Former RM Presented With Legion d’honneur At CTCRM

Congratulations to Bill Bryant, Exeter Branch  (91 year old WW2 & D-Day veteran) who at long last has received the Legion Of Honour (Chevalier Class) as granted by the Government of France in honour of his contribution to the freedom of France at the landings in Normandy in June 1944.

The medal was presented by the Commandant General Royal Marines, Major General M L Smith MBE during the Corps Conference held in the Falklands Hall at CTCRM. The conference was full of very senior Officers and RSM`s from the Corps who all stood to honour Bill with a standing ovation – not once but twice.

From Wikipedia – The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour (French: Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur), is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 May 1802. The Order is the highest decoration in France and is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand Croix (Grand Cross). The order’s motto is “Honneur et Patrie” (“Honour and Fatherland”) and its seat is the Palais de la Légion d’Honneur on the left bank of the River Seine in Paris.