My sadness, heart, and condolences goes out to the loved ones and Regiment (2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment) for the loss of Pte. Braun Scott Woodfield, 24, of Victoria.



November 24, 2005
Cdn soldier killed in accident
By STEPHEN THORNE

OTTAWA (CP) - A Canadian soldier was killed and four others injured Thursday when their armoured vehicle rolled over in southern Afghanistan.

No explosive devices nor enemy action were involved in the accident, which occurred during a routine patrol on the main highway 45 kilometres northeast of Kandahar, said Lt-Gen. Marc Dumais, deputy chief of the defence staff, . The dead soldier was identified as Pte. Braun Scott Woodfield, 24, of Victoria.

The injured soldiers were identified as: Sgt. Tony Nelson McIver, 31, of Fredericton; Cpl. James Edward McDonald, 32, of Pembroke, Ont.; Cpl. Shane Dean Jones, 30, of White Rock, B.C., and Pte. Paul Shavo, 24, of London, Ont.

All were members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, which is based in Gagetown, N.B.

Members of Parliament stopped debate Wednesday afternoon and held a minute's silence for the dead soldier.

The accident involved a LAV-3 armoured personnel carrier.

The military said three of the soldiers suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Two were flown by American helicopter to the main U.S. military base in Baghram, north of Kabul.

Woodfield is the eighth Canadian to die in Afghanistan since Canada first sent soldiers into the southwest Asian country in 2002.

Four died by friendly fire, two by anti-tank mines and one at the hand of a suicide bomber.

The Canadians have been running convoys on the same highway between Kabul and Kandahar in recent weeks as they move headquarters to the country's volatile southern region from the capital.

Earlier this month, a Canadian soldier was sent home with a broken leg after a collision between two military vehicles in Kabul.

Four others were treated for cuts and bruises and released.

In September, two Canadian soldiers suffered minor injuries when a roadside bomb exploded next to their armoured patrol in Kabul.

Also in September, Pte. Patrick Dessureault, 24, of Alma, Que., died on an exercise when soft earth gave way near a river in Wainwright, Alta., sending his light armoured vehicle rolling into the water. The crash broke his neck.

Dessureault was on night manoeuvres with the 2nd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment at the time. Two other members of the Valcartier, Que.-based regiment, known as the Vandoos, were injured.