World war 2

Young American is on a quest to preserve the stories of all WW2 veterans

Rishi Sharma is on a quest to record every surviving Allied veteran's story, to be kept for future generations

Tributes paid to French Resistance fighter Madeleine Riffaud, who died at 100

As a teenager she survived torture by the Gestapo after killing a German officer

French kindness saved my POW father from starvation

The relationship between a German soldier and the French family who accepted him into their family now spans two generations

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Frenchman's 80-year quest to find family of WW2 American soldier he met as a boy

The 85-year-old fulfilled a lifelong mission to connect with the descendants of a soldier who made a lasting impression during war

British WW2 bomb weighing half a tonne defused in Normandy port

A 400-metre exclusion zone put in place for experts to defuse the explosive

Rare images show how newspapers reported Liberation of Paris in August 1944

One shows food arriving at the starving city from Yorkshire in the UK with a truck marked ‘Churchill’s grub’

The Liberation of Paris: 'History fluctuates with the changing times'

Historian Christian Chevandier tells The Connexion how the victory is perceived in France

Paris marks 80th anniversary of Liberation

A look at how events unfolded and how city will remember the day it 'freed itself' from Nazism

Provence: The other ‘D-Day’ commemorated 80 years on despite storms

The ceremony was cut short due to poor weather but President Macron and African leaders gathered to remember the pivotal 1944 event

Singer Goldman composes new song for a school play in France

French pop legend responds to teacher's request for a song for play about importance of Republican values in World War Two in Vénissieux (Rhône)

Remembering an Anglo-French spy and hero of the French resistance

A Connexion reader from Brittany tells how 'Captain Bob' helped to liberate northern France in 1944

Letters: Collaboration with Nazis on Jersey was the same as in France

Connexion reader says that during the occupation in World War Two some Britons on the island denounced their neighbours for simply listening to the radio

Normandy museum shows the power of UK-France cooperation

Musee No 4 Commando in Ouistreham pays tribute to the French commandos who landed on Sword Beach on D-Day

Why is WWII Brittany American cemetery not in Brittany?

The Brittany American Cemetery is actually in Normandy and not the region where the soldiers commemorated died

French ‘martyr village’ destroyed in WW2 receives €1 million donation

The ‘symbolic gift’ will help ensure the site survives for future generations

Tiny knitted soldiers need help to get to France for D-Day anniversary

The woollen army must be transported from the UK to Normandy where they will recreate scenes from the landings 80 years ago

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

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

The ruins at Oradour-sur-Glane have been maintained as a permanent memorial to the hundreds of civilians killed during its destruction by Nazi soldiers in 1944

Search begins in France to find 47 executed German soldiers

The executions in June 1944 were in part retribution for German massacres elsewhere in Corrèze

Last survivor of French D-Day commando unit dies aged 100

Léon Gautier’s unit was among the first wave of liberators on June 6, 1944

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

Next year is one of the last major anniversaries when World War II veterans will likely still be alive and able to pass on their stories to children

US veteran and social media star, 100, in France for D-Day anniversary

Jake Larson has found fame on TikTok recounting his experiences as a soldier in the first wave of US troops to land on Omaha Beach in 1944

Nazi victim ‘Mr X’ identified 79 years after French village shooting

A tragic mystery has been solved - and an elegantly dressed stranger can be properly remembered

The remarkable WWII story of a British secret agent in occupied France

Lilian Rolfe (1914-1945) will get further recognition in Paris on Friday for her role in freeing France from Nazi Germany

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.