On June 6, 1944, 132,715 Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy! Among them was a group of 176 French Green Berets led by one man: Philippe Kieffer.
How did this family man with no military experience become the founder and leader of this elite troop, the only French unit to land on June 6? Born in Port-au-Prince, an influential banker for almost twenty years, he returned to France a few months before the outbreak of war. An early Free Frenchman, he founded the French Marine Commandos at the age of 42. Paradoxically, however, this D-Day hero remains little-known, despite the fact that his action was brought to the screen in the Hollywood blockbuster The Longest Day.
Based on a two-year study carried out at the University of Caen and drawing on over 4,000 mostly unpublished documents, this book lifts the veil on his life. In addition to retracing Philippe Kieffer?s role during the conflict, from the formation of the commandos in 1942 to their training in Scotland, from the Normandy landings to their feats of arms in the Netherlands, this book devotes considerable space for the first time to his origins, his youth, his civilian career and his commitment.
Benjamin Massieu, born in Caen in 1990, is a historian and author of reference on the military history of Free France and the Liberation. A doctoral student at the University of Caen, attached to the Quantitative History research center, he is currently studying the sociology of the Free French marine commandos
commandos.
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