D-Day cafe owner gets French Order of Merit

Arlette Gondree addressed veterans and guests on the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June

The owner of a cafe near the first action of the D-Day landings has been recognised for her work commemorating those events of World War Two.

Arlette Gondree hosts an annual service of remembrance for veterans at the Cafe Gondree in Benouville, Normandy.

Her family became the first to be liberated from the Germans in June 1944.

Madame Arlette, as she is known by the veterans, will be named a Chevalier of France’s National Order of Merit at a ceremony at the cafe on 5 October.

She said she was "moved and honoured" to be receiving the recognition of the French government.

The former patron of Birmingham Normandy Veterans Association said she felt "more anglophile than French," also being involved with schools and associations across the West Midlands, originally travelling to the area from a young girl to this day.

She now spends much of her year in Warwickshire.

Arlette Gondree and her family have welcomed D-Day veterans to the cafe on Pegasus Bridge for 80 years

"I feel like a bridge linking the British and French people," she added.

She was four years old when British troops entered the family cafe, ending their occupation.

Her parents Georges and Thérèse had been members of the French Resistance, gleaning information from the Germans who used the cafe and passing it on to British intelligence.

Shortly after liberation her father dug up champagne he had hidden in his garden, offering it to the Allied troops.

Arlette Gondree has welcomed members of the royal family as well as politicians to the cafe's celebrations

Ever since, a toast to D-Day veterans has been held at the precise moment of 23:16 German time, that British troops entered the cafe on 5 June.

This year's ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, had been "very special," she said.

"My great sadness was there were not as many veterans of the time," she added.

"But many young British soldiers had attended."

Arlette and family including older sister Georgette were liberated by British troops

Madame Arlette said she had received many letters congratulating her on the award, including one "very moving" one from the French defence minister Sebastien Lecornu, who had proposed her decoration.

In it, he said she was being "recognised for the great quality to perpetrate the history of this emblematic cafe".

"I send you all my very best congratulations," he concluded.

She said it was "very moving" to receive the award in the 80th anniversary year.

"And I also feel that it is to be shared with my parents who instigated it," she said.

"I feel very honoured and moved by such an award marking my years of dedication to perpetrate the history we share".