Two soldiers from The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, killed in an ambush on Monday were named by the Ministry of Defence as Sergeant Stuart Millar and Private Kevin Elliott.
The soldiers were killed by the Taleban armed with rocket-propelled grenades while they were patrolling on foot in Babaji district in central Helmand.
Sergeant “Gus” Millar, 40, from Inverness, joined the Army in 2000 after serving in the Territorial Army. He had served in Northern Ireland, the Falklands, Cyprus and Iraq.
His family said: “Gus was very brave and is a credit to both our family and the Army.” He married his wife, Jillian, last year and they had a baby daughter, Grace.
Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen Cartwright, commanding officer of The Black Watch, said: “He was a wonderfully kind and dependable man. In his role as a mortar-fire controller, he was at the very front of the action throughout the summer, famously being caught on the ITN News on the first day of Operation Panther’s Claw [the pre-election offensive involving 3,000 British troops], complaining that a long firefight with the insurgents had delayed his ‘morning brew’.
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“It was typical of the man. In the thick of the action, professional expertise to the fore, combined with his wonderfully positive and humorous style.”
Private Elliott, 24, from Dundee, joined the Army in 2002. He had previously served in Iraq and Northern Ireland.
His family said: “Kevin will be sorely missed by the whole family.”
Colonel Cartwright said: “Private Elliott was an awesome fighting Jock, who was very much in his comfort zone here on demanding operations in Afghanistan.”