Lieut. Andrew Richard Nuttall

A thank you to and follow up from Mehar's mention:

Lt. Andrew Nuttall of Victoria, who was killed Dec. 23, 2009 while on duty in Afghanistan.

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — A Canadian army officer and an Afghan soldier were killed two days before Christmas during a foot patrol in an area southwest of Kandahar City.


On Wednesday afternoon, Lieut. Andrew Richard Nuttall, 30, and the unidentified Afghan soldier died when an improvised explosive device detonated while they were patrolling in the volatile Panjwaii district.

Nuttall, who was based in Prince Rupert, B.C., and originally from Victoria, was serving with the Edmonton-based 1st Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

“Andrew was an officer, a soldier and a friend to all. He always had a smile on his face,” said Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard, Canada’s top soldier in Afghanistan.

“Andrew came to Afghanistan because he honestly believed that he could make a difference to the people of Afghanistan and he demonstrated that every time he went on patrol.”

The death of Nuttall, the 134th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan, shattered a month and a half of relative calm for the Canadian Forces in the country.

The army hasn’t lost a soldier since Oct. 30 when Sapper Steven Marshall, an Edmonton-based combat engineer, died after stepping on a homemade landmine, also in the Panjwaii district.

Nuttall is the son of a prominent Victoria doctor and nurse, Richard and Ethel Jane Nuttall, who are involved with setting up medical clinics in developing countries.

“He was the type of person who always put others first,” said his friend Craig Patterson, the owner of Crossfit School of Fitness in Vancouver, where Nuttall trained and worked.

Janine Armstrong, a friend of Nuttall’s from university, saw him at a wedding in Victoria in the summer. He walked in wearing his uniform, surprising many people there.

“He said there are so many places in the world that need help. He thought that by going to Afghanistan, he could make a difference,” Armstrong said Wednesday. “He saw it as an opportunity to get in on the ground level and help people in a situation that a lot of other people won’t put themselves in. He said he knew it was something he could do. He wasn’t afraid.”

Nuttall kept a Facebook site and also a personal blog where he gave periodic cheery updates from Afghanistan.

There are several references to improvised explosive devices, including one in which he wrote that he was making headway with locals and getting information about weapons and IEDs.

In a Nov. 15 update, Nuttall wrote that the soldiers were working on several things, including “finding and exploiting IEDs like they’re going out of style.” He also refers to the group losing “two really good guys to IEDs.”

Both were friends, Nuttall wrote. Despite the loss, he said, “All of us here are very proud to be doing this, no one is doubting their decision to be here and all of us know how strongly we are supported by great people like yourselves back home.”