Léon Gautier (soldier)

Léon Gautier

MBE
Gautier in 2017
Born(1922-10-27)27 October 1922
Rennes, Brittany, France
Died3 July 2023(2023-07-03) (aged 100)
Caen, France
AllegianceFrance
Service / branchFrench Navy
Battles / warsWorld War II
Awards

Léon Gautier MBE (27 October 1922 – 3 July 2023) was a Free French soldier during the Second World War.[1][2]

Biography

Early life and military career

Gautier was born in Rennes, Brittany, in France, on 27 October 1922.[3][4] At the start of the Second World War, he was working as an apprentice car body maker.[5]

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.[6] He fled to the United Kingdom before the Nazi occupation of France.[7] 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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[8] He later injured his ankle, which led him to have limited participation in the remainder of the war.[9]

After the war

After the war, Gautier became a campaigner for peace, calling war a "misery" that "ends with widows and orphans".[10] He worked as a panel beater in the United Kingdom for seven years, before moving to Cameroon and Nigeria for another seven years.[5] He later settled in the Norman town of Ouistreham in 1992.[8] He became the president of the French branch of the Association of Commandos.[11] He maintained a friendship with former German soldier, Johannes Borner, with their friendship being the subject of a book by Jean-Charles Stasi.[12]

In June 2019, Gautier participated in commemorating the 75th anniversary of D-Day where he was joined by fellow French D-Day veteran Jacques Lewis.[13]

Personal life and death

Gautier was married to Dorothy Banks, whom he met while stationed in the United Kingdom in September 1943, until her death in 2016.[7][5] They had two daughters.[5]

He died on 3 July 2023, at age 100, after being hospitalized in Caen for a lung infection.[8][14] In response to his death, French president Emmanuel Macron described Gautier as having "united the virtues of a warrior and those of a peacemaker."[7]

Honours

Gautier is a member of the Order of the British Empire and a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.[15] 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.[16]

References

  1. ^ Travadon, Nathalie (24 August 2014). "Le vétéran Léon Gautier décoré par Manuel Valls". Ouest-France (in French).
  2. ^ "Le jour le plus long de Léon Gautier, membre du commando Kieffer". La Voix du Nord (in French). 6 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Léon Gautier, dernier survivant du commando Kieffer, est mort". Ministère des Armées (in French). 3 July 2023.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b c Armstrong, Kathryn (3 July 2023). "Léon Gautier: Last French D-Day fighter dies aged 100". BBC News. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Leon Gautier, last surviving French D-day commando, dies at 100". The Guardian. 3 July 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Last surviving French D-Day commando dies aged 100". MarketScreener. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  11. ^ "'I invaded my own country on D-Day'". 1 June 2004. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ "Le résistant français Jacques Lewis, héros du Débarquement, est mort à l'âge de 105 ans". Le HuffPost (in French). 30 July 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  14. ^ Rousset, Margaux (3 July 2023). "Léon Gautier, le dernier survivant français du Débarquement en Normandie, est mort". actu.fr (in French).
  15. ^ Thompson, Hannah (23 October 2022). "War veteran writes open letter against wind farm plans on D-Day beach". Connexion France. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  16. ^ Lagneau, Laurent (3 July 2023). "Dernier survivant du Commando Kieffer, Léon Gautier nous a quittés". Zone Militaire (in French). Retrieved 11 July 2023.

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