Gautier, 100, presented a student marine commando with his green beret at a passing out parade at Colleville-Montgomery, near where a 17-year-old Gautier had landed on Sword Beach in a hail of enemy fire. Gautier was one of 177 French green berets under the command of Captain Philippe Kieffer who took part in the Normandy landings. In 2019, Gautier recounted on the occasion of the 75th D-Day anniversary how French troops had been the first to wade chest-deep onto Sword Beach. "Your honour," Gautier recalled British Colonel Robert Dawson telling the French green berets. Reporting by Noemie Olive; Writing by Richard Lough, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Commando Kieffer Leon Gautier, Read, Leon Gautier, Emmanuel Macron, Gautier, Captain Philippe Kieffer, " Gautier, Robert Dawson, Noemie Olive, Richard Lough, Ed Osmond Organizations: Commando, Fusiliers, Tuesday, Thomson Locations: Normandy, MONTGOMERY, France, Gautier, Colleville, Montgomery, Nazi Germany