Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was from Kirtlington and leaves his wife, Sally, and their two daughters, Hannah and Sophie.

Lt Col Thorneloe was killed along with 18-year-old Trooper Joshua Hammond, of 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, about 8km north of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province on Wednesday.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, said Lt Col Thorneloe, was at the "leading edge of his generation" while his wife Sally said the 39-year-old father-of-two would be "sorely missed".

He had left the Battle Group Headquarters and was on a resupply convoy in order to visit his men who were conducting a major operation in hostile territory, the Ministry of Defence said.

An improvised explosive device was detonated under his Viking Armoured vehicle at about 3.20pm local time, killing him and Trooper Hammond, and taking the number of UK servicemen and women who have died in Afghanistan since operations began in October 2001 to 171.