The 80th commemoration of the capturing intact of what was to be called “Pegasus Bridge” in Normandy on the morning of 6th June 1944, was attended by Cadets and staff of Sea Cadets Offshore.
Poole Sea Cadet AC Wil was honoured to be selected to lay a wreath on the memorial which said, “In memory of Lieutenant Den Brotheridge, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, who was the first British soldier to die in action on D-Day leading his platoon across this bridge”.
Lieutenant Brotheridge would have flown in a glider, initially towed by a Halifax bomber, having taken off from Tarrant Rushton airfield, which is only 14 miles from Poole.
This was a huge honour, especially as it was in the presence of Lieutenant Brotheridge’s surviving family and friends, and we congratulate AC Wil on a once in a lifetime opportunity carried off with great professionalism. BZ.