuing clash, five Afghan police were killed and eight were wounded. Eleven of the Taliban were reported killed in the battle, including two senior commanders.
The same group of 200 Taliban was believed to be involved in yesterday's firefight. In most battles, the Taliban are armed with Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Afghan security forces had launched their pursuit of the group after receiving intelligence about its location, and hundreds of Canadian soldiers were dispatched to support the pursuit. The Afghan police were going village to village in their search for the Taliban when the battle exploded yesterday.
The Canadians recognized that the Panjwai district is a strategically important site, on the doorstep of Kandahar city. "We certainly believe this area is key, and that's why we're involved in this operation," said Lieutenant-Colonel Derek Basinger, chief of staff to Gen. Fraser.
Female soldiers play an equal role in today's Canadian army, he said. "Soldiers are soldiers. They are brothers-in-arms."
While some Canadian soldiers, especially in Western Canada, have resisted the integration of women into the armed forces, their supporters say female soldiers are just as tough as men.
"The classic debate is always about strength, fitness and toughness," Capt. Crawford said. "But women have standards that they have to meet, just like the men. If they don't meet them to the proper military standard, they don't make their position."
Female soldiers bring advantages to the army, he said. "Any unit that has a female within it, I have experienced that they have better communication. They are a little tighter. Women bring certain aspects that are different . . . which helps bond the troops together."
The Canadian troops will want to stay in Afghanistan, despite the latest death, he said.
"They need, in many ways, to be here to finish those jobs and to feel right. Soldiers are an amazing breed of people. When one of their comrades dies, they are much less inclined to want to leave."
Canada's military women
1885: Women serve as nurses for the first time in Canadian military history during the Northwest Rebellion.
1901: Permanent Canadian Nursing Service is created.
1906: Nurses are admitted to the military.
1914-1918: Enemy action during the First World War kills 29 Canadian military women.
1941: Range of duties for women broadens during the Second World War from traditional trades -- clerks, cooks, drivers and telephone operators -- to mechanics, parachute riggers and heavy mobile equipment drivers. The enemy kills five Canadian military women.
1950: Woman are recruited for the Korean War. None are killed.
1965: Women are made a permanent feature of the military.
1979: Military begins testing women in expanded roles; opens military colleges to women.
1981: Second Lieutenant Inge Plug becomes the first female helicopter pilot.
1987: Army and Navy test women in combat roles. All areas of Air Force, including fighter pilot, are opened to women.
1988: Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders the Canadian Forces to achieve complete integration within 10 years.
1989: Private Heather R. Erxleben becomes Canada's first female Regular Force infantry soldier. Major Dee Brasseur becomes the first woman fighter pilot of a CF-18 Hornet.
2000: Woman are allowed to serve in submarines.
2006: First Canadian woman in a combat role killed in battle.
Source: Department
of National Defence
