A week before D-Day anniversary celebrations, a bronze memorial honoring British servicemen who died during the liberation of France was stolen.
At Bréville-les-Monts, north of Caen, a one-ton statue depicting a piper in the 51st Highland Division during World War II disappeared on Friday.
It was a memorial to the Scottish infantrymen who had surged onto Juno Beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944, only to perish in a violent firefight a few days later.
Next Saturday, on the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, British visitors were scheduled to assemble around the statue.
“The statue was reported missing early on Friday morning – it was forced off its plinth and clearly loaded on to a vehicle,” an investigating source stated. “A huge amount of effort went into the planned theft of a statue, which will be hard to conceal.” Instead, French police are now engaged in a criminal investigation in an attempt to locate the statue and bring the thieves to justice.
According to an early theory, scrap metal dealers wanted to sell the bronze by smashing the statue to pieces.
It was a memorial to the Scottish infantrymen who had surged onto Juno Beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944, only to perish in a violent firefight a few days later.
About fifteen years ago, the statue was placed on the grounds of the Château St. Come, where the 51st Highlanders and members of the 6th Airborne Division engaged in combat with German forces.
D-Day landings in France in 1944 and British soldiers at Juno Beach during World War Two
“It is with great sadness that we discovered the disappearance of the statue of the bagpipe player on the monument to the 51st Highland Infantry Division,” a Bréville-les-Monts town council representative stated.
“Just one week before the D-Day commemorations, this was a shameful act.”
According to the spokesperson, Merville-Franceville police, who were in charge of the inquiry, received a complaint from Bréville council.
About fifteen years ago, the statue was placed on the grounds of the Château St. Come, where the 51st Highlanders and members of the 6th Airborne Division engaged in combat with German forces.
As they assisted in securing the bridgehead across the River Orne, the heavily outnumbered Highlanders, primarily from the 5th Battalion of the Black Watch Regiment, lost 110 men in just two days.
“Death Alley” was the name given to the lane that led up to the château because it became so hazardous.
The location is near Pegasus Bridge, a monument honoring British paratroopers who landed in France in gliders and were later assisted by soldiers who arrived from the assault beaches.
The Longest Day, a classic war movie starring Richard Todd, Sean Connery, and John Wayne, featured such moments, including a well-known one with a Scottish piper.
Pipers from Scottish battalions were known for playing songs like “Highland Laddie,” “The Road to the Isles,” and “All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border” during combat.
The sound of the bagpipes boosted morale in addition to keeping soldiers together in the turmoil of battle.
Conversely, veterans of the enemy later recalled how terrifying the pipes’ sound might be.
