His smiling and mischievous face was familiar to the French.

Until his death in July 2023, Léon Gautier had become the incarnation of the last French veterans of the Second World War.

A national tribute ceremony chaired by Emmanuel Macron was even dedicated to him as the last fighter of the Kieffer commando, the only French battalion to have participated, on June 6, 1944, in the Normandy landings.

This extraordinary journey and this now-known name are now arousing desire, as France Bleu reveals.

Less than a year after his disappearance, his family had to take measures to protect his image.

“We hired a lawyer specializing in personality protection,” his grandson Gérard Wille explains to France 24.

“Everything accelerated after the publication of false biographies dedicated to my grandfather with elements that were completely incoherent and unverified. And all of this distributed without the authorization of the family.”

Green Berets (special forces) of the French Navy stand near the coffin of Léon Gautier, during a ceremony on the beach of Ouistreham, in Normandy, July 7, 2023. AFP - PASCAL ROSSIGNOL

Fake biographies written by artificial intelligence

Last December, Gérard Wille discovered with astonishment that two books for sale on Amazon tell the story of his grandfather, but with many inaccuracies.

The green beret of the Kieffer commando is described as a resistance fighter, while he was part of the Free French Forces.

The authors discuss his captivity in Germany, while Léon Gautier died peacefully at the age of 100, without ever having been taken prisoner.

One of these works was even published on July 5, 2023, two days after the death of the marine.

A speed of writing which suggests that it was written by an artificial intelligence which was not concerned with the veracity of the facts reported.

“I felt sorry for these people,” describes his grandson.

"It's pitiful. I couldn't let this go."

The family managed to have these two works withdrawn from sale, but as the eightieth anniversary of the Landing approached, Gérard Wille received other problematic requests: "Some want to make figurines, posters or even tees -shirts with my grandfather's photo. We can imagine that during the commemorations, there will be this kind of thing on sale in public places. I even saw that his signature was selling for 300 euros on the Internet. C "is making money and business with the story of our parents."

One of the 177

Frenchmen of

D- Day

The story of Léon Gautier indeed has all the ingredients to please fans of the Second World War.

Nothing predestined this young Breton for such a trajectory.

Born in Rennes on October 27, 1922, he was an apprentice coachbuilder when the war broke out in 1939. The young man felt the urgent need to enlist and without hesitation joined the navy in February 1940 – at the time, it was of the only component of the armed forces recruiting such young soldiers.

Gunner aboard the battleship Courbet, he took part in the defense of Cherbourg by bombing the Carentan road during the German invasion.

When the hour of defeat came, the officers chose to head for England. 

Taking refuge in a French sailors' camp in Sheffield, near Liverpool, he learned on the radio, with a few comrades, that General de Gaulle had just created Free France to continue the fight under the French flag.

“Of course, I committed,” said the veteran in an interview with France 3 Normandie.

A photo taken in 1942 of the young Léon Gautier, who had decided to join England to continue the fight.

AFP - -

He then participated in the July 14, 1940 parade in London, in the presence of General de Gaulle and George VI.

Later, he was sent to the Atlantic aboard the Gallois before joining the 2nd Battalion of Marines on its African journey, to Syria and Lebanon.

In the summer of 1943, he joined, with many members of this unit, Philippe Kieffer's commandos and trained in Achnacarry

,

 Scotland.

At the end of May 1944, like his other sailing companions, he was informed of the secret preparations for the Normandy landings.

On June 6, 1944, with his 176 French brothers in arms from the 1st Battalion of Free French Marines, he landed with the first wave of assault on Sword Beach, in Colleville-Montgomery.

The mission of the French battalion led by Philippe Kieffer is twofold: to retake the Ouistreham casino, transformed into a fortress by the Germans, and to join the troops of the 6th airborne division in Bénouville.

Objective achieved: in less than four hours, the French unit freed 1.8 kilometers of beach.

Léon Gautier ended up accidentally injuring his ankle during another stay in England in September 1944, and found himself forced to leave the commandos.

Demobilized after the war, he married Dorothy Banks, a British signal corpsman he met across the Channel, with whom he had two children.

But the star of the day is veteran Léon Gautier, one of the last three of the Kieffer commando.

Alongside @EmmanuelMacron, he will hand over their green berets to the sailors who have just successfully completed the commando course.

pic.twitter.com/50RaXQO6a5

— Stéphanie Trouillard (@Stbslam) June 6, 2019

“

It had become a bit of a star”

After a career as an automobile expert, during his retirement he devoted himself to recognizing those committed to Free France.

Of all the ceremonies, he has gradually become an essential character.

The historian Benjamin Massieu, a specialist in the Kieffer commando, is therefore not surprised by this commercial recovery: "Already during Léon's lifetime, it was necessary to make a security cordon around him because there were so many people who wanted a photo with him. He had become a bit of a star. Today, some people know that Léon sells."

For the author of the book "Les Français du jour D" (Pierre de Taillac editions), this phenomenon is not new, but he notes a growing lack of seriousness around commemorations, even a form of amusement.

“Among the re-enactors in particular, there are those who will do it very seriously and those who are there to disguise themselves.”

Read also Passionate people bring D-Day back to life

In 2020, the announcement of a tourist park project dedicated to the Landing also sparked heated controversy.

“We clearly saw that the objectives were above all commercial, even if they tried to pass it off as a beautiful tribute to the heroes. It was financed by an American investment fund which does not do this for the beauty of the gesture, but to recover his stake", estimates the historian.

At the time, Léon Gautier personally opposed this project, declaring himself "outraged" by this "Disneyland on the death of people who gave their lives for France".

However, his grandson does not see everything negatively.

Even if he is now ready to go to court to block any abusive use of his grandfather's image, he also receives interesting proposals.

“There are requests, for example, for his name to be assigned to promotions in schools or for the military.”

Himself a green beret, this officer became the guardian of the memory of his ancestor, but also of all the men of the Kieffer commando: "It was the dynamic of my grandfather. He wanted to transmit what he was past, the facts and the reality. This must not be forgotten, but we must not do anything. I am here to protect the story of my grandfather, but also, with the help of other families, those of his 176 brothers in arms."

Léon Gautier and his grandson Gérard Wille, during the ceremony in tribute to the marine riflemen, June 6, 2019, in Colleville-Montgomery.

AFP - DAMIEN MEYER

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