AIDEN and Nathen Hamilton had a personal salute to make when they and fellow Army cadets visited Normandy for the D-Day commemorations.

Cherwell School pupils Aiden and Nathen’s great-great-uncle Arthur Bridges was killed aged 21 during the Allies’ invasion to liberate Europe.

The brothers, members of Oxfordshire (The Rifles) Army Cadet Force detachment, have always been aware of their family’s military history but the trip was the first chance to visit their relative’s grave.

It was also the first time in 11 years that cadets on the annual trip had such a personal connection with the war dead.

About 20 cadets visited the battlefields of France where the Allies made their first advances against the Nazis in the Second World War and war graves.

Mr Bridges, serving in the 4th Battalion Wiltshire Regiment, was killed in action on August 6, 1944.

At his graveside, Aiden, 14, a detachment bugler, played the Last Post while his brother, a drummer for the cadets, saluted.

Twelve-year-old Nathen, from Farmer Place in Marston, said: “It felt really nice to give him a tribute.

“It was very emotional.”

Major Alan Hames, who organised the battlefields tour, said: “This is the first occasion in 11 years of organising the annual Oxfordshire Army cadet D-Day tour we have had cadets with a relative buried in Normandy.

“I felt it was appropriate the two brothers should have the opportunity to pay their respects, particularly as this was the 65th Anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.”

The other 20 members on the tour participated in a ceremony at the British Military Cemetery at Tilly-sur-Seulles.

Aiden wants to join the Army’s Royal Artillery when he leaves school and finishes his time in the cadet force.

He said he felt the tribute was a “brilliant, positive experience” and was pleased to have taken part.

The brothers also got to meet and speak to D-Day veterans.

While in France, the cadets also took part in ceremonies closely associated with The Rifles’ predecessor regiment, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, which then became part of the Royal Green Jackets in 1992.

Perhaps the most famous operation of all was the regiment’s involvement in the capture of Pegasus Bridge, which crossed the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham, in Normandy, on June 6, 1944 – the first action by an organised body of troops on D-Day.