He rushed to join General Charles de Gaulle, taking part in the July 14 parade in the British capital. While at sea, he learned through the radio about the existence of France Libre (Free France), based in London. I was born in 1922,' he said, toward the end of his life, explaining the reasons for his enlistment. We'd grown up in families who'd been through '14-18. He joined the navy at the age of 17, in February 1940, and took part in missions to defend the Normand ports of Cherbourg and Carentan, notably as an apprentice gunner on the Courbet. Léon Gautier, the last survivor of the 177 members of the Kieffer Commando, who landed on the beaches of Normandy to help liberate France on June 6, 1944, died on Monday, July 3 at the age of 100.īorn in Rennes on October 27, 1922, Gautier was working as an apprentice car body maker at the start of the Second World War. Subscribers only Léon Gautier at a ceremony commemorating the Normandy landings, June 6, 2023. He died on Monday, at the age of 100.īy Antoine Flandrin Published on July 3, 2023, at 1:22 pm (Paris), updated on July 3, 2023, at 1:25 pm

On June 6, 1944, Gautier and the 176 other members of the Kieffer Commando landed in Normandy, where they were the only French troops to take part in D-Day. Léon Gautier, last survivor of D-Day's only French unit, has died

Civil war navy officer sword