The last soldier who defended France during the Nazi occupation has died At the age of 100, Leon Gautier passed away on Monday. He was the...

 

The last soldier who defended France during the Nazi occupation has died

At the age of 100, Leon Gautier passed away on Monday. He was the final French soldier to protect the nation in 1994 while it was occupied by the Nazis.

The French government has been announcing Commander Leon Gautier's passing since Monday afternoon. He was the lone Army hero still serving in the ranks of the nation's military that put an end to the Nazi occupation of Western Europe.

On June 6, 1944, as the Nazi occupation of Western Europe began to be successfully repressed, Gautier was one of the 177 French troops that rose up and confronted the Nazi forces.

Gautier was one of the soldiers that joined the special forces known as Kieffer, which worked with the assistance of the American, British, and other European forces to battle the Nazis even beyond 1944, despite the fact that the French government at the time surrendered to Germany in 1940.

Roman Bail, the mayor of Ouistreham, made the announcement that Gautier had passed away in the Caen hospital, which was located in the coastal region where the French forces at the time were stationed in preparation for the war against the Nazis and where the army leader had chosen to end his life.

Admiral Vandier, the head of the French Navy, sent a message of congratulations to Leon Gautier in which he stated that Gautier had committed his entire life to serving his nation, recalling how he entered the Army at the age of 17, giving what he could.