The coffin is carried by Highlander colleagues

L/Cpl Allan Douglas, 22, who was serving with The Highlanders, was shot by a sniper.

His devastated but proud family said that L/Cpl Douglas had not wanted to return to fight in Iraq.

The ceremony took place at Dyce Cemetery after the funeral cortege was given a police escort through Aberdeen city centre.

L/Cpl Douglas had a full military funeral but without a traditional eight gun salute at the request of his family.

They had held a private service in Aberdeen at lunchtime before moving to the cemetery.

Son in flowers

A hearse containing the coffin of the soldier drove down Aberdeen's main Union Street as pedestrians paid their respects.

The Dyce service was then conducted by the chaplain to the Highlanders, Padre Duncan Macpherson.

Family flowers including a wreath spelling out "son" were laid at the grave.

To the accompaniment of a piper playing Lochaber No More, L/Cpl Douglas' coffin, draped in a Union Jack flag with a wreath and his head-dress and belt on top, was carried to the graveside by six of his colleagues from The Highlanders.

The last picture of L/Cpl Douglas was taken minutes before he was shot

They were followed by the soldier's parents, Diane and Walter, who walked with their arms around each other and L/Cpl Douglas' sister Donna.

The padre said during the hour-long service: "We come to this place to lay Allan Douglas to rest with his family, with the dignity and respect his life amongst us and his service to his country deserves.

"Wherever Allan was, or whatever he was doing, his thoughts were never far from his family, he always couldn't wait to come back home to be with them and his friends.

"It is with deep sadness that today we bring him home for the last time, but we are glad that here he is at home with his family and he will remain in our hearts."

Death vigils

The city's Lord Provost John Reynolds attended the funeral to lay a wreath made up of gold and green flowers to reflect the colours of The Highlanders.

The soldier's body had been flown to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire before being transferred to Scotland after his death last month.

The day after L/Cpl Douglas died, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards soldier Cpl Gordon Pritchard was killed in Umm Qasr, Basra province.

Cpl Pritchard, 31, was the 100th British soldier to die since the 2003 invasion.

Vigils were held in cities across Scotland at the start of February to mark the deaths of the two soldiers.