RIP Louis Bégot | 1921-2016
Commando Kieffer
Troop 1 – Commando No4 – 1st Special Service Brigade
Louis Bégot was born on May 7, 1921 in Vannes. He was a sailor on the cruiser Duguay-Trouin in Alexandria harbor when he learned of the 1940 armistice. On September 1, he deserted his ship to join the Free French and embarked a few days later on the Felix Roussel in Suez, in Portoufi harbor. This ship was part of the A.M.B.C. (Military Armament of Commercial Ships) as a troop transport for the Free French. Arriving in England in 1941, he embarked on the destroyer Léopard in the port of Hull. On December 5, 1942, he joined the 1st Company of Marine Commandos in Criccieth. He was one of those selected for the airborne commando raid on Vannes in early 1943, being from the region, but it was canceled at the last minute.
Louis Bégot landed on Sword Beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944. During the violent German counterattack on June 10, he was seriously wounded by shrapnel from an 88mm shell fired by a German armored vehicle, which tore off the entire lower half of his face. Transported in a wheelbarrow to the French headquarters by Francis Vourch, he was immediately evacuated by an English doctor. After four days in the brigade ambulance, where he received high-dose penicillin injections, he was evacuated to a hospital in England where he would spend two years, undergoing 32 surgeries.
Back to the 2016 Remembrance wall menu