The Great Vigil - Lighting their Legacy
Starting in Canada, our flame has travelled across the UK, from some of our most well-known cemeteries and memorials, to key sites across the country, this final leg sees the living flame of commemoration light every CWGC grave in Normandy.
Join us as we gathered at the cemeteries listed below for our Great Vigil to remember those who fell on D-Day and in the battle of Normandy.
Join us in Lighting their Legacy.
1. BENY-SUR-MER CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY
Wednesday 5 June - 22:30
More than 2000 Canadians are buried in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. Found near the village of Reviers, just two miles from the Normandy coastline.
Most of the men buried here were killed during the landings at Juno beach, or in the thrust towards Caen, and the vital air and rail links that were important objectives for the opening days of the battle.
Get visiting information for Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery
2. Ryes war cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 21:00
A couple of miles inland from Gold Beach lies Ryes War Cemetery in the village of Bazenville. The first burials here began just two days after the invasion, as casualties were moved off the beaches at Arromanches.
Buried here are more than 500 British troops, 21 Canadians, 1 Australian and 1 Polish war dead. Buried alongside them are nearly 300 German casualties, cared for by the CWGC.
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3. La Delivrande war cemetery
Wednesday 5 June - 22:00
La Delivrande War Cemetery lies just over miles inland from Sword beach, one of the two D-Day landing zones that fell under British Command.
Almost all of those who died here did so in June, July and August 1944, either on Sword beach for during the initial fighting as the Allied troops moved off the beachheads and towards Caen. The vast majority of those commemorated here are British forces, although there are a small number of Canadian, Australian and Polish war graves, along with nearly 150 German war graves of the Second World War.
Get visiting information for La Delivrande War Cemetery
4. Hermanville War cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 21:00
Less than a mile inland from Sword Beach lies Hermanville War Cemetery, in the village of Hermanville-sur-mer.
The cemetery contains a little over 1000 burials, all from 1944, with the majority British soldiers killed in the opening days of June. 103 of the burials here remain unidentified.
Get visiting information for Hermanville War Cemetery
5. Cambes-en-Plaine war cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 21:00
Just over 224 British WW2 casualties are buried at Cambes-en-Plaine War Cemetery to the north of Caen. The town was one of the key objectives of the opening days of the invasion, with British and Canadian forces, in particular, charged with seizing the vital transport links in and around the town.
Most of those commemorated here served with the North and South Staffordshire regiments, the Royal Norfolk Regiment, the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Royal Ulster Rifles.
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6. Secqueville-en-bessin war cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 21:30
Five miles to the north-west of Caen, lie 99 Commonwealth burials of World War Two alongside 18 German war dead.
All but two of these deaths occurred in July 1944 in the weeks following the D-Day landings. Allied forces, having forced their way off the beaches were making progress towards Caen, in the face of stiff German resistance.
Get visiting information for Secquqville-en-Bessin War Cemetery
7. Ranville war cemetery
Wednesday 5 June - 22:00
A key part of the Invasion of Normandy was the capture of Pegasus bridge. Capturing the bridge would allow troops off the beaches and allow them to threaten Caen. To ensure that the defenders couldn’t demolish the bridge at the first sign of invasion, troops were landed by parachute and glider in the early hours of 6 June with the aim of capturing and holding the bridge.
The nearby village of Ranville was one of the earliest captured by the Allies during the invasion and is today home to one of our largest cemeteries in Normandy. More than 2500 war dead are commemorated here.
Get visiting information for Ranville
8. Brouay war cemetery
Saturday 8 June - 10:00
Adjacent to the church in the village of Brouay, Brouay War Cemetery contains 370 burials of the Second World War.
Aside from two Canadian burials, the men here are all from regiments of the British Army who were killed in the thrust toward Caen by the Allied forces. This small cemetery, in a tiny village in French countryside is best exemplified by the personal inscription on the headstone of one of the men buried here, Corporal Harry Renshaw, Army Catering Corps: “Peace, perfect peace”.
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9. Jerusalem war Cemetery
Wednesday 5 June - 22:30
Buried in a small hamlet to the south of Caen is the youngest commonwealth casualty of the invasion of Normady. Private Jack Banks was just 16 when he was killed in July 1944 as part of a defensive action against a German counterattack towards Caen. Today, Jerusalem War Cemetery contains 48 burials of the Second World War including one unidentified burial and one Czech burial.
