Emmanuel Macron paid tribute on Tuesday to the 177 French people who landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, alongside the Allies, by presenting their green berets to the new graduates of the Kieffer commando, heir to this prestigious group of fighters.

The president greeted the 21 men who successfully passed the commando selection tests, alongside Léon Gautier, 100, the last survivor of the 177 men who participated in the D-Day landings.

The ceremony took place in Colleville-Montgomery (Calvados), for the 79th anniversary of the Allied landings, where the 177 men of the Kieffer commando landed in the crash of arms and waves.

Emmanuel Macron gave a long greeting to Léon Gautier, who moves in a wheelchair, and stayed by his side during the ceremony before speaking privately with him.

The Head of State gave his green beret to the best student of the commando course selection, who then knelt down at the height of Léon Gautier so that he could screw the beret on his head.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu presented their berets to other members of the commando, with the only sound of the waves from the beach of Colleville in the background.

In these solemn circumstances, Emmanuel Macron and Elisabeth Borne, whose agreement at the top of the state is the subject of much speculation, appeared together.

The Kieffer commando, trained in Scotland, had landed on June 6, 1944 at 7:23 a.m. at Colleville-Montgomery (Calvados), on the far eastern flank of the 80 km of beaches where the Allies landed (Sword Beach). The battalion had deplored 27 killed at the end of the Battle of Normandy at the end of August 1944, including 10 on the evening of June 6.

A unit of the National Navy commandos always bears the name of Kieffer and the green beret of the navy commandos is worn “lying on the right”, the badge on the left “à l’Anglo-Saxon”, a memory of the constitution of these commandos in Scotland in 1942.

The Head of State was then to go to the new Arromanches landing museum which traces the exceptional history of the port of the town and the journey of the English soldiers who landed at Gold Beach on June 6, 1944.

06/06/2023 15:23:53 –         Colleville-Montgomery (France) (AFP) –         © 2023 AFP