The penultimate survivor of the French command who took part in the Normandy landings is dead

“The future goes through the past. Young people today need to know what happened to learn and continue. Without realizing what was achieved during this landing today we would always be under the German boot“. Reflection belongs to Hubert Faure, the penultimate survivor of the French command who participated in the Normandy landings, died this Saturday at the age of 106.

The French Ministry of Defense was the entity responsible for announcing his death, recalled as “Heroes of Free France‘”to be part of one of the 177 French D-Day landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944.

Faure’s story is film-worthy, like many that were shot around a time when, for many, the history of WWII changed.

The French soldier had been captured in his country by the Germans in June 1940, but months later managed to escape to Spain, where the Francoists captured him again. Hubert managed to flee once more and he went walking towards Portugal.

There, as it was a neutral country, he got help to reach England, where he joined the Kieffer command, a battalion of marines Led by Marine Lieutenant Philippe Kieffer.

“On May 25, 1942, they told us to prepare to liberate Europe from the Nazis. The commander told us it would be a very difficult battle, which they calculated a loss of 50% of the troops. He also told us that those of us who wanted to leave could do so and that no hard feelings would be against them. But no one gave up“Faure said in various interviews.

Commander Kieffer was right. Of the 177 landed on June 6, 1944, 10 were killed the same day and 10 the following days. Only 24 men completed the Normandy campaign without being hurt.

“We spent 15 days preparing for the operation in a secret camp in Southampton. It was there that we learned that due to weather conditions the operation was over. postponed to June 6“he recalled in various interviews.

Faure recounted in detail what those days of war were like: “We embarked in the afternoon, to travel all night and arrive early the next day on the coasts of France. During the crossing we heard the English planes above us, who were going to bomb the German positions“.

What struck Faure the most was the arrival, the famous Normandy landings: “When we arrived, there were battleships, torpedo boats and tanks starting to descend. It was great to see this scene“.

When the ship he was traveling in descended the ramps so that he could walk on the sand at the bottom of the sea, the place was already filled with corpses of dead and wounded soldiers», So the captain decided that the only option was jump into the water from the top of the boat“.

This Saturday, the 106-year-old man died. And his death leaves Léon Gautier, 98, as the only survivor French of the Kieffer command in this operation.

“A handful of courageous men from the army of liberty. Marching on the sands of Colleville-sur-Orne and Ouistreham, they embodied France, they were the soul of our nation», Indicates the statement of the Ministry of Defense published after the death of Faure.

“On June 6, 1944, despite fire and fierce resistance, they lived up to their hopes and they achieved their goals. In the Norman forests, despite German tenacity, the marines managed to hold their positions during weeksThe text continued.

“Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, Huber Faure is an example of those French fighters who, by embracing the cause of their homeland, defended the honor of our country and allowed him to sit at the winner’s table“.

Defense Minister Florence Parly and Deputy Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq expressed their “deep sadness” and “accompanied their family and loved ones in their feelings”.

With information from AFP