Last French eyewitnesses of D-Day landings share their memories • FRANCE 24 English

[Music] Arlette gondre is a celebrity at home and internationally at her Cafe in benville in Normandy she welcomes visitors from around the world particularly from the UK you’ve been biking a long way have you Dorset Hamshire Dorset and this gu in Bristol soone from PS Her visitors are thrilled to talk with one of the last people still alive who witnessed D-Day 80 years ago right here on the night of the fifth to 6th of June Arlette her sister and their parents lived through the Normandy Landings their Cafe also their home was the first to be liberated in occupied France we suddenly heard a our heads the shutter from the dining room was being forced open the window panes were being broken so we saw the Germans were coming in to get us daddy left us walked the few steps uh leading into the kitchen and was faced by two soldiers who said to him M it’s Okay We’re British we’ve arrived the British were part of the sixth Airborne Division arriving in gliders their mission was to take control of two Bridges one in rville and the other in boville known today as Pegasus Bridge right next to Cafe gondre Arlette says she witnessed the British troops carry out an extraordinary feat of arms so this is a shrine and a monument in but it’s still a family home at the time the village was important the two Bridges were important the cafe was important but whenever they return they return where they were welcome with open arm where we sh them was present we put them up in the decades since veterans and their families have continued to come to Cafe gondre at each anniversary they commemorate the [Applause] operation it’s a long long way tempor my Arlette has kept the memory alive giving out champagne just as her father did in June 1944 our fallen comrades comrade the young ones of today have equally good intentions towards them as I have towards the old Soldiers um my wish is that we commemorate all together the freedom and the affection that was given us at the time 50 km away Michelle dille also witnessed D-Day he was 10 years old marks left by from the war there too all dates back to the war Michelle his nine siblings and their parents lived on the Normandy Coastline early in the morning of June 6th 1944 they ran to their makeshift shelter obviously the hole has been filled over time but we were there right there we spent two days there the strongest memories I have are of the planes flying over our heads and the deafening sound of the warships the sea is very close Naval guns pounded the shore batteries the bombings prepared the ground for the British troops landing at the fishing port near Michelle’s home pess despite the hail of fire Michelle remember members feeling hope we weren’t really scared we weren’t really scared no we were living with the hope of Liberation and an end to the German [Music] occupation that was the dominant idea by his side Michelle’s wife margarite has more traumatic memories of D-Day she was eight and living in the city of K the walls the picture frames the furniture started falling down the plates on the wall was smashing I was completely terrified the terror I had of planes stayed with me for years whenever I heard a plane I bent down I was very very scared 80 years later the couple from Normandy have not forgotten and those trying hours it was a turning point in history the end of the occupation it was really quite something we often welcome Americans Germans English people here and when I see children I talk to them about it I tell them when I was eight when I was your age I witnessed The Landings I was there for D-Day I was 8 years old I was in K I make the link between what we lived and the Good Fortune we had to have been saved it was a miracle that’s what I remember

On June 6, 1944, Allied troops landed in Normandy in the largest air, sea and land operation in military history. Today, very few people who experienced D-Day are still alive and able to talk about it. FRANCE 24’s Claire Paccalin and Stéphanie Trouillard met three people who were children at the time and living with their families in Normandy when the landings began. They still remember, very clearly, what happened on that historic day.

Read more about this story in our article: https://f24.my/ANkL.y

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35 comments

  2. Merci for sharing madame and monsieur. Any one who wants to dabble with authoritarianism and fascism needs to look at the rows of dead soldiers to understand the consequences of it. Never again

  9. Of the many lost men on that day, and the days following, King Solomon said as a wise old man: “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.” There were many stories of miraculous deliverance among them. Only "in the judgment" will "the saints" come to understand the rules of engagement between Christ and Satan that allowed GOD to intervene for some of those men as He did for Desmond Doss.

  11. And there's Sadiq khan never honored one thing on D day, he is a little traitor and should be removed with Sunak who left early

  16. Living here in EU I have asked veterans if it was worth it. I am hearing more and more saying they would never do it again as the Germans at least kept order and would have fought against the mass immigration to Europe. The Brits released an interesting series of interviews where many British vets say they would have never fought the Germans if they could go back, ashamed at what their nation has turned into. very interesting.

  17. I can’t even imagine how she and her family felt knowing their long waking nightmare was ending. The British paratroopers that held Pegasus Bridge until the seaborne troops arrived are true heroes.

  19. Such a wonderful video. It's terribly sad to see how misinformed young people are disrespecting the freedom these heroes fought for on their behalf. We must never forget.

  20. 4:20 – Port en Bessin – scene of remarkable success by 47 Commando Royal Marines, including attacking entrenched defenders (who had flack ships covering them) at odds of 1-4 in the defenders' favour.

  21. The British didn't force that war to happen…It was the foreign country within the country (THE CITY) within the square mile in the center of London that has the blood of millions on its hands, however….

  24. "The young ones of today have equally good intentions"
    The torturous winding path toward enlightenment can not be turned back.
    Dark forces appear to be reversing humanity, but we will always bounce back and throw off those who seek to subjugate.

  25. One troubling issue was the bombing of Caen- the Allies should have already learned that a destroyed city is more difficult to take than an intact one.

  26. Wow , what a privilege to hear their story and to see them , it could only be surpassed by visiting them in person . I appreciate this site for allowing myself and everyone to have a greater view . Thank you…..

  27. And,almost to to the day of the anniversary Marie Le Pen makes inroads to the presidency.
    God help us all.

  29. Wow. Nicely done.🇫🇷👍
    I would like to recommend "Normandy. The Great Crusade" presented by the Discovery Channel in 1994 and narrated by late American actor Charles Durning,who himself landed on Normandy as a liberating G.I.

  31. I’ve read german accounts. Many german soldiers on the coast were vets of the eastern front and had been under artillery fire many times. But the 16” naval guns flinging 2000 lb shells was a different thing entirely. Some in bunkers were bleeding from their eyes and ears from the shock waves of shells landing nearby and they were all at least temporarily deafened. Some of the inexperienced men completely broke down under that bombardment. This was from ships that could be many miles away. So you can imagine what it was like for this family.

  32. My father was a Canadian paratrooper sent in the night before. He was one of the 60 Canadian veterans invited to France for the 60th commemoration of D Day. In 2014, he received the Legion of Honour medal from the French consulate.

  33. 프랑스의 국제 TV 뉴스 채널의 구상은 1987년 자크 시라크 당시 총리때부터 구상해왔으나, 본격적으로 구상에 들어간 계기는 2003년 2월 때였다. 당시 프랑스 외무장관이었던 도미니크 드 빌팽이 UN에서 이라크전에 반대하는 연설을 하였을 때 CNN과 BBC 등에서 제대로 보도를 하지 않은 것에 자극을 받아 뒷날 총리에 오르면서 미국과 영국의 시각에 맞서 프랑스의 시각을 전하는 국제 뉴스 채널을 구상하게 되었다.

    이후 공영 방송인 프랑스 텔레비지옹과 프랑스 최대 민영 방송인 TF1과의 공동 출자로 2006년 12월 6일 방송을 시작하였다.[1][2] 개국 당시에는 프랑스어와 영어의 두 언어로 방송되었고, 다음 해부터 아랍어 방송도 시작되었다. 장기적으로는 스페인어 방송도 계획되고 있다.

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