Silhouettes of D-Day soldiers erected at British memorial in Normandy The 1,475 two-metre tall statues will portray British soldiers who died on the beaches on the day of landing
Admiral Philippe de Gaulle, son of General de Gaulle, dies age 102 Former soldier, naval officer, and politician bore a striking resemblance to his father
Plans for 80-year D-Day commemorations in Normandy and Provence Events will also pay homage to Resistance fighters Thanks! Volunteers found to help D-Day knitted soldiers reach France US war dead remembered in French cemeteries, 100 years on Tiny knitted soldiers need help to get to France for D-Day anniversary
Tiny Normandy commune to mark crucial role in D-Day landings 80th anniversary events will remember how allied forces and local French people all played their part in 1944
France to honour foreign Resistance member: who was Missak Manouchian? Armenian-born hero was executed only months before liberation. He will be first ‘official’ communist to be interred in the Panthéon
US veteran, 100, to marry in Normandy on 80th commemoration of D-Day The man, who participated in the 1944 landings, says ‘positivity and love’ are the secrets to his longevity
King Charles honours French amateur historian’s work on WWII raid The Frenchman will receive an honorary British Empire Medal for research on Operation Biting involving 120 British paratroopers
Grandson of war hero Charles de Gaulle wants Russian citizenship Grandson of war hero Charles de Gaulle wants Russian citizenship
Row after association makes Normandy war bunker look like a house The structure was originally painted this way to disguise it from the Allies
Last of Churchill’s female ‘special spies’ who worked in France dies Phyllis Latour was awarded the Légion d’honneur and Croix de Guerre for her wartime service
American returns 68 years on to French town that helped him after WWII He told The Connexion he met a childhood friend on the visit to the south of France where his family began to rebuild their lives on release from a Nazi labour camp
Should Nazi defences be preserved or forgotten along French coast? The WW2 bunkers in Normandy are linked to D-Day and victory, but Atlantic fortifications divide opinion in coastal towns
Britons lay crosses at Commonwealth war graves in south-west France They are aiming to put remembrance crosses on all graves across the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine this year Families launch appeal to save French WW2 massacre ruins Search begins in France to find 47 executed German soldiers Last survivor of French D-Day commando unit dies aged 100
Hunt is on for American's family after WW2 bag found in French loft The remarkable discovery was made during renovations at a woman's home in Normandy From Nazi war camp survivor to fêted anti-poverty campaigner in France Make the 80th anniversary of D-Day a national holiday, urges French MP US veteran and social media star, 100, in France for D-Day anniversary Nazi victim ‘Mr X’ identified 79 years after French village shooting The remarkable WWII story of a British secret agent in occupied France
President Macron pays tribute to Resistance leader Jean Moulin The president is going to the prison where the well-known French hero was tortured
Marseille was early ‘Resistance capital’ as new series shows The Connexion speaks to a leading expert on wartime in the southern port city about what he thinks Netflix got right and wrong
Netflix tells of Americans in Marseille who saved thousands from Nazis Varian Fry and his team are celebrated for their efforts to save those fleeing persecution during World War II
Rising tides and sand dune erosion threaten French D-Day museum The building on the Normandy landings site is at risk if local authorities are refused permission to keep adding sand to the dunes
Career change in France: ‘I never tire of talking about World War Two’ From graphic designer to D-Day tour business - we speak to a Dutch woman who turned her passion for history into a new life
Son of American WWII pilot retraces father’s escape across France An event on Sunday will explore the story of Paul Miller and showcase the journey he took to evade capture after crash landing in the French countryside
War veteran and Britons abroad campaigner Harry Shindler dies at 101 Mr Shindler helped win back general election voting rights for Britons overseas. He had hoped to be able to vote in the general election next year
Last survivor of French war massacre village Oradour-sur-Glane dies Robert Hébras, 97, was one of only six survivors. He was shot but managed to escape by crawling out of a pile of corpses ready to be burnt to hide in a stable
France ordered to return ‘lost’ Renoir, Gauguin and Cézanne artworks The pieces were found to have been wrongfully distributed during World War Two after the death of their original art dealer, and are now held by the musées du Louvre and Orsay
Join a bird protection group in France and continue historic tradition Nature watcher Jonathan Kemp shares the origins of bird conservation and the magic of migration
