A SOLDIER killed in Afghanistan on Remembrance Sunday has been described as an amazing father and fantastic husband.

Captain Walter Barrie, of 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, who had joined the Army as a private, was shot at close range by a member of the Afghan Army on Sunday.

He had been taking part in a football match between British soldiers and members of the Afghan National Army in Helmand province at the time.

Hundreds of people are expected pay their respects at the memorial garden on the edge of Carterton when he is repatriated today.

Capt Barrie, 41, was born in Glasgow and began his 25-year military career with the Royal Highland Fusiliers in 1987.

He served in both Iraq wars, Bosnia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland, as well as completing a tour of Afghanistan in 2008.

As a non-commissioned officer, he served as an instructor at the Army Training Regiment depot at Glencorse Barracks, near Edinburgh, and at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.

In 2007 he was promoted to Warrant Officer Class One and became Regimental Sergeant Major of 2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

He was commissioned as an officer in 2009, becoming second-in-command of D Company in the regiment’s 1st Battalion last year.

Capt Barrie, who deployed to Afghanistan on August 31, was a keen skier, a Football Association coach and Rangers Football Club fan. He leaves his wife Sonia and 15-year-old son Callum.

His wife said: “Walter was a great man, a doting and amazing father and a fantastic husband. He was much loved and will be missed by many.”

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Wrench, commanding officer of 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, said: “It’s almost impossible to express the sadness we, as a close battalion, are experiencing at this time.

Lieutenant Colonel Jim Archibald, of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, said: “Captain Walter Barrie was a fantastic, engaging and professional man who was universally popular and highly capable in all he did.

“He was exceptional and I am immensely proud to have had the privilege of serving alongside him.”

Captain Simon Hamilton, 1st Battalion, the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, said: “His seemingly limitless morale, his inspiring professionalism and his impeccable gift of communicating with all people, regardless of rank, age or background, made him someone who I am honoured to have called a friend.”

“As a man he was someone you always wanted to be around, and as a soldier he was someone you aspired to be.”

The plane carrying Capt Barrie’s body is due to land at RAF Brize Norton at 1.30pm and the cortege will arrive at the memorial garden in Norton Way, Carterton, between 4pm and 4.30pm.

It will arrive at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Headley Way, Oxford, between 5pm and 5.30pm.