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FRENCH HISTORY

WWII vet to marry in French town after D-Day commemorations

Hundred-year-old World War II veteran Harold Terens will marry his 96-year-old fiancee Saturday in the French town of Carentan-les-Marais, just days after being honoured on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings that took place a few kilometres away.

100-year-old American World War 2 veteran Harold Terens and his fiancée 96-year-old Jeanne Swerlin embrace outside their lodgings, the Chateau de Villers-Bocage, three days before their wedding on June 05, 2024 in Villers-Bocage, France.
100-year-old American World War 2 veteran Harold Terens and his fiancée 96-year-old Jeanne Swerlin embrace outside their lodgings, the Chateau de Villers-Bocage, three days before their wedding on June 05, 2024 in Villers-Bocage, France. (Photo by WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Terens’s 11:00 am (0900 GMT) wedding to Jeanne Swerlin will be followed by a celebration “with his loved ones, in a small group”, said Sarah Pasquier, the town hall’s representative for D-Day commemorations.

“We are very honoured that Mr. Terens has chosen to get married here, in Carentan, where in June 1944 the meeting of Allied troops from the landings at Utah and Omaha beaches took place,” Mayor Jean-Pierre Lhonneur told AFP.

“We will offer him champagne, of course, but also a gift to thank him for having participated in the liberation of France.”

After the ceremony, “depending on his possible fatigue”, Terens may join in a parade of veterans in the centre of Carentan during the afternoon, according to Pasquier.

A liberation ball will be also be held in the evening as part of the D-Day commemorations, she said, with attendees “invited to dress in the 1940s theme, and solders from the nearby American base welcome”.

“But Mr. Terens and his wife may be to tired to join,” she added.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: British D-Day paratroopers face post-Brexit checks in Normandy field

Terens, who lives with Swerlin in Boca Raton, Florida, was awarded the French Legion of Honour by President Emmanuel Macron in 2019.

After the war Terens married his first wife, Thelma, with whom he spent 70 years and raised three children until her death in 2018.

In 2021, a friend introduced him to Swerlin, a charismatic woman who had also been widowed, and the two have been inseparable practically ever since.

“She lights up my life, she makes everything beautiful,” Terens told AFP in an interview last month in Florida. “She makes life worth living.”

In the same interview, Swerlin said her fiancee was “an unbelievable guy”.

“He’s handsome — and he’s a good kisser.”

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FRENCH HISTORY

5 things to know about Charles de Gaulle’s historic ‘appel du 18 juin’

In 1940, France's former president and then-General Charles de Gaulle recorded a historic speech that many consider the start of the French resistance during World War II. Here are some facts you may not know about it.

5 things to know about Charles de Gaulle's historic 'appel du 18 juin'

On June 18, 1940, then-General Charles de Gaulle spoke into a BBC microphone in London, proclaiming that “Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished.”

His words were broadcast on the BBC’s Radio Londres, the network’s French language programme.

General de Gaulle called on all officers, soldiers and engineers already in British territory or capable of getting there, to join the fight against Nazi Germany

The speech is widely considered to be the “founding act of the Free French Forces” that would be led by de Gaulle. 

De Gaulle had fled to UK the previous day, after Marshal Philippe Pétain, the new French prime minister, had promised to sign an armistice with Nazi Germany.

READ MORE: ‘Punished for daring’: Women journalists defied Allies to cover D-Day

Here are five facts about the famous speech;

It was actually a response to another speech – The previous day, on June 17th at 12:30pm, the new head of the French government, Marshal Philippe Pétain, made a speech announcing his plans to sign an armistice with Nazi Germany. De Gaulle fled France the same day, and met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who gave him the green light to record a speech.

There were not many listeners – In reality, de Gaulle’s appeal on June 18th is not thought to have been heard by many French people. After the British government went back and forth about whether to air the speech, it eventually was broadcast at 10pm, rather late for people to have heard it across the Channel.

On top of that, the BBC would not have been a first choice for radio stations amongst French people, historian Aurélie Luneau told France Bleu.

Instead, the notoriety of the speech instead came from the word of mouth and re-prints of its words in the international press in the days to come. It was also put into poster-form and placed on walls around London.

A reproduction, from August 1940, of the poster put on walls around London, with the words of de Gaulle’s June 18th speech (Photo by AFP)

But it did mobilise many French once they heard about it. One key example is the Isle de Sein, off the coast of Finistère in Brittany. The small fishing community mobilised, and from June 24th to 26th, 136 locals sailed to Britain, the youngest just 14 and the oldest 54.

No recording of the speech – As it was not widely listened to, the original speech made on June 18th was not recorded or filmed. However, de Gaulle repeated his message again on the radio again four days later (on June 22), and this one was recorded and more widely listened to. 

The BBC then went on to give de Gaulle and the Free French five minutes a day to broadcast to France, in an effort to organise the resistance.

In 2023, French newspaper Le Monde was able to use artificial intelligence to recreate a close version to what de Gaulle’s original speech may have sounded like.

De Gaulle’s nickname – The General won the nickname ‘L’Homme du 18 juin’ (The man of the 18th of June) due to his initial speech and the many more that were broadcast during World War II.

Commemorated with a coin and stamp – Upon the 70th anniversary of the speech in 2010, France commemorated the event with a special stamp (you can see it here), as well as a €2 commemorative coin (you can see/buy it here).

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