Hurt NZ soldier sent to UK

By STUART DYE and NZPA

A New Zealand officer wounded in a bomb attack in Iraq is expected to arrive in Britain today for surgery.

Captain Hayden Gardner was in a British Army Land-Rover which was blown up in the southern city of Basra. He and two others were hurt and one man was killed.

Military authorities believe a remote-controlled roadside bomb hit the convoy of three vehicles.

Witness Hussein Hamid said two Iraqis opened fire on the vehicles seconds before the explosion, but officials have not been able to confirm this.

It was the third roadside bombing in the Basra area in three days.

Since major combat was declared over on May 1, guerrilla attacks have killed 124 United States and British soldiers in southern Iraq.

Captain Gardner, 28, originally from Waimate, south of Canterbury, was left with a fractured right arm and shrapnel injuries to his leftfoot.

He was treated at a British field hospital and was due to be flown to Birmingham for further surgery.

His partner, Captain Nikki Kennedy, a logistics adviser who heads the support team for the Iraqi deployment, was expected to fly to Britain with him.

It was Captain Kennedy, also a New Zealander, who called his parents to tell them what had happened.

Colonel Derek Baxter, Captain Gardner's commanding officer from Linton Camp, described him as a friendly and enthusiastic officer.

"He lives life at 100 miles an hour. He takes on everything at full speed."

Last night the Gardner family released a statement saying they were concerned for him, but were satisfied that he was receiving the best treatment possible.

"Hayden is a professional soldier and we know that he is proud to represent New Zealand. He accepts the risks of doing so as a member of our country's defence forces," the statement said.

The family said they were praying for him to make a full recovery and wished to extend their sympathy to the Iraqi family who lost one of their own in the incident, and to the families of those injured.

Captain Gardner, an officer in the Second Engineering Regiment, had been in Iraq for less than a month.

He joined the Territorial Army in 1994 before graduating to the engineering corps, based at Linton, in 1996.

Iraq was his third mission overseas after serving in Bosnia in 1999 and in East Timor two years ago.

He was involved in determining and coordinating engineering tasks, and liaising with civilian and non-government organisations.

The New Zealand Defence Force deputy chief of staff, Brigadier Clive Lilley, said it had been acknowledged from the outset that there were risks associated with the deployment of Army engineers to Iraq to help with reconstruction.

"Our personnel are very well trained to operate and work in environments such as southern Iraq and we can therefore manage the risks, but we cannot necessarily eliminate them."

Captain Gardner is one of 61 members of the New Zealand armed forces who arrived in Basra last month. Most are engineers charged with rebuilding the city's war-torn, shattered infrastructure.

Defence Minister Mark Burton said deployment was kept under constant review. But the incident underscored the urgent need for civil reconstruction and humanitarian support which defence force personnel were providing.

Herald Feature: Iraq