2009 Commando Ceremony – D-Day 65th anniversary

Ceremony: On 5 and 6 June 2009, veterans of the British commandos (including those from the famous Kieffer commando unit) gathered on Sword Beach, where they had landed 65 years earlier, as well as at the famous Pegasus Bridge in Bénouville and in the town of Ranville. They retraced the path they took on 6 June 1944. On Friday 5 June 2009, a march in the footsteps of the Kieffer commando was organised and offered to local children, who were accompanied by trainees from the Marine commando military training programme in Lorient. Ceremonies were held in the villages along the route, notably at the military cemetery and the civilian cemetery in Ranville, attended by several veterans of the Kieffer commando, including their president, Léon Gautier.