Daughters of Britain's oldest casualty in Afghanistan pay tribute to their heroic father 'with the biggest heart'

Yesterday the daughters of Senior Aircraftsman Gary Thompson, who volunteered to serve in Afghanistan to give its young women the same chance in life as his own children, told of their love for the man they called "the best dad in the world".

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Proud: The Thompson family in a photograph from 2003. From left: Daughters Jordan, Aimee, Kelly, Laurie and Jade with Gary and Jacqueline Thompson

Mr Thompson, 51, is the oldest British serviceman to lose his life in Iraq or Afghanistan. He was also a hero, according to open letters released by his daughters Laurie, 23, Aimee, 21, Jordan, 19, Jade, 17, and Kelly, 16.

Kelly said the RAF reservist "devoted his life to the happiness of his family and friends".

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She added: "My dad is a hero and not one day passes that we are not proud of him. He'll stay in my heart and my memory as the man we all love."

Aimee said her father was "the best dad in the world", while Jordan said he had "the biggest heart and cared about his family and friends so much".

She added: "I loved him with all my heart and will miss him forever. He is my hero and I am so proud."

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Tragic loss: Senior Aircraftman Gary Thompson's daughters Kelly and Jordan (back row, left to right) and Jade, Laurie and Amiee (front row, left to right)

Mr Thompson, a company director, of Mapperley, Nottingham, died when his patrol was blown up by a roadside bomb on Sunday. His wife Jacqueline, 42, admitted she feared the worst when the telephone rang in the early hours of Monday morning.

Speaking at the family's home, she said: "I just knew what they were going to say."

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Happy couple: Gary Thompson with his wife Jacqui

Mr Thompson's niece, who signed her letter as Jessica, said her uncle was a man "with no bad bone in his body". She said he "would always encourage you to do your dream, until you got the dream" and "never left your side if you were upset".

Mr Thompson died at a field hospital alongside 23-year-old Graham Livingstone, a fellow senior aircraftsman, after the attack at the British air base at Kandahar.

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Tragic: The two RAF servicemen killed in Kandahar brings the British death toll to 93

The British death toll in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion is now 93.

Mr Thompson served with the RAF in the 1970s before setting up his own business specialising in ventilation materials. He re-enlisted as a reservist in 2005.

Laurie, his daughter from his first marriage, said the family knew his claim that he was being posted to an office when he was called up was a "white lie".

"Dad told us not to worry about him because he would be in an office. We knew that was not true."

Mrs Thompson said she had last spoken to her husband 24 hours before he was killed.

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Devoted: Mr Thompson with his daughter Jordan

"He wanted to know all the news from home," she said. "He had so many pictures of me and the girls next to his bed. He couldn't get enough of them."

A cousin of Mr Thompson, Steve Smith, from Swindon, said he had argued against the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq but failed to persuade his relative not to do his duty.

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Afghan women: Mr Thompson said he wanted to help give them the same opportunities available to his own daughters

Mr Smith, 53, said: "Gary has a wonderful family who are all going to miss him immensely. I think about how they will feel when each of the girls gets married.

"He was such a patriotic man - he saw serving as his duty and his girls were his inspiration."

Mr Thompson's body will arrive at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire today.