Commander was 'best of the best'

Col Thorneloe was praised for his 'unquestioned loyalty'

Lt Col Rupert Thorneloe was the most senior British officer to be killed in action in Afghanistan.

As commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, the 39-year-old from Kirtlington, near Oxford, was in charge of more than 1,000 soldiers.

Described by Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, former chief of the general staff, as at the "leading edge of his generation", the keen polo player was also a friend of the Prince of Wales.

Born in 1969, the son of Major John and Mrs Veronica Thorneloe, he was educated at Radley College and the University of Reading, where he studied sociology.

Col Thorneloe was commissioned into the Welsh Guards in 1992.

He served as a platoon commander and later company commander in the UK and on operations in Northern Ireland.

'Unquestionably loyal'

Col Thorneloe spent a year as an intelligence liaison officer with the RUC Special Branch in South Armagh and as an intelligence analyst at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood.

He served as the Operations Officer of 1st (UK) Armoured Division in Germany and Iraq and was awarded the MBE for his military service in Iraq in 2005 and 2006.

He also spent two years as military assistant to the assistant chief of defence staff and then to the defence secretary.

Former defence secretary Des Browne spoke at his funeral at the Guards Chapel in London's Wellington Barracks.

He praised Col Thorneloe for his "unquestioned loyalty, his absolute integrity and his magnificent commitment to what we were doing".

The politician concluded by saying: "Rupert has been described by others as being the best of the best and that he was."

Col Thorneloe's wife Sally, with whom he had two daughters, Hannah and Sophie, described him as "a born soldier - an inspiration".