MBE awarded to British woman who trained WW2 spies for French missions 96-year-old has lived in France for 70 years but has not been recognised as a 'war veteran' here as she worked in the UK
‘Lynx crossing’ signs, WW2 Paris footage found: French news in brief Road signs aim to reduce car accidents with lynx, care home workers wear suits that simulate old age and the liberation of Paris on film
Man gets second-degree burns from 'pebble' found on French beach The intense pink stone was in fact phosphorus left over from World War Two
French man drives to police with WWII shells in back of his car Gendarmes have reminded people of the inherent dangers of handling munitions after the unorthodox handover
War veteran writes open letter against wind farm plans on D-Day beach Decorated World War Two veteran Léon Gautier has objected to the plans to build turbines in a ‘place whose memory should not be troubled’
How to buy a Remembrance Day poppy in France – or a bleuet With Armistice Day just around the corner, we explain how you can still support the Royal British Legion’s annual fundraising campaign from France
Last surviving French resistance fighter deported in WW2 dies aged 96 Jacques Bergez was deported to Buchenwald aged 18 in 1944 after being held in the French transit camp Royallieu in Compiègne
British Legion in France widens remit as Poppy Appeal picks up pace The support the charity gives is constantly evolving, says a branch chairman, and it helps all in need including those without a military background
Descendants of Frenchmen forced to fight for Germany seek recognition It is 80 years since a Nazi decree forced 130,000 men from Alsace-Moselle to join the German army during WW2
Armentières’ historic bridge and bawdy song make for inspiring visit Journalist Sally Ann Voak continues working through her late husband’s travel bucket list by paying tribute to a beloved friend – and unpicking a saucy French legend
Retired French soldier hunts down war grave thieves and Nazi relics His passion for protecting the memory of the war dead started at five years old and a moving encounter with Charles de Gaulle
American D-Day pilot buried with honours in France - 78 years on Lt. William McGowan was shot down and declared missing - research by family and organisations means he now rests at the Normandy American Cemetery
US invests €6million in World War Two Normandy cliff site The Pointe du Hoc in Calvados will be preserved and updated, and the visitor centre expanded to enable people to better understand what happened there on June 6, 1944
New film to honour Canadian D-Day soldiers who died freeing French Many Canadian soldiers lost their lives on June 6, 1944. Experts say the film will pay tribute to the role they played in the landings
D-Day: French archaeologists launch research ahead of 78th anniversary The dig at a manor house four kilometres from the infamous Utah Beach is expected to reveal more details about the behaviour of US soldiers there
Last World War Two Oradour massacre survivor publishes book account Robert Hébras, aged 96, has written the book with his granddaughter. He has always considered it very important to speak about the tragedy
France to mark 77th anniversary of end of World War Two on Sunday ‘It is an opportunity to send a message in support of the fight for freedom and democracy’, France’s ministry of armed forces wrote
Violette Szabo: British spy who fought Nazis to avenge French husband She fearlessly worked as a special agent during World War Two, and is remembered today as a war hero in both the UK and France
At last, France’s honours system rewards a hero (albeit belatedly)... In her monthly column, Nabila Ramdani says former American serviceman and D-Day parachutist Earl Mills, now 100, makes a refreshing change as choice of Légion d’Honneur recipient
President Macron to honour last survivor of Oradour-sur-Glane massacre 642 people in the village were slaughtered by Nazi troops in 1944, with the site remaining unchanged since as a memorial to the victims
Village where time has stood still since Nazi atrocity This week President Macron visited Oradour-sur-Glane to mark the anniversary of one of the most shocking massacres of WWII, and where the ruins have been kept exactly as they were on that day in 1944. Journalist Samantha David writes about her recent visit to the haunting monument, and the maelstrom of emotions she experienced.
Teacher uncovers wartime heroism to save Jews in France Research by a retired local teacher has brought to light a French mountain village’s efforts to hide Jewish people in World War Two
British team leads dig to recover WW2 US airmen in tiny French village The archaeological team has been contracted by the US government to search the site on which the plane went down in 1944, killing six of the eight crew on board
Western Front shows we cannot take peace for granted My wife Fiona and I have long nursed a dream of an epic hike along the length of the old Western Front and this year, a century on from the end of the First World War, we went for it. Both 64 and retired and living in Dordogne and Yorkshire, we had no idea if it was possible when we set off from Nieuwpoort-Bad on the Belgian coast to walk to the Swiss border.
