Leon Gautier, the last member of the Kiefer Commando, has died
At the age of 100, the last survivor of 177 Frenchmen who landed in Normandy in 1944 died on Monday.
Leon Gautier, the last survivor of Commando Kiefer, died on July 3, 2023, according to the Kane Memorial.
AFP/Ludovic MARIN
Léon Gautier, the last survivor of 177 Frenchmen who landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, died on Monday at the age of 100, the Caen Memorial announced on Twitter, confirming information from Ouest-France.
Leon Gautier was the last member of Kieffer’s commando, a battalion of 177 Marine riflemen, to land on the beaches of Normandy. He died at 7:40 a.m. Monday at a hospital in Caen, Ouistreham (Calvados) mayor Romain Bail told AFP.
Born in Rennes in 1922, Leon Gautier joined London and General de Gaulle in July 1940 before fighting in Cameroon, Congo, Syria and Lebanon before the June 6 landings. Since then he has not stopped engaging in “peace”.
“The worst thing you can see is a war. Because we kill people who have never done anything, who have families, children, in front of them. What is all this to achieve?” he announced as grand officer of the Legion of Honor, wearing a suit and tie in a wheelchair during his 100th birthday celebration on October 27, 2022.
A father of two, he had lived in Ouistreham since the 1990s.
Many tributes
President Emmanuel Macron immediately paid tribute to her in a tweet.
“We are not heroes, we only did our duty, he repeated. The last member of the Kiefer Commando, the hero of liberation, Leon Gautier, who landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944 with 176 of his French comrades, left us. We will not forget it,” the head of state replied. .
“Ouistreham is very sad today (Monday), this father, this grandfather, a local hero known to all who smuggled a certain number of values for freedom, we are a little orphaned by the fierce defender who descends on our beaches. ,” said Mr.
“Government services have confirmed to me that there will be a national tribute to him in Normandy,” he added.
AFP
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