In the summer of 2006, a Canadian army patrol travelling through Afghanistan’s Panjwayi region 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. As their commanders threw more and more soldiers into what became a gruelling, drawn-out struggle, the battalion’s Charlie Company found itself at the forefront of every firefight and ambush in a desperate, two-month pitched battle. The 150 soldiers of Charlie suffered more casualties and earned more decorations for bravery than any other Canadian unit since the Korean War. They came into contact with the enemy so many times they became known simply as “Contact Charlie.”
In Contact Charlie, reporter and embedded journalist Chris Wattie offers an intimate and harrowing look at a series of battles that would eventually take the lives of seven soldiers. Based on Wattie’s own experience in Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of post-tour interviews, Contact Charlie is a rare piece of military writing, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the stories that made headlines that summer—and continue to do so today.
Reviews
“In the summer of 2006, the Taliban were poised to take back their Jerusalem, Kandahar City. They didn’t figure on I PPCLI. Chris Wattie’s outstanding effort lets us eavesdrop on the intense battles that saved the city, the country and NATO itself, and should make every Canadian proud of our country’s sacrifice in the name of freedom.” —Lewis MacKenzie, Major-General (ret’d), Commanding Officer I PPCLI, 1977–1979
“Way beyond the perceived access of embedded reporting, Contact Charlie brings the boots on the ground view in Afghanistan closer than anyone outside the Canadian Forces has ever seen it. Wattie’s account of the battle for the Panjwayi is reminiscent of war correspondence from such giants as Ross Munro, Matthew Halton or Bill Boss—as close to the sharp end as one can get.” —Ten Barris, journalist and author
“Contact Charlie fills in the blanks between Canada’s military objective in Afghanistan and the dizzying transformation on the ground. It is a thorough, lucid account of how one company’s tour of duty altered so many lives. Like a magnet, Charlie Company is drawn into a fight behind every wall and Chris Wattie captures it all in meticulous detail. Each time they suit up for a ‘routine’ patrol, there is a sense of dread for what looms. Contact Charlie will survive as a testament to the soldiers who never came back and the friends who will never forget them.” —Lisa LaFlamme, National Affairs Correspondent, CTV News
“It is rare that a book about the Canadian military comes along that grabs your attention from the opening paragraph and holds it right to the last page. This is the case with Contact Charlie.” —Sergeant Kurt Grant, CD, Canadian Army Journal
“Wattie shows how exceptional Canadian soldiers truly are. From Ian Hope, down through the ranks to the insanely brave Newfoundlander Sgt. Mike Denine (later awarded the Medal of Military Valour), Wattie lets us stand close to the extraordinary men and women of the Canadian forces. You must read Contact Charlie to arm yourself with understanding when you watch or read the news about Afghanistan.” —The Chronicle Herald
“…Chris Wattie may know the life of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan better than any other journalist.” —The Winnipeg Free Press
“Many journalists try to write about military life, but few possess the ability, eloquence and sheer grasp of the fleshy reality of war and soldiering that Wattie has in obvious abundance. This is reporting, military history and political analysis of the first order. Splendid and memorable—a book that should carve an honoured place in Canadian literature.” —Michael Coren, Sun Media columnist, television and radio host and bestselling author
Author(s)
Chris Wattie
Chris Wattie was a senior national reporter with the National Post, and one of the first Canadian reporters embedded with the army when he accompanied Canadian troops on the International Security Assistance Force mission in Kabul in 2003. Wattie lives in Toronto, Ontario.