Den Brotheridge

Den Brotheridge
Born	(1915-12-08)8 December 1915 Smethwick, Staffordshire England, United Kingdom
Died	6 June 1944(1944-06-06) (aged 28) near Ranville, France
Buried	Ranville Churchyard[1]
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1942–1944  †
Rank	Lieutenant
Service number	237676
Unit	Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Battles / wars	Second World War Western Front Western Allied invasion of France Normandy landings Operation Tonga Capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges  (DOW)
Awards	Mentioned in dispatches

Lieutenant Herbert Denham Brotheridge (8 December 1915 – 6 June 1944) was a British Army officer who served with the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (the 52nd) during the Second World War. He is often considered to be the first Allied soldier to be killed in action on D-Day, 6 June 1944.^[2] He was killed during Operation Tonga: the British airborne landings which secured the left flank of the invasion area before the main assault on the Normandy beaches began.