What American Generals Said When They Saw Canadian Soldiers Fight at Operation Medusa

NATO initiated Operation Medusa in the Panjwaii district of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan in September 2006. The TF Kandahar infantry were to find themselves in the most violent and prolonged conventional ground battle the Canadian military had ever seen, since the Korean War, as they faced an estimated 1500 to 2000 well-equipped Taliban fighters who were trying to take the city of Kandahar. Canadians from the Royal Canadian Regiment, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Lord Strathcona's Horse, and the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery were commanded on the ground by Lieutenant-Colonel Omer Lavoie and led overall by Brigadier-General David Fraser as they were deployed into the vicious landscape of the Panjwaii Green Zone. Canadian troops, in the early days of the attack, encountered intense ambushes, heavy mortar fire and an almost fatal friendly-fire incident as they traversed mud-walled compounds, massive grape-drying huts that served as bunkers, and dense agricultural cover. Canadian troops did not retreat but quickly responded. Canadian infantry systematically took over the insurgent fortress compound, compound by compound, using precision combined arms tactics, heavy autocannon fire from LAVs and more than 4,000 rounds of artillery fire. By mid-September 2006, the Taliban's regular army in the city of Kandahar was broken and defeated. This video chronicles the strategy behind Operation Medusa, the bravery of the soldiers who were willing to fight through the grape vines, the response of allied commanders, and the human impact of Canada's "heaviest battle" in Afghanistan. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - The Battle of Panjwaii (September 2006) A 2018 Taliban Mass in Kandahar Province 02:40 05:15 - Objective Rugby and the Green Zone Fortress The crisis at the front and the opening ambush. 10:30 - Adapt Tactics: Night Operations & Combined Arms The Grapes and the Break are cleared at 14:15.You will clear the Grape Huts and the Break at 14:15. The Aftermath: Destroying the Conventional Threat will be aired at 17:45.The Aftermath: Destroying the Conventional Threat will broadcast at 17:45. 22:00 - Coalition Command (How) - Canadian Resolve 26:15 - The Human Cost and the Legacy of Operation Medusa A selection of historical sources and further reading. The Furious Battle That Saved Afghanistan from the Taliban, 1. David Fraser, Brian Hanington (2018). McClelland and Stewart. Written by Lee Windsor, David Charters and Brent Wilson, Kandahar Tour: The Canadian Army in Afghanistan 2004-2007 is a book published in 2008. Breakwater Books. 3. Sean M. Maloney, 2012 Fighting for Afghanistan: A Rogue Historian at War. Naval Institute Press. A. Department of National Defence (DND) - Directorate of History and Heritage: Official Military Reports and Commendations for Operation Medusa (2006). 5. Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC): The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in Afghanistan: https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/wars-and-conflicts/afghanistan 6. Canadian War Museum (CWM) - The War in Afghanistan: https://www.warmuseum.ca/learn/canadian-military-history-timeline/contemporary-era/the-war-in-afghanistan/ ABOUT CANADIANS AT WAR Canadians at War aims to educate, archive and commemorate the history, strategies, and loss of life of the Canadian Armed Forces in modern and historical warfare. Please support independent coverage of Canadian military history and veteran stories by subscribing. Join the Discussion: What was the strategic impact of Operation Medusa on the nature of the conflict in the south on the Coalition? Share your comments below. #CanadianMilitary #OperationMedusa #Afghanistan #CanadianArmy #Kandahar #MilitaryHistory #RCR #PPCLI #HistoryDocumentary