The last French participant in the Allied landings in Normandy during World War II, veteran Léon Gautier (100) has died. President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday: “Léon Gautier, the last member of the Kieffer command who landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944 with his 176 French comrades and was a hero of the liberation, has left us.” France will not forget Gautier.
Macron quoted the veteran as saying: “We are not heroes, we just did our duty.” Commando Kieffer was trained in Britain, where Gautier volunteered for the battalion.
The landing of the Allies in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the so-called D-Day, marked the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe from National Socialism. About 150,000 soldiers in 3,100 landing craft were ready for the largest landing in the history of the war.
The advance of the Allied troops was prepared from the air and supported by 7,500 aircraft. By the time Paris was taken in August 1944, about 200,000 Germans and 70,000 allies were said to have died. Up to 20,000 civilians died in Normandy, which was devastated by the fighting.
Source: Krone
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