Get visiting information for Jerusalem War Cemetery
10. Saint-Manvieu war cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 21:00
Saint-Manvieu War Cemetery on the outskirts of Caen, just a stones throw from Carpiquet Airport – a key objective for Allied forces, and determinedly defended by the German army.
While there are burials in this cemetery as early as D-Day itself, the majority of the fallen here died between the end of June through to mid-August, demonstrating the ferocity of the fighting in this region throughout the summer of 1944.
Get visiting information from Saint-Manvieu War Cemetery
11. Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 22:00
The casualties buried at Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery were primarily killed in the latter stages of Operation Overlord, in July 1944. Many were involved in one of the largest battles of the sector, the Battle of the Falaise pocket, where the German 7th Army and Fifth Panzer Army were encircled and destroyed.
More than 2000 British servicemen are commemorated here, alongside a small number of Australian, Canadian, Polish and New Zealand casualties.
Get visiting information for Banneville-la-Campagne
12. Tilly-sur-seulles war cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 21:00
The village of Tilly-sur-Seulles was the scene of some intense fighting as the Allied troops tried to force their way off the beaches. While nearby Bayuex was captured on 7 June 1944, Tilly was only taken on 18 June – the day before the liberation of Caen. Despite this, the fighting around Tilly continued well into July – with a large number of casualties on both sides.
Today, nearly 1000 Commonwealth casualties are commemorated at Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery, alongside more than 200 German war dead.
Get visiting information for Tily-sur-seulles War Cemetery
13. Fontenay-le-pesnel war cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - TBC
Found to the West of Caen, more than 500 Commonwealth casualties of the Second World War are commemorated at this cemetery. Most of the men buried here are members of the South Staffordshire, East Lancashire, Royal Warwickshire Regiments, and the Durham Light Infantry. There are also 4 Canadian burials here, and 57 men of the German Army.
Get visiting information for Fontenay-le-Pesnel War Cemetery
14. Hottot-les-Bagues war cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 21:00
More than 1000 Second World War casualties are buried in Hottot-les-Bagues War Cemetery. Most were killed in June and July of 1944, following the capture of Bayeux and the push towards Caen. Many of these war dead were killed in sporadic fighting in the region and then moved to Hottot-les-Bagues.
One of the men buried here is Brigadier James Hargest, a New Zealand officer who had served in both the First and Second World Wars. Also a Member of New Zealand’s Parliament, Hargest served in both world wars before he was killed in Normandy by artillery fire, age 53.
Get visiting information for Hottot-les-Bagues War Cemetery
15. St Desir War cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 21:00
The CWGC cemetery at St Desir contains close to 600 WW2 burials, with around 450 who were killed in August 1944 in the fighting around the Falaise pocket towards the end of the Battle of Normandy.
Adjacent to the cemetery is the Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux German war cemetery, which contains 3,735 German burials of the Second World War. Begun by the British in August 1944, this cemetery is now under the care of our German sister organisation the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge.
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16. Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian war cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 21:00
Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery is one of the largest CWGC sites in the Calvados department. Located a few miles south of Caen, the cemetery contains close to 3000 World War Two casualties – the vast majority from Canadian regiments.
Caen was a vital objective in the days immediately following D-Day and with many of those commemorated here dying in early June. A larger proportion of the causalties here are from the large Battle of Normandy and the thrust south by Allied forces.
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17. Saint-Charles de Percy war cemetery
Tuesday 4 June - 22:00
The Saint-Charles de Percy war cemetery is one of the most southern of our Normandy cemeteries. More than 800 Second World War casualties are buried here, predominantly from Operation Bluecoat in August 1944.
Operation Bluecoat was an attack by British forces from the Caumont region towards Vire, with the added benefit of disrupting German forces in the area, preventing an organised counter offensive, by driving a wedge between the German 7th Army and Panzer Group West.
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Join us in the UK for Lighting their Legacy
Follow the light of liberation from the UK to Normandy to mark D-Day’s 80th anniversary. Events will take place at locations across the UK before crossing to Normandy for 6th June D-Day 80 anniversary.
Find an event near you