Father of soldier killed in Afghanistan accuses MoD of using Harry as 'propaganda tool to glorify war'

Anthony Philippson, whose son James died in a firefight with Taliban troops in 2006, criticised the publicity surrounding Prince Harry's deployment and said he was "very cynical" about the MoD's objectives.

Captain James Philippson, 29, of 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, died in a firefight with Taliban troops on June 11 2006 in which British forces were "totally out-gunned".

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Last month Oxfordshire assistant coroner Andrew Walker accused the Ministry of Defence of an unforgivable breach of soldiers' trust over his death.

Mr Walker and Wiltshire coroner David Masters criticised the Government after hearing that the deaths of Capt Philippson and two other British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq could have been prevented if they were better equipped.

Mr Philippson, of St Albans, Herts, told GMTV: "He (Harry) went to Sandhurst, so it was inevitable he had to go out there because otherwise he would have resigned from the Army, understandably.

"What's gone wrong, in my view, is the tremendous publicity behind what's happened.

"What it's effectively done, all this publicity over the last few days, is every corner of the world knows what's happened, including all our enemies.

"How can he ever go out there again? He's only got to go missing in a nightclub in London and they'll all know where he's gone."

When pushed, he did agree that Harry's deployment had raised the profile of the war and in turn reminded the MoD of its reponsibilities to troops.

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He said: "I do accept that since the tragedy with James - it was 18 months ago - the Army has been properly equipped. I entirely accept that. It would be criminal if they weren't so equipped.

"What happened to my son was unfortunate and people are responsible for it. It's in the Army Board of Inquiry report but I don't want to dwell on that."

But he went on: "I'm afraid I'm very cynical about the objectives of the Ministry of Defence.

"I think they have just used Harry as propaganda to promote and glorify a war which, in the end, is going to be found to be a terrible mistake."

Capt Philippson was part of a quick-reaction force dispatched to assist another group of British soldiers who came under fire after they were sent to retrieve an un-manned aerial reconnaissance vehicle (UAV) which had come down near their base at Sangin, Helmand Province.

As he ran to help, Capt Philippson was hit in the temple by a bullet.

A series of Capt Philippson's surviving colleagues told the inquest that they were not supplied with the required equipment of night-vision kits and an array of weaponry.

After the inquest, Mr Philippson said he held the MoD responsible for his son's death, but said the department was "starved of cash by the Chancellor".

He said at the time: "Soldiers should never be sent out under-equipped, the coroner made that quite clear."