New_November_2008 SPL_AdultNonFiction

In the summer of 2006, a Canadian army patrol travelling through Afghanistan?s Panjwayi region?a densely packed maze of villages, fields and vineyards west of Kandahar?surprised an unexpectedly large force of Taliban fighters. The soldiers of the Princess Patricia?s Canadian Light Infantry had stumbled into a hornet?s nest, the largest buildup of Taliban forces in the region since their regime had fallen in 2001. The Canadians found themselves up against opponents who were suicidally brave, cunning at planting mines and roadside bombs, and experienced at disappearing into the scenery whenever they chose. As their commanders threw more and more soldiers into what became a gruelling, drawn-out struggle, the troops of the battalion`s Charlie Company found themselves at the forefront of every firefight and ambush in what became a desperate, two-month pitched battle. The 150 soldiers of Charlie Company suffered more casualties and earned more decorations for bravery than any other Canadian unit since the Korean War and came into contact with the enemy so many times they became known simply as "Contact Charlie."