Sunday, December 22, 2024

Protesters steal ceremonial flags and scrawl anti-Macron graffiti in D-Day town

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As a criminal inquiry was launched, suspects included Brittany patriots who object to their region being run from Paris.

Mr Macron’s visit to Plumelec will still go ahead, and he will make a speech recalling the bravery of Free French soldiers who were part of Britain’s elite SAS.

They were among the first to jump into Brittany as part of Operation Overlord, the Allied operation to start the liberation of France.

The first lethal casualty was Corporal Emile Bouétard, 28, a Frenchman who had completed a course at the Parachute Training School in Ringway, Manchester.

His Free French unit was incorporated into 4 SAS in January 1944, and he was part of 3 Squadron when he arrived in the Morbihan department of France.

Their mission was to delay German reinforcement being moved to the Normandy beachhead from Brittany.

They landed behind enemy lines at 00.45 on June 6 but found themselves close to an enemy observation post.

Members of the 3 Squadron were killed or taken prisoner while they were still gathering their equipment.

The theft and vandalism at Plumelec come despite a vast security operation unfolding across Brittany and Normandy, in time for the D-Day commemorations.

Heads of state arriving in France include King Charles and US president Joe Biden.

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