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?The family lived through stirring times and Canon Houghton?s life was one of some drama, subject like St Paul to shipwreck and some dangers on the mission field, followed by much labour at home for the missionary society and many other Christian bodies and causes.? (Timothy Yates, author)

?One of the Lord?s great servants on earth. He was not only a dedicated evangelical leader in Britain, but a warm personal friend and supporter of mine for which I am very grateful.? (Billy Graham)

?His life and character exemplified the four marks of the Christian Church mentioned by our Lord: a concern for truth, a concern for holiness, a concern for mission, and a concern for unity.? (John Stott)

?Canon Houghton, a missionary statesman and a man of great stature. He was invariably supportive and encouraging.? (John B. Taylor, former Bishop of St Albans)

On April 18, 2002, Alpha Company, Third Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was on a training exercise at Tarnak Farms, a former Taliban artillery range in southern Afghanistan. The exercise had been underway for nearly seven hours when two American fighter pilots flew overhead. One, Major Harry Schmidt, saw the artillery fire below, and thinking he was under attack, dropped a laser-guided bomb.

Four Canadian soldiers died that night, the first Canadian combat fatalities since the Korean War. For many in Canada the tragedy signalled the true beginning of Canada's lengthy combat mission in Afghanistan.

First Soldiers Down recounts what happened that evening through archival material and the recollections of troops. It also tells the personal stories of the fallen Sergeant Marc Lger, Corporal Ainsworth Dyer, Private Richard Green, and Private Nathan Smith as well as what happened to the loved ones of each of the four in the decade since the incident.

By every principle of war, every shred of military logic, logistics support to Canada's Task Force Orion in Afghanistan should have collapsed in July 2006. There are few countries that offer a greater challenge to logistics than Afghanistan, and yet Canadian soldiers lived through an enormous test on this deadly international stage - a monumental accomplishment. Canadian combat operations were widespread across southern Afghanistan in 2006, and logistics soldiers worked in quiet desperation to keep the battle group moving. Only now is it appreciated how precarious the logistics operations of Task Force Orion in Kandahar really were.

What the Thunder Said is an honest, raw recollection of incidents and impressions of Canadian warfighting from a logistics perspective. It offers solid insight into the history of military logistics in Canada and explores in some detail the dramatic erosion of a once-proud corner of the army from the perspective of a battalion commander.