All D-Day celebration flags were stolen and walls were covered in anti-Emmanuel Macron graffiti in a French city where the president honored D-Day heroes from the Special Air Service.
Macron arrived today in Plumelec, Brittany, at the start of commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy beach landings.
Plumelec is a particularly sacred place because it was where the first Allied soldier of the campaign was killed by German troops on June 6, 1944, after parachuting from England.
But a city council spokesman confirmed that “all flags that were to be used in the ceremony were stolen on Tuesday.”
“Graffiti has also appeared at a prominent bus stop, referencing the president of France.”
Macron paid tribute to the Saint Marcel maquis, a force of French Resistance fighters during World War II, and to the French paratroopers of the SAS (Special Air Service), in Plumelec, Brittany, on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings 1944 in Normandy, France June 5, 2024
US President Joe Biden disembarks from Air Force One upon arrival at Orly Airport in Paris ahead of D-Day commemorations.
In total, the D-Day invasion involved 153,110 soldiers, supported by 10,440 aircraft and 6,330 ships, with paratroopers landing behind enemy lines before the main assault.
‘Macron, out of Brittany’, was among the messages still clearly visible after the vandalism, along with ‘This is not France!’ and “Britain is not for sale.”
The spokesperson for the Plumelec town council described the theft and vandalism as “shocking and deplorable”: “Video surveillance has been seen and will allow the perpetrators of these unacceptable acts to be identified.”
‘Those responsible will be prosecuted and punished, whether they are adults or minors.’
When a criminal investigation was launched, suspects included patriots from Brittany who oppose their region being governed from Paris.
Despite the damage and vandalism, Macron’s visit to Plumelec went ahead.
He gave a speech and paid tribute to the Saint Marcel maquis, a force of French Resistance fighters during World War II, and to the French paratroopers of the SAS (Special Air Service), remembering the bravery of the Free French soldiers who They were part of the elite British SAS.
They were among the first to jump into Brittany as part of Operation Overlord, the Allied operation to begin the liberation of France.
The first fatality was Corporal Emile Bouétard, 28, a Frenchman who had completed a course at the Ringway Parachute Training School, Manchester.
Macron’s visit to Plumelec went ahead, despite the damage and vandalism, and he gave a speech remembering the bravery of the Free French soldiers who were part of Britain’s elite SAS.
US President Joe Biden (center) is greeted by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal upon arrival at Orly airport near Paris on June 5.
His Free French unit joined 4 SAS in January 1944, and was part of 3 Squadron when it arrived in the Morbihan department in France.
Their mission was to delay the transfer of German reinforcements to the Normandy beachhead from Brittany.
They landed behind enemy lines at 00:45 on June 6, but found themselves near an enemy observation post.
Members of Squad 3 were killed or taken prisoner while they were still gathering their equipment.
The theft and vandalism in Plumelec comes despite a major security operation taking place in Brittany and Normandy, in time for D-Day commemorations.
Among the heads of state who arrived in France in time for the commemorations were King Charles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden.
A ring of steel will be placed around world leaders and other dignitaries.
Stéphane Chavaux, commander of the Channel and North Sea gendarmerie group, said: “We are prepared to respond to any threat and will use force if necessary.”
Eighty bomb disposal experts, including divers, scoured Normandy beaches for explosives today, as 43,000 soldiers, police and gendarmes flooded the region and surface-to-air missiles were deployed along the coast of northern France.
What is D-Day?
Many historians describe D-Day as the “beginning of the end” of World War II.
It represented the beginning of the withdrawal of Allied forces from what was the most extensive Nazi occupation during the war.
The landings, codenamed Operation Overlord, involved British, American and other Allied forces crossing the English Channel to launch an offensive against the Nazi occupation in Normandy. on June 6, 1944.
These were ships and planes of all shapes and sizes, for a variety of purposes, whether it was sweeping the area for mines or delivering the respective armies to France.
June 5 was the original date selected for D-Day, but bad weather forced it to be delayed by one day, and the troops left the English coast on the night of June 5.
An American landing barge packed with helmeted soldiers heads to the coast of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
The forces arrived on the morning of June 6, by which time the paratroopers had already landed behind enemy lines to begin the attack.
In total, 153,110 soldiers took part in the invasion, supported by 10,440 aircraft and 6,330 ships, with paratroopers landing behind enemy lines before the main assault.
It was known as the largest amphibious invasion in military history.
After less than a week, all five beaches had been secured and more troops, vehicles and equipment were delivered to the Allies.
The move meant that Germany was at war on three fronts: in France, Italy and Russia.
This task ultimately proved too much for Hitler’s army, with Allied victory on the continent assured on May 8, 1945.