Tributes for officer of 'absolute integrity'

Published on Thursday 16 July 2009 22:01

THE most senior British officer to be killed in action since the Falklands War was praised as the "best of the best" yesterday.

Lieutenant-Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, died when a bomb exploded under his armoured vehicle in a convoy near Lashkar Gah, southern Afghanistan, earlier this month.

Tributes were paid by the Prince of Wales, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former defence secretary Des Browne, who attended the funeral service at Guards Chapel in London.

Mr Browne had worked with Lt-Col Thorneloe for a year in his private office and praised his "unquestioned loyalty, his absolute integrity and his magnificent commitment".

Addressing the officer's widow, Sally, Mr Browne reflected on the toll the job could take on family life: "As you know more than anyone, he was first in and he was last out. He never left the office until the work was finished."

Mr Browne described Lt-Col Thorneloe as a friend who was devoted to his family: "Rupert has been described by others as being the best of the best – and that he was."

After the service, close family members, including his father, wife and mother, stood on the steps of the chapel and watched as the bearer party carried the Union flag-draped coffin to the waiting hearse.