Current:Home > Contact-usLeon Gautier, last surviving French commando who took part in WWII D-Day landings in Normandy, dies at 100-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Leon Gautier, last surviving French commando who took part in WWII D-Day landings in Normandy, dies at 100
View Date:2024-12-23 23:07:21
Paris — The last of the 177 elite French troops who joined the Allies' harrowing beach landings in Normandy in 1944 has died. Leon Gautier was 100, and he died less than a month after he returned to the now-quiet beaches for a commemoration ceremony led by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Gautier's death was announced by the mayor of Ouistreham, a French community on the English Channel coast where Allies landed on June 6, 1944, D-Day, and where Gautier lived his last years.
Originally from Rennes in northern France's Brittany region, Gautier joined the war against Nazi Germany in 1940 at the age of just 17 when he enlisted in the French Navy.
As German forces seized much of his country Gautier fled to London with other troops and eventually joined the elite cadre of the "Commando Kieffer" unit under Gen. Charles de Gaulle, who would go on to lead France after the war.
At the 79th anniversary D-Day commemoration services on June 6 this year, he was the last man alive from the small contingent of French troops that sailed from the shores of southern England with thousands of British and American forces to land on the beaches of Normandy.
The brazen Allied assault on Nazi-held northern France would prove pivotal in turning the tide against Germany in the final chapters of World War II.
Gautier met Macron at the ceremony last month and told reporters he would never forget that June 6th, nor the friend who was killed just feet away from him. He warned that peace remained fragile and said it must not be lost again.
- In:
- World War II
- D-Day
- Veterans
- Nazi
- France
- European Union
- Germany
veryGood! (937)
Related
- Drone footage captures scope of damage, destruction from deadly Louisville explosion
- Mexico cancels conference on 1960s and 1970s rights violations raising claims of censorship
- Victims in Niagara Falls border bridge crash identified as Western New York couple
- Lawsuit accuses actor Jamie Foxx of New York City sexual assault in 2015
- 'SNL' stars jokingly declare support for Trump, Dana Carvey plays Elon Musk
- St. Nicholas Day is a German and Dutch Christmas tradition some US cities still celebrate
- The casting director for 'Elf' would pick this other 'SNL' alum to star in a remake
- Russian lawmaker disputes report saying he adopted a child taken from a Ukrainian children’s home
- The Surreal Life’s Kim Zolciak Fuels Dating Rumors With Costar Chet Hanks After Kroy Biermann Split
- Ringo Starr takes fans on a colorful tour of his past in book ‘Beats & Threads’
Ranking
- Jerry Jones lashes out at question about sun's glare at AT&T Stadium after Cowboys' loss
- No. 7 Texas secures Big 12 title game appearance by crushing Texas Tech
- Oregon defeats Oregon State for spot in the Pac-12 title game as rivalry ends for now
- Small Business Saturday: Why is it becoming more popular than Black Friday?
- Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn is ending her retirement at age 40 to make a skiing comeback
- Black Friday 2023 store hours: When do Walmart, Target, Costco, Best Buy open and close?
- Aaron Rodgers' accelerated recovery: medical experts weigh in on the pace, risks after injury
- Massachusetts is creating overnight shelter spots to help newly arriving migrant families
Recommendation
-
How to protect your Social Security number from the Dark Web
-
The second installment of Sri Lanka’s bailout was delayed. The country hopes it’s coming in December
-
6-year-old Mississippi girl honored for rescue efforts after her mother had a stroke while driving
-
Pakistani shopping mall blaze kills at least 10 people and injures more than 20
-
Ben Affleck and His Son Samuel, 12, Enjoy a Rare Night Out Together
-
Tiffany Haddish charged with DUI after arrest in Beverly Hills
-
Victims in Niagara Falls border bridge crash identified as Western New York couple
-
Tackling climate change and alleviating hunger: States recycle and donate food headed to landfills