A MESSAGE from the young son of one of the Diggers killed in Afghanistan has been read out at a memorial service for his father.

Colleagues of the slain soldiers, Darren Smith and Jacob Moerland, attended a sombre ceremony at their Tarin Kowt base in Afghanistan last night.

ABC journalist Chris Masters, who attended the service, said a soldier read out a message from Mr Smith's son, Mason.

''Probably the most moving part of the ceremony was when [the soldier] gave the last word to 2½⁄-years-old Mason, who'd sent across a message with a 'lest we forget' insignia, and the words 'to my daddy, Mason','' said Masters, who was embedded with the soldiers' unit.