Ellie Chowns MP tells the Commons about how her grandfather was saved by the French Resistance at the 80th anniversary VE Day debate
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00:00It's an honour to speak in this debate, commemorating VE Day, and I know it's of great significance to many of my constituency of North Herefordshire,
00:06where we have a particularly significant proportion of the population who are veterans or from military families.
00:12The Royal British Legion has encouraged us to ensure that the stories of veterans are at the centre of our commemoration events this week,
00:20and so I would like to share with the House the story of my grandfather, James Patterson.
00:25He was a navigator serving on a Stirling bomber, and on 16 August 1943, his plane was shot down in south-east France.
00:35Only two of the crew of seven survived. My grandfather was one of them.
00:40He was rescued by the resistance in the area of Amberia, and he was saved by three families who hid him at great personal risk.
00:49He hid him in the town, hid him in the forests in the hills nearby, and eventually, four months later, he was smuggled out over the Pyrenees to safety.
01:00Without the bravery of those families, my mother would never have been born. I would not be here today.
01:06I want to pay a special tribute to Marius and Jeanne Lapierre, who hid him in their bakery.
01:14In 2014, my father's researches reconnected my family with the Lapierres, and we've since remained in contact.
01:22I was honoured to visit last year Monique Lapierre, who sadly since has died, who was one of the daughters of the family,
01:30and after whom my aunt is named.
01:33As we remember this week the bravery of all those, like my grandfather, who fought in the armed forces for freedom in Europe.
01:42Let us also remember the bravery, often unsung, of those who fought, who resisted in so many different ways,
01:51like the Lapierres, at great personal risk to themselves and indeed their children, to save the lives of strangers.
01:59Let us all hope that we would do the same.
02:03And as we challenge the forces of the far right, as we recognise and remember the resistance of those 80 years ago
02:12who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend Europe against Nazism,
02:18let the memory of all those who showed such bravery never be forgotten.