The Dronfield Hall Barn team was proud to welcome the French Vice Consul, Jean-Claude Lafontaine, Town Mayor, Liz Blanshard, and Dronfield’s World War Two heroes, who were presented with the Legion D’honneur last weekend.

In an event organised and hosted by Mike and Helen Firth of The Dronfield Eye, over 50 friends and family members of the recipients attended a moving ceremony in the barn’s Medieval Gallery. Mike gave details of the role the D-Day veterans played on 6th June 1944, while Liz paid tribute by saying how grateful the residents of Dronfield are to them.

French Consul 1

The two veterans are Ernest ‘Ted’ Ellerton and James ‘Jim’ Manning, both of the Holmesdale estate, and are pictured below along with Mr Lafontaine. The award, which was inaugurated by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, is the highest decoration France can bestow.

Veterans

Image taken from Dronfield Eye’s Facebook page.