George William French – Légion d’Honneur

British Empire Medal
Légion d’honneur from France
1939-45 Star
France and Germany Star
Defence Medal
War Medal 1939–45

Taken from a newspaper interview…

“As a teenager, George French battled with the commandos, discovered a hidden German battleship and demanded to see Hitler’s bunker.

It was the aftermath of Nazi atrocities that had the greatest impact on the young man from what is now Stratford. “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” said George, whose home is now in Chadwell Heath. “I saw the ovens and the people starved to death.”

George joined the Shires Regiment and later transferred to the London Irish Rifles. In London the Army Major told him: “You’re 17 now, sign this paper and say you’re 18.” “I was in the Army at 17 and 10 days old,” said George.

He was posted to the Hertfordshire Yeomanry, serving on the Home Front, before training as a commando. Then came D-Day. “We landed just behind Sword beach,” said George, “and we lost quite a few men. That was one of the worst days of the war for me.”

There were three that he would class among the worst. Another came in Denmark. “I went to the camp where they made lampshades out of human skin. You can’t believe people could be that cruel.”

The third was a night-time mission with the British commandos when they came across what they believed to be a derelict ship. “It turned out to be the German battleship Gneisenau,” he said. George and his friend Albert were ordered to swim to the vessel. They found it deserted and badly damaged. “We set the charges and got out of there quickly. Then it went up. That was one heck of a bang.”

The heavily damaged and almost useless ship was finally scrapped in 1951. “I know where I found it and went down to where the gangplank was, and that’s where we planted the explosives.”

George was wounded in the leg when the British Army went through the Siegfried Line. It was then he was taken to see Hitler’s bunker. “I said I want to go back and report what I saw,” he said. “I was in his bedroom, and the blood was still there.”

Today George lives in Chadwell Heath with his wife, Joan. They have four children and nine grandchildren. He is a member of the London branch of the Normandy Veterans’ Association and the London Irish Rifles Association. He is also a proud Freemason.

George said: “I have no regrets about the war. I was one of the lucky ones.”