EXCLUSIVEVeterans' groups slam 'immersive' Normandy D-Day 'theme park' experience for 'glorifying' invasion which claimed the lives of 4,400 Allied troops - after officials give £85m project the green light
British and French veterans' groups have told MailOnline of their outrage at a planned £85 million Normandy 'immersive experience' which they say glorifies the D-Day landings after French officials gave the green light.
Opponents of the Normandy Memory project, which aims to give future visitors a realistic insight into some of World War II's bloodiest beach battles, branded it a 'Disney-esque theme park' that is 'disrespectful' to veterans.
But organisers insist plans for the £24-a-ticket attraction are centred on commemoration and that the project will provide visitors with a unique experience based on rigorous historic research.
Despite fierce opposition meaning the project has twice been rebranded - and relocated - organisers have now secured land to begin development on a former industrial site in Colombelles, a small region just outside the city of Caen.
Frank Churchill, whose father Patrick Churchill was among the first wave of Allied troops to land in Normandy on D-Day, said his father would have been 'aghast' at the idea. It is estimated that 4,400 Allied troops died in the D-Day operation.
Frank Churchill (right) is leading opposition to 'Normandy Memory' in the UK on behalf of his father, Patrick Churchill, who participated in the D-Day landings
Patrick Churchill, who was 20 at the time of the D-Day landings, would have been 'aghast' at the plans, his son says
An Allied regiment, thought to be E Company, 16th regiment, land on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944
Patrick, a Royal Marines Commando, was a radio signaller who lost half of his unit in the storming of the beaches and operation afterwards.
He was just 20 when he landed on Sword Beach - close to the location of the proposed project - with his unit, which was responsible for securing strategic bridges and roads during the early hours of the Allied operation.
He was awarded the Legion D'Honneur on the 60th anniversary of D-Day by President Chirac in 2004.
He was also recognised with the Croix De Geurre for holding his post for 24 hours under heavy fire after his section became isolated from the main commando force during the battle of Walcheren in November 1944. This action was known as the the 'battle of Hellfire Corner.' Patrick died in 2018.
Mr Churchill has been fighting the plans since the concept was first launched in 2020.
He told MailOnline: 'The feeling among veterans' families is that to turn the memory of D-Day into nothing more than a theme-park entertainment is tastelessly inappropriate, disrespectful and cheapens the sacrifice of those who died to liberate France.
'If the younger generation wish to learn about what took place in Normandy, they need only to visit the numerous excellent museums already in existence - not to mention the hundreds of graveyards and memorials all over Normandy and beyond.'
The Normandy Memory project moved a step closer to approval thanks to French officials in Caen in December after initial plans to develop land close to the historic town of Carentan were shelved due to the strength of local opposition.
Patrick Churchill (pictured third from left, with radio) in Walcheren with his commando unit in November 1944
Mr Churchill was awarded the Legion D'Honneur on the 60th anniversary of D-Day by President Chirac in 2004
But a decision at a meeting of local officials on December 7 granted permission for the new site to be sold to developers.
They plan to turn it into a venue where visitors can experience a realistic, immersive-style demonstration of how the D-Day landings unfolded, complete with a moving stage, scenery, sound and lighting effects and extras.
According to local media reports, the project was estimated to require some £77 million of investment, and it had been hoped to open in time for 2025 - although this appears increasingly unlikely.
The project is so controversial that it is now in its third reinvention: originally titled D-Day Land, then Hommages aux Heroes, Normandy Memory is the brainchild of French film producer Stéphane Gateau.
The plans previously outraged French locals and veterans' organisations around the world, with an online petition in France receiving more than 27,000 signatures.
Mr Churchill has recently begun a new petition in the UK, which has so far amassed almost 1,000 signatures.
Leading the opposition in France is Dominique Kieffer, the daughter of Capt. Philippe Kieffer, who commanded the 177 Free French Commandos. The unit landed on D-Day as part of Lord Lovat’s 4 Commando, 1st Special Service Brigade.
American assault troops move onto a beachhead code-named Omaha Beach, on the northern coast of France on June 6, 1944, during the Allied invasion of the Normandy
It is estimated that 4,400 Allied troops died during the D-Day operation
She wrote in a letter to Le Monde newspaper: 'We denounced the very principle of the project from the start.
'What we know about it now further strengthens our position: a 45-minute show, with extras, a thousand spectators, several times a day […] everything indicates a business machine for tour operators.
'We give no credit to the discourse that the leaders of this project and the elected officials who support it can deliver on the alleged educational and immersive virtues of this show.'
She was supported in her campaign by the last surviving members of the 'Kieffer' commando unit, Hubert Faure and Léon Gautier.
A statement from the group read: 'In denouncing this project, Hubert Faure and Léon Gautier, the last members of the Kieffer commando, did not allow themselves to be misled by a misleading discourse on heroism and the commemoration of history.
'They have always ensured that modesty, sobriety and humility in the story they were able to tell of their participation in the fighting has prevailed.'
Jean Loïc Bagot, son of D-Day veteran André Bagot, told MailOnline the project is of particular offense due to the new site being less than four miles from Pegasus Bridge, close to Sword Beach.
On June 6 1944, the No. 4 commando unit landed at Sword Beach to fight against Nazi forces.
Organisers previously told French media: 'Our project is a highly innovative one, designed to bring this history to as many people as possible. But above all we want to listen, to meet with the last survivors and employ historical rigour while surrounding ourselves with experts.'