French veterans attack plans for ‘immersive’ memorial park on the Normandy coast

French veterans who landed at the beach on D-Day have expressed their anger at an ‘immersive’ memorial that will offer live re-enactments to guests.  

Hubert Faure, 106, and Léon Gautier, 97, echoed public outcry as they criticised the proposed tourist attraction in Normandy as a commercialised spectacle.

The Homage to the Heroes memorial, which was initially announced in January, is set open in time for the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion in 2024.

The creators of the project are currently searching for a 35-hectare site near the historical beaches which could accommodate 600,000 visitors per year. 

It is thought that they will introduce mobile grandstands on rails to transport spectators through re-enacted battle scenes.

Léon Gautier

French veterans Hubert Faure, 106, and Léon Gautier, 97, echoed public outcry as they criticised the proposed tourist attraction in Normandy as a commercialised spectacle

Gautier and Faure were former soldiers of the Kieffer commando which served in the Second World War under Captain Philippe Keiffer of the Free French Navy.

It was the only uniformed French soldier unit to participate in the embarkment with the allies on June 6, 1944, during which almost 10,000 soldiers were killed or injured.

Gautier previously told AFP: ‘I am against the project.’

An appeal against the memorial, published in Le Monde, has since been signed by 154 descendants of those in the Kieffer commando.  

The families said that they were ‘deeply shocked’ by the commercial proposal on the site where thousands gave their lives in the battle against Nazi occupation.

It said: ‘The memory [of the historical event] cannot in any case be shared in a way that is dramatic, festive or commercial.’

‘This runs against the message transmitted by our fathers and grandfathers when they showed great modesty and solemnity when talking about the fighting. 

‘Their message never sought to make us “relive” these events.’  

The Homage to the Heroes memorial is set to be opened in time for the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion in 2024. Pictured: Troops take positions on Sword Beach after Allied forces stormed the Normandy beaches in north-western France on D-Day on June 6, 1944

The Homage to the Heroes memorial is set to be opened in time for the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion in 2024. Pictured: Troops take positions on Sword Beach after Allied forces stormed the Normandy beaches in north-western France on D-Day on June 6, 1944

Retired British Army officer, Colonel Richard Kemp, told MailOnline: ‘I think its a good thing to make people aware of and educate people as to what happened at Normandy.

‘But this sounds like it is turning into a theme park which is not the right thing to be doing.

‘It is a battlefield on which many British, American, Canadian soldiers died. I don’t suggest it should be preserved as it was I think it is right that people should be able to go as their forefathers might have seen it.

‘I think to turn it into a money-spinner and a theme park is a mistake – I am fully in favour of having a museum to educate people and having guides but I think it is at risk of becoming a kind of Disneyland.’  

Hervé Morin, president of Normandy and a former defence minister, is set to open the park if it is given the go ahead.

He joined other MPs and local authorities who dismissed the criticism of the proposed attracted as uninformed. 

‘There has never been any question of a theme park. We have taken all the necessary precautions to guarantee the ethical dimension,’ he said according to The Times.

Mr Morian had initially estimated that the attraction would cost €100million (£92million) but promoters have predicted it will be much lower and argued that it will boost the economy as well as creating new jobs in the area. 

The project – proposed by television producer Stéphane Gateau, musical producer Roberto Ciurleo, and promoter Régis Lefèbvre – also has the support of British military historian Sir Antony Beevor. 

Mr Lefèbvre denied the experience would be a ‘theme park’ and said: ‘It will be a 50-minute living documentary mixing archive imagery, immersive techniques and living paintings.’  

He added that there will be ‘no carousels’ and ‘no commercial areas’, although an onsite shop is planned ‘as in all museums’.

Every year an average of five million tourists visit the Normandy battlefields.  

The elite bands of brothers who were the first troops into Normandy on D-Day

Operation Overlord saw some 156,000 Allied troops landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944.

It is thought as many as 4,400 were killed in an operation Winston Churchill described as ‘undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever taken place’.

The assault was conducted in two phases: an airborne landing of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France commencing at 6.30am.

The operation was the largest amphibious invasion in world history, with over 160,000 troops landing. Some 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved. 

The operation was the largest amphibious invasion in world history, with over 160,000 troops landing. Some 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved. 

The operation was the largest amphibious invasion in world history, with over 160,000 troops landing. Some 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved.

The landings took place along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.

The assault was chaotic with boats arriving at the wrong point and others getting into difficulties in the water.

Destruction in the northern French town of Carentan after the invasion in June 1944

Destruction in the northern French town of Carentan after the invasion in June 1944

Troops managed only to gain a small foothold on the beach – but they built on their initial breakthrough in the coming days and a harbour was opened at Omaha.

They met strong resistance from the German forces who were stationed at strongpoints along the coastline.

Approximately 10,000 allies were injured or killed, inlcuding 6,603 American, of which 2,499 were fatal.

Between 4,000 and 9,000 German troops were killed – and it proved the pivotal moment of the war, in the allied forces’ favour.

The first wave of troops from the US Army takes cover under the fire of Nazi guns in 1944

The first wave of troops from the US Army takes cover under the fire of Nazi guns in 1944