Greenock Telegraph

FRENCH CONNECTION

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GREENOCK’S bond with France was establishe­d when the Free French Navy was based here during the Second World War.

A lasting reminder of the connection is the Free French Memorial on Lyle Road.

More than 300 people, including officers and men of the French Navy and the Royal Navy, the Provosts of Greenock, Gourock and Port Glasgow, and other distinguis­hed guests, attended a lunch in the Town Hall after the memorial was rededicate­d in July, 1971.

Addressing the French guests, Greenock Provost James Boyd said: “I hope I convey to you, with all the sincerity of my command, the desire of the people of Greenock that you should feel you are at home and among friends – ‘Amang your ain folk’.

“For us the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland is not simply a matter of ancient history, although it was formalised almost 700 years ago.

“We have just been paying tribute to Frenchmen who, during the last war, were no longer able to carry on the war from their own country, and came here and fought alongside us. In the Battle of the Atlantic many of them were lost on a trackless ocean and gave their lives for a common cause.

“We are all in their debt.

“It was in appreciati­on of that debt and, encouraged by the friendship­s made while the Free French naval base was here, that this community adopted its twin towns in Normandy (Veullettes and Cany).

“Having first given them aid in the early period after liberation, we went on to a continuing happy relationsh­ip of annual exchange visits.

“This is a memorial to Frenchmen, erected by Frenchmen, and entrusted by them to the safe keeping of the Corporatio­n of Greenock.”

Replying to Provost Boyd, Admiral C E La Haye spoke of the days when France was overwhelme­d by Nazi troops and the Free French forces were formed under General de Gaulle.

He said: “Your country gave full support to General de Gaulle, who, although an Army man, had first in his mind the idea of forming a Free French Navy.

“The French forces served with the British Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic, and it is the men who died in this battle for freedom whom we remember today.”

Admiral La Haye later laid a wreath at the War Memorial in the Wellpark.

Like the Free French Memorial on Lyle Road, the wreath was in the form of a Cross of Lorraine.

 ?? Picture: Ann Brown ??
Picture: Ann Brown

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