Léon Gautier MBE (27 October 1922 – 3 July 2023) was a Free French soldier during the Second World War.[1][2] He was France's last surviving veteran of D-Day.[3]
Léon Gautier | |
|---|---|
 Gautier in 2017 | |
| Born | 27 October 1922 Rennes, Brittany, France |
| Died | 3 July 2023 (aged 100) Caen, France |
| Allegiance | France |
| Service/ | French Navy |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | |
Biography edit
Early life and military career edit
Gautier was born in Rennes, Brittany, in France, on 27 October 1922.[4][5] At the start of the Second World War, he was working as an apprentice car body maker.[6]
He enlisted in the French Navy at the age of 17, and took part in the defense of the port of Cherbourg and the mouth of the Vire in Normandy as a gunner on the battleship Courbet.[7] He fled to the United Kingdom before the Nazi occupation of France.[8] After learning about Free France in 1940, he decided to join Charles de Gaulle and participated in the 14 July 1940 parade in London with the Free French Naval Forces.[5] Gautier also served on the merchant vessel Gallois and as a marine rifleman on the submarine Surcouf, which operated in Africa and the Middle East.[6]
He fought with the 1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos, led by Lieutenant-Commander Philippe Kieffer, in the Congo, Syria, and Lebanon before taking part in the invasion of Normandy, where more than half his unit was killed.[9] He later injured his ankle, which led him to have limited participation in the remainder of the war.[10]
After the war edit
After the war, Gautier became a campaigner for peace, calling war a "misery" that "ends with widows and orphans".[11] He worked as a panel beater in the United Kingdom for seven years, before moving to Cameroon and Nigeria for another seven years.[6] He later settled in the Norman town of Ouistreham in 1992.[9] He became the president of the French branch of the Association of Commandos.[12] He maintained a friendship with former German soldier, Johannes Borner, with their friendship being the subject of a book by Jean-Charles Stasi.[13]
Personal life and death edit
Gautier was married to Dorothy Banks, whom he met while stationed in the United Kingdom in September 1943, until her death in 2016.[8][6] They had two daughters.[6]
He died on 3 July 2023, at age 100, after being hospitalized in Caen for a lung infection.[9][3] In response to his death, French president Emmanuel Macron described Gautier as having "united the virtues of a warrior and those of a peacemaker."[8]
Honours edit
Gautier is a member of the Order of the British Empire and a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.[14] He had also been awarded with the Médaille militaire, the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (with 2 citations), the Resistance Medal, the Volunteer Combatant's Cross, and the Commemorative medal for voluntary service in Free France.[15]
References edit
- ^ Travadon, Nathalie (24 August 2014). "Le vétéran Léon Gautier décoré par Manuel Valls". Ouest-France (in French).
- ^ "Le jour le plus long de Léon Gautier, membre du commando Kieffer". La Voix du Nord (in French). 6 June 2014.
- ^ a b Rousset, Margaux (3 July 2023). "Léon Gautier, le dernier survivant français du Débarquement en Normandie, est mort". actu.fr (in French).
- ^ "Léon Gautier, dernier survivant du commando Kieffer, est mort". Ministère des Armées (in French). 3 July 2023.
- ^ a b Flandrin, Antoine (3 July 2023). "Léon Gautier, last survivor of D-Day's only French unit, has died". Le Monde.fr – via Le Monde.
- ^ a b c d e "Léon Gautier, last-surviving member of the Free French navy who crossed the Channel with the British on D-Day – obituary". The Telegraph. 7 July 2023. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ Fleury, Jean-Luc (29 June 2012). "Un des derniers du commando Kieffer débarque à la JDC de Caen". defense.gouv.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ a b c "Léon Gautier, Last Surviving French Commando From D-Day, Dies at 100". The New York Times. 4 July 2023. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ a b c Armstrong, Kathryn (3 July 2023). "Léon Gautier: Last French D-Day fighter dies aged 100". BBC News. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- ^ "Leon Gautier, last surviving French D-day commando, dies at 100". The Guardian. 3 July 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ "Last surviving French D-Day commando dies aged 100". MarketScreener. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ "'I invaded my own country on D-Day'". 1 June 2004. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ "Les deux vétérans ennemis sont devenus voisins à Ouistreham" [Two enemy veterans have become neighbors in Ouistreham]. Ouest France (in French). 26 June 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ Thompson, Hannah (23 October 2022). "War veteran writes open letter against wind farm plans on D-Day beach". Connexion France. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ Lagneau, Laurent (3 July 2023). "Dernier survivant du Commando Kieffer, Léon Gautier nous a quittés". Zone Militaire (in French). Retrieved 11 July 2023.