This little boy was destined for a life in uniform – and James Philippson, from St Albans, was as proud to be a cub scout as he was to become a captain in the British army.

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Tragically the former St Columba’s College pupil also became the first soldier to die in Afghanistan when he was shot dead on a desperate mission to rescue other stricken British troops. He was 29 years old.

Now, as troops withdraw from Afghanistan, he has been honoured in a book which pays tribute to the bravery of servicemen and women who died in the conflict.

Author Graham Bound interviewed more than 100 friends, comrades and relatives of 20 fallen British soldiers and Marines for At The Going Down Of The Sun: Love, Loss and Sacrifice in Afghanistan and a chapter is dedicated to each of them.

The chapter on James tells of his idyllic childhood in St Albans with his parents Tony and Tricia and younger brother David, his army training at Sandhurst and deployment to Iraq, the Falklands and finally Afghanistan with elite 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery (7 RHA).

He was killed instantly when he was shot in the head during an ememy ambush on June 11, 2006.

In the book his family tell his story in their own words

James as a boy

“James' nickname was Action Man,” said father Tony. “The first army he joined was his own. When he was about 12 he and his little band of friends, all dressed in camouflage, would pinch my air rifle and head off for the naturist camps in Bricket Wood. They’d load the gun with some hard little berries, sneak up on the nudists, fire these berries at their bottoms, and then escape on their bikes. So those were his first military exercises. He and his band were straight out of the Just William books.”

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James (right) with his family

On him joining the army

“James was very bright, but I couldn’t imagine him sitting in an office,” said mother Tricia. “His physical side dominated his persona. I saw him change quite quickly at Sandhurst. I remember him showing me how quickly he could get from one end of the house to the other if he marched and swung his arms, and how he suddenly started speaking really loudly. We found that funny, and James himself didn’t take anything dreadfully seriously.”

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Hearing he had died

“It was just such a shock, straight out of the blue,“ said Tricia. “I said, 'James? How could anybody kill James?'

“It was in the middle of the night, so immediately I got onto the internet to book flights back to the UK the next day. When the sun still came up, I just couldn’t believe that the world was continuing as it had the day before.”

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Eight years on

“Last year, somebody asked me how old James would be if he was still with us, and I really had to think about it,” said Tricia. “Because he’s 29. That’s when he ended. The old Remembrance Day thing, ‘They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old… Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.’ That’s true. He’ll always be 29 in my mind.”

At The Going Down Of The Sun is published by Monday Books and is available now.