Statue Honors D-Day Liberator

Commemorating the 52nd anniversary of D-Day, French and English dignitaries unveiled a statue of British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery on Thursday.

This small town near the Normandy beaches where the British officer landed in 1944 changed its name from Colleville-sur-Orne in honor of Montgomery and the 3rd Infantry Division he commanded, which liberated the town.

Montgomery’s popularity grew further after he was sent to Egypt to command the British 8th Army and won the battle of Alamein, driving the Germans 2,000 miles across Africa to Tunisia. He died in 1976.

Commissioned by the Normandy Veterans’ Association and paid for by donations, the 6-1/2-foot bronze statue by sculptor Vivien Mallock portrays Montgomery standing upright in his general’s uniform, over which he wears his favorite flight jacket.

In a brief ceremony, Britain’s Prince Michael of Kent dedicated the statue before a crowd of French and British officials, schoolchildren and veterans.