Leon Gautier landed on Sword Beach in a hail of enemy fire on June 6, 1944, one ...
SWORD BEACH, France - Leon Gautier landed on Sword Beach in a hail of enemy fire on June 6, 1944, one of the first wave of French commandos to storm the Normandy beachfront defended by Hitler’s troops. Seventy-five years on, he still grapples with the memories.
For the former marine commando, commemorations in June marking the 75th anniversary since more than 150,000 allied troops invaded France to drive out Nazi Germany forces will be a time to reflect on fallen friends and foes alike. Gautier was 17 when Hitler’s forces occupied France. Too young to join the army, he enrolled in the navy and was aboard one of the last French warships to sail for Britain to join the Free French Forces of General Charles de Gaulle as the Germans swept across the northern half of France in 1940.
Carrying his Tommy gun, two loaded chargers strapped around his chest, Gautier ran up the beach as bullets fizzed overhead, knowing he would narrow the gunners’ sweep the closer to the concrete bunker he got.
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