Léon Gautier (soldier)
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Léon Gautier | |
|---|---|
 Gautier in 2017 | |
| Born | 27 October 1922 Rennes, Brittany, France |
| Died | 3 July 2023 (aged 100) Caen, France |
| Allegiance | France |
| Branch | French Navy |
| Conflicts | World War II |
| Awards | |
Léon Gautier MBE (27 October 1922 – 3 July 2023) was a Free French soldier during the Second World War.[1][2]
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]