The last surviving member of an elite French unit that joined Allied forces in the D-Day invasion has died at 100 years old.
FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with Leon Gautier, a French WWII veteran of the Commando Kieffer, during a ceremony in tribute to the 177 French members of the"Commando Kieffer" Fusiliers Marins commando unit who took part in the Normandy landings, as part of the 79th anniversary of D-Day, in Colleville-Montgomery, Normandy, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. Leon Gautier, the last member of an elite French unit that joined U.S.
He devoted much of his life after the war making sure that lessons from the war aren’t forgotten by giving interviews, taking part in commemorations and helping put together the museum in Ouistreham that commemorates the French commandos who helped liberate Normandy. In the huge invasion force made up largely of American, British and Canadian soldiers, French Capt. Philippe Kieffer’s commandos ensured that France had feats to be proud of too, after the dishonor of its Nazi occupation, when some chose to collaborate with Adolf Hitler’s forces.
Their initial objective was a heavily fortified bunker. Although the strongpoint was just a few kilometers away, it took them four hours of fighting to get there and take it. On the beach, they cut through barbed wire under a hail of bullets. After the war, Gautier worked building car bodies and then training mechanics, living in England, Nigeria and Cameroon before returning to France.
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