France honours veterans with its highest award
This medal recognises your courage and unfaltering commitment at a time of great peril. French Ambassador Florence Jeanblanc-Risler
A 97-year-old is one of several Kiwi veterans honoured last night by the French for the part they played in World War II.
Harold Beven was a sailor in the Royal Navy when he crossed the English Channel 13 times to help in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.
He is among veterans who received medals at a special ceremony at the Auckland Art Gallery nearly 70 years after their heroic efforts.
Beven, Frank Sanft and John Macvicar received the Legion of Honour, France’s highest order of merit.
The Legion d’honneur was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 to reward both military and civilian services to the nation.
Macvicar served on HMS Scylla, the flagship for the D-Day landing in 1944, and Sanft, a crew member of HMS Holdfast, was involved in covering the beachheads of Normandy and the landing at Urville-Nacqueville.
“For your bravery and your outstanding accomplishments during the Second World War, the French Republic is proud to honour you with its most distinguished recognition,” French Ambassador Florence JeanblancRisler said.
“This medal recognises your courage and unfaltering commitment at a time of great peril,” Jeanblanc-Risler told the veterans.
The Bastille Day ceremony also honoured Whale Rider writer Witi Ihimaera with the Order of Arts and Letters, an award set up to recognise significant contributions to the development of arts, music and literature.
The honour, primarily conferred on French nationals, is also awarded each year to a group of international personalities who have contributed significantly to French culture or whose accomplishments have received international recognition.
In New Zealand, writer Dame Fiona Kidman, filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson and visual artist Fiona Pardington have been among the past recipients.
Jeanblanc-Risler called Ihimaera a “trailblazer in Maori literature and screenwriting”.
“Journalist, diplomat, producer, editor, academic — you’ve had many lives, but storytelling has always been at the core of what you do. Your works and reflections have made a key contribution to indigenous worldviews, enabling Maori culture, customs and legacy.”