The first British soldier to be killed in action in the lawless Afghan province of Helmand was named today as Captain Jim Philippson, from St Albans in Hertfordshire.

Capt Philippson, of 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, was killed when his mobile unit was ambushed by Taleban militiamen on Sunday. Two other soldiers were seriously injured.

The 29-year-old joined the Army in January 2001 and was commissioned into the Royal Artillery later that year after training at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

He was selected for a posting to 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery where officers said his combination of professionalism, his relaxed style of command and his sense of fun won him the respect and loyalty of his soldiers and peers.

He joined 7 Para in February after a six-month deployment to the Falkland Islands, and became a member of the team charged with training the Afghan National Army.

Lieutenant Colonel David Hammond, his Commanding Officer, said: "Capt Philippson served only a short time with 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery but his influence on it and 29 Commando Regiment previously was tremendous.

"He was a man that wanted to make a difference, and he did. He was a rising star in every sense who had a huge amount to offer. He is a tremendous loss and our thoughts are with his family and many friends at this very difficult time."

Capt Philippson’s father, Anthony, also paid tribute to his "wonderful and brave" son. Speaking from his home in Hertfordshire, Mr Philippson said his son had loved being in the Army.

Mr Philippson had been staying in Spain with friends for the past week, and heard the news from another of his sons.

He said that Capt Philippson had been in Iraq for a long tour, and insisted on being deployed to Afghanistan upon his return.

“James was with the Afghani army. Those with him were advising the Afghans. They were not with our troops,” he said.

Mr Philippson said his son was single, but had a “very close” girlfriend who was “devastated”. His mother - who has remarried - lives in Portugal, and has also been told the news.

“We are all trying to come to terms with it,” Mr Philippson added. “James was a wonderful man. He was brave.

"The Army is is what he lived for. It’s our only consolation. He was killed doing exactly what he wanted to do. He could never have worked behind a desk."

Meanwhile, Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, admitted that the future of Britain’s military deployment in southern Afghanistan depended on the ability of local politicians to establish control. He said it would be impossible for him to predict how long the British mission would take.

Mr Browne is this week visiting the Helmand province where around 6,000 UK personnel are being deployed with an official mission to provide stability for reconstruction efforts rather than to hunt down insurgents.

Mr Browne said that, despite the death of one of their comrades, morale remained high among the troops.

He said: "There are significant numbers of people, some of them Taleban, others drug traffickers, others who are just armed groups with various allegiances, who are trying to prevent us bringing effectively the hand of the Afghan government to this part of the country.

"The scale of the challenge was known and understood and that’s why, when my predecessor (John Reid) announced the deployment of troops to the taskforce and to support the provincial reconstruction team in Helmand, we committed ourselves to it for the period of three years.

"We have made progress even in the six weeks we have been here. At this stage it would be impossible for me to honestly predict how long this is going to take, because how long it will take will be a function of the local indigenous population and their politicians’ ability to take control of the construction and development of their own country and a function of their ability to be able to take over control of their own security."

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