Rupert Thorneloe Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Stuart Michael Thorneloe MBE ( 17 October 1969 – 1 July 2009 ) was a British Army officer who was killed in action on 1 July 2009 near Lashkar Gah , Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan . , Thorneloe is the highest - ranking British Army officer to be killed in action since Lt Col ' H ' . Jones ' s death in 1982 during the Falklands War . Early life and education . Thorneloe was born on 17 October 1969 at Kirtlington , Oxfordshire . He attended Cothill House school , and Radley College in Radley , near Abingdon in Oxfordshire , and the University of Reading in Reading , Berkshire . Thereafter , he trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , and graduated with an MA in Defence Studies from King ' s College London in 2002 . Military career . On 6 September 1991 , Thorneloe was commissioned as a second lieutenant on probation in the Welsh Guards on a short service commission . His commission was later confirmed and backdated to 5 August 1989 , and promoted to lieutenant with seniority from 5 August 1991 . He served in Northern Ireland as a platoon commander , and company second - in - command , and also worked for a year as an intelligence liaison officer for his regiment , liaising with the Royal Ulster Constabulary Special Branch in South Armagh . According to journalist Toby Harnden , Thorneloe played a key role in the British campaign against the IRA ' s South Armagh sniper and the arrest of four members of one of the sniper teams . Thorneloe was promoted to captain on 1 April 1995 . He switched to a special regular commission on 5 October 1995 , and an ordinary regular commission on 18 September 1996 , electing to make the Army his permanent career . He was appointed battalion adjutant and , on 30 September 1999 , was promoted to major , and posted to Permanent Joint Headquarters , Northwood , where he worked in intelligence analysis . In 2002 , Thorneloe studied at the Joint Service Command and Staff College , Shrivenham , and then took command of a company in Bosnia . Later , in 2004 , Thorneloe moved to HQ 1st ( UK ) Armoured Division as Operations Officer . In 2005 , as the division was due to take over the role of Multinational Command South East , Thorneloe was sent to Iraq ahead of the main deployment , and travelled to Basra to begin planning for the transition to Iraqi control . " The Times " said that the divisional commander Lieutenant General John Cooper " looked on Thorneloe as his right - hand man in analysing and presenting the options in this process " . On 8 September 2006 , Thorneloe was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for his service in Iraq . He became military assistant first to the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff ( Policy ) , Major - General Andrew Stewart , and then to the Secretary of State for Defence , Des Browne . Thorneloe was promoted lieutenant colonel on 30 June 2008 , and became Commanding Officer of his battalion just before it deployed to Afghanistan in 2008 with about 1 , 000 troops based in Helmand Province . Death . Thorneloe was killed by the Taliban in Operation " Panther ' s Claw " during a resupply mission when an improvised explosive device exploded under his BvS 10 Viking armoured vehicle . The explosion also killed Trooper Joshua Hammond of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment and injured six other soldiers . The deaths of Thorneloe and Hammond brought the total number of fatalities of British Forces personnel in Afghanistan since 2001 to 171 . , Thorneloe was the next British Army CO and most senior officer to be killed in action since Lt Col ' H ' . Jones VC in the Falklands War , and the highest - ranking to die in Afghanistan in post - colonial times , and one of eight British Army commanding officers " killed on operations " since 1948 . Across the British Armed Forces , Thornloe was most recent highest - ranking British Commanding Officer to be killed on operations since Wing Commander Nigel Elsdon , No . 27 Squadron RAF on 17 / 18 January 1991 , during the Gulf War . Thorneloe ' s death reinvigorated debate over the adequacy of military equipment supplied to British forces in Afghanistan , with charges focusing on the alleged lack of transport helicopter s , which forces troops to travel by land and become exposed to Taliban IED attacks , and the inadequate protection offered by Viking armoured vehicles against IEDs and land mines . However , according to " The Times " s obituary , Thorneloe himself had previously " dismissed suggestions that British Forces in Afghanistan are underresourced , saying , ' The training and kit are outstanding . Thorneloe ' s funeral took place on 16 July 2009 . At about 11 : 00 BST ( 10 : 00 UTC ) the hearse carrying his coffin passed through Aldershot Barracks which was lined with Guardsmen . The hearse then travelled to the Guards Chapel at Wellington Barracks , London . The bearing party consisting of eight members of the Welsh Guards then shouldered the coffin and carried it into the chapel . On his coffin were placed his scabbard , sword , cap , belt and medals along with a wreath of white roses . The service began at 12 : 45 BST , attended by the Prince of Wales , Duchess of Cornwall , Des Browne , and Thorneloe ' s family including his father , Major John Thorneloe . Thorneloe is featured extensively in the book " Dead Men Risen : The Welsh Guards and the Defining Story of Britain ' s War in Afghanistan " ( Quercus , 2011 ) by Toby Harnden , which won the 2012 Orwell Prize for Books .