Léon Gautier, the last survivor of the 177 Frenchmen who landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, died Monday at the age of 100, the Caen Memorial announced via social media.
We were saddened to learn of the death of Léon Gautier, D-Day veteran and last member of the Kieffer commando. He was 100 years old.
#WWII #DDay #Hommage Nous venons d’apprendre avec tristesse le décès de Léon Gautier, vétéran du jour J, dernier membre du commando #Kieffer. Il avait 100 ans. pic.twitter.com/SAznuYDVUK
— Le Mémorial de Caen (@CaenMemorial) July 3, 2023
Léon Gautier was the last member of a battalion of 177 marine riflemen, later known as Commando Kieffer, to land on the Normandy coast. He died early Monday morning in a hospital in Caen.
Born on Oct. 27, 1922, he enlisted in the Navy at the age of 17 in 1940. As the Caen Memorial recalls, when he learned by radio of the existence of a French troop commanded by General Charles de Gaulle, he left for London in July 1940 and joined the so-called Free France. In 1943, he volunteered to join the commandos being established under Major Philippe Kieffer.
On June 6, 1944, he was one of 177 Frenchmen who landed at Sword Beach in Colleville-Montgomery on D-Day. in which some 156,000 Allied troops seized the French beaches of Normandy in an operation on a scale unprecedented in Europe that marked a turning point in the war against Germany.
On June 6 of this year, Gautier participated in the annual commemoration of the Normandy landings for what would be the final time. French authorities wished to recall, in the words of Minister of Defense Sébastien Lecornu:
His determination to perpetuate the memory of the Free French who fought for our freedom will continue.
Léon Gautier s'en est allé.
Il était le dernier survivant de l’illustre commando Kieffer, seule unité française à débarquer, le matin du 6 juin 1944.
Sa détermination à perpétuer la mémoire des Français Libres qui se sont battus pour notre liberté se poursuivra. pic.twitter.com/kzckLgJrBc
— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) July 3, 2023
