Row over Union flag snub by French village

A town in Normandy has appeared to drop the British flag from bunting commemorating D-Day.

Carentan is one of a number of communities on both sides of the Channel preparing to remember the many thousands of soldiers involved in the largest amphibious invasion in history, launched on June 6 1944.

But with the 80th anniversary just weeks away, eagle-eyed visitors have spotted that the Union Flag appears to be absent from the bunting hanging in the town, even though it can be seen in the photos from the past two years.

Flags of the US, Canada and the EU are still flying in the bunting.

The apparent exclusion has angered many Britons.

Neil Geddes, a 59-year-old engineer from Fleetwood, Lancashire, told The Sun: “It’s wrong, considering our involvement in France’s evacuation and liberation.”

Pointing to the flags of Switzerland, Sweden and Ireland, he said: “They have no right to flags here when it was us who battled the Nazis.”

Gordon Bridge, 83, said: “For the brave contribution our country gave to defeating evil we should never be forgotten.”

But an employee of the town’s tourism board blamed recent political developments.

Carole Zarb, 54 said: “The town hall is behind this. We think it is because of Brexit. We are not behind their decision.”

Carentan was a vital location for the Allied forces, providing the only crossing point between two of the five assault beaches, codenamed Utah and Omaha.

After six days, on June 12 1944, German forces were forced to withdraw from the town and it remained under Allied control until the end of the war.

A Carentan town hall spokeswoman told The Sun that both the bunting’s origins and the reason for Britain’s exclusion were unknown.