213kg WWII British bomb defused safely in Normandy town There are thought to be still thousands of bombs in France and it could take several centuries to clear them all safely
The painful SS massacre memories of this tiny French village The 1944 events in Marsoulas, Haute-Garonne, were not widely known, so a book and a plaque in the village have been created to tell the story
Heritage group director to receive MBE medal for Anglo-French services The Allied Forces Heritage group helps promote the commemoration of allied services, covering not only the two World Wars, but also the Franco-Prussian wars and events going back to the Napoleonic era
80 years ago: Horrors of France’s concentration camp Concentration camps were not limited to Poland and Germany during World War Two. France had one too, as The Connexion discovered
Family of American GI welcomed to French town he helped to liberate Catherine Whalen Purdy discovered the story of her uncle’s wartime service in Hauts-de-France after stumbling across his name in a novel by a local historical fiction writer
US-born French icon Josephine Baker to enter France’s Pantheon The legendary performer will become the first black woman to enter the mausoleum, in recognition of her historic role as a singer, dancer, activist, and World War Two Resistance agent
Memories of the French Resistance in south-west France A British graduate who grew up in France speaks to a former Resistance fighter in his childhood home village about those who fought off the Nazis there in 1944; he says it is vital to keep these memories alive
Jewish WW2 survivor's anger at yellow anti-vax stars at French protest One of the last survivors of a Nazi round-up in France said he finds the comparing new rules for unvaccinated people to the persecution of Jews ‘unbearable’
French historian honoured by Germany for Nazi bunker work The 84-year-old spent over 20 years clearing out and commemorating the World War Two bunkers, a key defence position for the Nazis
Painful and important history of France’s WW2 bunkers Amateur historians have spent years researching the remains of Nazi World War Two bunkers on the French Atlantic coastline to tell their story
British soldiers killed in D-Day landings finally get fitting memorial The first British memorial to all the soldiers who died in Normandy officially opens on June 6 in France, the 77th anniversary of the D-Day landings
New critical version of Mein Kampf to be sold in France from June 2 Proceeds of the new edition – which is two-thirds criticism – will go to concentration camp memorial charity the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. It will be available via direct bookshop order only
In photos: Jewish museum shares moving images of 1941 Paris roundup The newly discovered pictures, sent to The Connexion after our previous article on their discovery, show the reality behind the first mass arrest of Jewish people in France during World War Two
Newly surfaced photos show wartime mass arrest of Jews in France An outdoor exhibition showing these photos has been set up in Paris - it marks the 80th anniversary the country’s first mass roundup of Jewish people
Star of Oscar-winning film Colette says war horror cannot be forgotten The film won an Academy Award for best short documentary
Man leaves fortune to French village that saved Jews in WWII Erich Schwam who died at the age of 90 left a “considerable sum” to Chambon-sur-Lignon, the only village in France to have received the honorary title ‘Righteous Among The Nations’ from the state of Israel
French World War Two war hero dies age 100 Daniel Cordier is an iconic figure for his resistance to Nazi German occupation. We share five facts about his extraordinary life
Six-year-old French Resistance fighter named on memorial Marcel Pinte, thought to be France’s youngest Resistance fighter, will have his name inscribed on war memorial today
WW2 French liberation hero Pierre Simonet dies aged 99 Mr Simonet was one of three remaining soldiers decorated by General Charles de Gaulle for their role in the liberation of France.
Iconic French singer Juliette Gréco dies age 93 Iconic French singer Juliette Gréco has died at the age of 93. We remember some of her most-loved songs from her 60-year career, and remarkable life, as President Emmanuel Macron pays tribute.
Found! French family of World War Two mystery Bible owner The French family of the owner of a lost Bible that was found by an English soldier on the battlefields of World War Two has been traced via social media.
French veterans against ‘immersive’ D-Day tourism project French veterans have come out against a planned project to launch an “immersive” tourist experience in France, that would recreate the 1944 Normandy embarkment and battle.
French WWII Oradour memorial vandalised with denial messages Vandals have sprayed graffiti on an entrance wall to a memorial honouring the victims of a World War II massacre, prompting outcry from France’s president, prime minister and other top politicians.
Macron calls for unity in face of coronavirus battle President draws parallels between current health crisis and the struggle to defeat the Nazis in World War Two in speech at town's liberation anniversary ceremony
Four French Resistance fighters awarded honorary MBEs Four French Resistance fighters are to be awarded honorary MBEs in recognition of their work during World War Two, as France commemorates 80 years since General Charles de Gaulle’s famous June 18 “appeal”.
President Macron to visit London in memory of wartime ‘call’ President Emmanuel Macron is to visit London tomorrow (June 18) for the 80th anniversary of General de Gaulle’s 1940 “call”, as controversy surrounds Marine Le Pen’s attendance at a similar ceremony in France.