Léon Gautier, the last living Frenchman to have participated in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 to free Europe from Nazi-fascism, celebrated his 100th birthday today.
In a wheelchair, greeted by the applause of the many present at a ceremony in honor of him in the north-west of France, Gautier attended the
inauguration of a plaque dedicated to him
.
"This centenary tree was planted on 27 October 2022, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Monsieur Léon Gautier, resident of the municipality of Ouistreham Riva-Bella and veteran of the 177 Frenchmen of the Kieffer commando who landed on 6 June 1944 in Normandy" in the framework of the Overlord operation.
"It is more than 70 years since the Landing ...
It is a memory that cannot be forgotten
", the elderly 'green beret' told reporters, adding: "The worst thing you can see is a war. eyes kill people who have done nothing, who have a family, children, all this to get to what? ".
Through his testimonies, on the occasion of public commemorations or in schools, Gautier
has long been fighting "for peace" and to preserve the memory of his comrades
.
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, he participated, alongside a German veteran, in the great international ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the Landing, in 2014. The penultimate survivor of the Kieffer commando, Hubert Faure, died in April 2021 at the age of 106.
The 177 men of the Free French Forces of the Kieffer Commando integrated into the Royal Marine Commando N ° 4, are the only Frenchmen in uniform to have participated in the Allied landing in Normandy on 6 June 1944.