France and UK honour distinguished French WW2 veteran
France and UK honour distinguished French WW2 veteran
M. Georges Lepoittevin was promoted to the rank of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur and received an honorary MBE at a ceremony at the French Ambassador’s Residence in London on Thursday 4 May. Rear-Admiral Jacques Launay, Defence Attaché at the French Embassy, presented the insignia on behalf of the French Ambassador, M. Gérard Errera, and Air Marshal David Pocock, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff presented the MBE. Mr Don Touhig, Under Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans sent M. Lepoittevin the following message :
“I would like to offer my sincere congratulations to M. Lepoittevin for this well deserved award. His tireless, selfless work on behalf of other World War veterans from both Britain and France is an inspiration to us all. It is important we never forget the achievements, sacrifices and actions of our Armed Forces’ Veterans, who have done so much in every conflict we have encountered.”
A volunteer in the French Navy in 1940, M. Lepoittevin tried to join the Free Forces in Dakar where he was taken prisoner. He was then freed by a Resistance group. After an eventful journey, he was arrested by the Spanish maritime police and taken to Tangiers from where the British consul helped him reach Gibraltar. He then came to Britain and participated in the Normandy Landings on 6 June 1944.
Back in civilian life, M. Lepoittevin founded the UK association of voluntary combatants (Association des Combattants Volontaires de Grande-Bretagne) and in 1998 took on the task of identifying the surviving British WW1 combatants to whom the French Government wished to award the Légion d’Honneur. He worked on over 250 cases. The honours already held by M. Lepoittevin include the Croix du Combattant, Croix du Combattant Volontaire, Croix de Guerre and the Médaille Militaire. He was appointed Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 1994.