French WWII veteran Leon Gautier attends a ceremony in tribute of the 79th anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings in Colleville-Montgomery, Normandy, France, on June 6. He died on Monday. Photo by Ludovic Marin/EPA-EFE
July 3 (UPI) — Leon Gautier, the last of the 177 elite French troops who were part of the pivotal World War II Allies beach invasion at Normandy in 1944, died on Monday, less than a month after taking part in a commemoration ceremony with French President Emmanuel Macron. He was 100.
A native of Rennes, France, Gautier joined the French Navy against Nazi Germany in 1940 at the age of 17. He fled to London when German forces captured much of France, and hs became part of the elite unit of the “Commando Kieffer” under Gen. Charles de Gaulle.
Gautier was the last remaining of the small contingent of French troops that sailed from the shores of southern England with thousands of British and American forces to land on the beaches of Normandy.
“Back then, we were young,” Gautier had said in previous comments toward the end of his life. “We’d grown up in families who’d been through ’14-18. I was born in 1922. … Everyone had lost someone. We were all patriots.”
The mayor of the French community Ouistreham, where Gautier had lived his final years, made the announcement of his passing. The town on the English Channel coast was where Allies landed on June 6, 1944.
Gautier told reporters last month that he would never forget that day, which turned the tide in World War II and forever shaped history. He also said he would never forget his friends who died in that battle.
He also warned that peace is fragile and countries should not fall prey to war again.