Robert Brian James (1912 – 3 August 1944) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO) three times. He was the only son of Herbert Henry James and Laura Brind James of 58 Norfolk Road,

Littlehampton Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south south-west of London, west of Brighton and ...

. At the time of his death he was the commanding officer of the 5th Battalion,

East Yorkshire Regiment The East Yorkshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot and later renamed the 15th Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before eventually being ...

, an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

unit. He is buried in Hottot-les-Bagues Military Cemetery,

Hottot-les-Bagues Hottot-les-Bagues () is a commune in the Calvados department and Normandy region of north-western France. Geography Hottot-les-Bagues lies 14 kilometres south-east of Bayeux. History The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Viking leader ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. First DSO was gazetted in 1941 for services in the Middle East. First

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to the DSO was gazetted in June 1943 for service in the Middle East. Second Bar to the DSO was gazetted in October 1943 for services in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

as part of

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. His service number was 53746.

References

1912 births 1944 deaths British Army personnel killed in World War II Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People from Littlehampton Date of birth missing East Yorkshire Regiment officers Essex Regiment officers Burials at Hottot-les-Bagues War Cemetery Military personnel from Lincolnshire {{British-Army-bio-stub