FRANCE has been humiliated after activists stole flags and scrawled anti-Macron graffiti across a town ahead of D-Day commemorations.
Disaster unfolded at Plumelec in Brittany mere hours before world leaders began to arrive for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy beach landings.
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French President Emmanuel Macron is honouring Special Air Service D-Day heroes today at Plumelec, where the first Allied soldier of the campaign was killed by German troops on June 6, 1944.
Security forces were out in full force across Brittany and Normandy in time for the commemorations, which is to be attended by heads of state including King Charles and US President Joe Biden.
A ring of steel will be placed around King Charles, Biden, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and other dignitaries who arrived in Paris this morning.
Stéphane Chavaux, commander of the Channel and North Sea gendarmerie group, said: “We are ready to respond to any threat, and will use force if necessary.”
Eighty bomb disposal experts including divers were checking the 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.
But all of the flags which were to be used in ceremony still managed to be stolen on Tuesday, said a town hall spokesman.
He said: “Graffiti has also appeared on a prominent bus shelter, making reference to the President of France.”
Among the messages clearly visible after the vandalism were “Macron Out”, “This is not France!” and “Brittany is not for sale”.
The Plumelec town hall spokesman described the theft and vandalism in the commune as “shocking and deplorable”, adding: “Video surveillance has been viewed 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.”
Suspects were said to include Brittany patriots who object to their region being run from Paris.
A criminal enquiry has been launched.
During his visit to Plumelec, Macron is to make a speech recalling the bravery of Free French soldiers who were part of Britain’s elite SAS.
The soldiers 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.
It was their mission to delay German reinforcement being moved to the Normandy beachhead from Brittany.
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They landed behind enemy lines at 00.45 on June 6, but found themselves close to an enemy observation post.
Members of 3 Squadron were killed or taken prisoner while they were still gathering their equipment.
What happened on D-Day?
By Jessica Baker
JUNE 6, 2024 marks 80 years since the largest military naval, air, and land operation in history – and the start of the liberation of Western Europe.
But what exactly happened on D-Day?
Tens of thousands of troops from the UK, the US, Canada, and France attacked German forces on the coast of northern France on June 6, 1944.
They stormed five separate beaches in Normandy.
It was the start of the Allied invasion of Normandy – the greatest seaborne invasion ever attempted – and marked the beginning of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe.
The “D” in D-Day stands for “day”.
D-Day is a military term used to describe the first day of any large military operation.
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