Legacy of Liberation: The Cemeteries & Memorials of the Normandy Campaign

Discover the final resting places of the Commonwealth’s fallen of the Normandy Campaign with Commonwealth War Graves.

Normandy Campaign war cemeteries & memorials

The Normandy Campaign

Image: Universal carriers of the Rifle Brigade move along a Normandy lane, circa August 1944 (© IWM (B 8584))

The cemeteries and memorials of Normandy tell the story of one of the bloodiest campaigns fought by the Western Allies in the Second World War.

With a legacy of liberation written in stone, these sites commemorate the British, Canadian and servicemen of other nationalities who lost their lives in the Battle for Normandy.

D-Day is the most famous Normandy event and one of the most important campaigns of the entire Second World War.

But, despite its importance, the Normandy Landings were only the beginning of a tough, two-month campaign to break the Wehrmacht in France.

What began on the beaches of Normandy ended at Falaise some two months later. After tough battles like Operation Epsom, Goodwood and Cobra, and fighting in difficult terrain, the Allies emerged victorious.

By 30 August 1944, the Allies had reached the Seine River, liberated Paris, and effectively encircled and destroyed the German forces in Normandy.

The victory was a major one, but it was not without cost.

Around 11,000 British and 5,000 Canadian servicemen were killed in the Battle of Normandy. A further 67,000 were wounded or went missing across the campaigns. 

The Cemeteries & Memorials of the Battle of Normandy

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission war memorials and cemeteries dotted across Normandy are permanent reminders of the cost of Operation Overlord.

Situated on the region’s former Second World War battlefields, these sites are places of peace and quiet reflection, honouring those who fought and died here over eight decades ago. 

Here, we explore some of the cemeteries and memorials that tell the story of Normandy after D-Day and the bloody fight to liberate France from its fascist oppressors.

Jerusalem War Cemetery

By the evening of June 6 1944, the Allies had taken all five of their Normandy landing beaches and had established a thin but well-defended beachhead. The challenge was now the breakout from the beaches.

Coming up from Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches, the Allies began a brutal struggle against fierce German resistance. The Wehrmacht was determined to throw everything it had at the advancing Allies to throw them back into the sea.

16,000 Commonwealth troops were killed, wounded, or went missing in the Normandy Campaign’s first two weeks.

By 10 June, the British had reached the tiny hamlet of Jerusalem near the village of Chouain. A bitter skirmish soon erupted in the area as a German armoured column attempted to smash through Allied lines on its way to recapture Bayeux.

Several British soldiers were buried in a field just outside Jerusalem and they were soon joined by more of their fallen comrades as the fighting went on.  

Jerusalem War Cemetery today preserves these graves. It’s Normandy's smallest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery, holding just 78 burials. P.D. Hepworth designed the cemetery.

Entering the cemetery through its small blue gate, you follow a path of paving stones laid delicately into the grass. The space is incredibly intimate at Jerusalem war cemetery, with just three rows of headstones and a Cross of Sacrifice.

Many visitors can’t help but read every name on every headstone.

Reverend Gerald Nesbitt and Reverend Cecil Hawksworth

Image: The headstones of Reverends Nesbitt and Hawksworth 

Reverand Gerald Nesbitt was Chaplain of the 8th Durham Light Infantry. He was killed by German artillery fire on 5 July 1944. Two days later, he was laid to rest alongside several other comrades in the field which would become Jerusalem War Cemetery.

Gerald is buried next to another man of the cloth. His fellow Chaplain Reverend Cecil Hawksworth, had to come to offer prayers at the burial ceremony. A burst of German shell fire disrupted the ceremony, and Cecil was struck and killed.

Today, the two chaplains lie next to each other in Jerusalem War Cemetery.

Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery

Tilly-sur-Seulles was the sight of fierce fighting in the breakout from the beaches. The area around the village was also subject to continued combat until mid-July 1944 as the Allies consolidated their gains.

The British Army buried the first casualties in the field that would become Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery. Hundreds of casualties were brought in from the surrounding area were brought here after the war.

Today, close to 1,000 servicemen lie in Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery. Amongst their number lie many men of the 7th Armoured Division, 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division, and 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division.

Captain Keith Douglas 

Image: Captain Keith Douglas

Among the war graves at Tilly-sur-Seulles lies Captain Keith Douglas.

Keith is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Second World War. His memoir “From Alamein to Zem-Zem” ranks as amongst the top pieces of literature of the war, full of Keith’s experiences fighting with 8th Army in North Africa.

Keith was born in 1920 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. He studied at Merton College where a love of writing and poetry blossomed. 

At the outbreak of war, Keith volunteered by his talent was sadly cut short when he was killed on reconnaissance on 9 June 1944, aged 24.

St. Manvieu War Cemetery

The historic Normandy city of Caen, an incredibly important transport hub and major population centre, was one of the key objectives of D-Day and the later Normandy Campaign.

Finding it a somewhat ambitious target, the British and Canadians failed to capture Caen on D-Day. The Wehrmacht, realising Caen was the key to Normandy, heavily fortified the city and surrounding areas to stop any Allied attack.

Operation Epsom was the first Commonwealth attack on Caen itself. 

The operation is a controversial one. It failed in its chief objective of capturing Caen, but the German forces lost in the battle, particularly the SS Panzer divisions, were so damaged by Epsom that their ability to launch decisive offensives was completely eradicated.

The village of St. Manvieu was caught up in the carnage at Caen. Fighting was fierce there, and in late 1944 a small cemetery was set up just outside.

The scale of the St. Manvieu only becomes apparent as you approach via the long verdant tree-lined entryway. Only when you get closer, do you realise some 2,000 war graves lie in St. Manvieu War Cemetery.

Major Robert Bickersteth

Image: Major Robert Bickersteth

Operation Epsom was a baptism of fire of the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division. 

Soldiers of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the Black Watch, the Cameronians, the Gordon Highlanders, the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and the Seaforth Highlander were well represented in the Division.

They are well represented at St. Manvieu War Cemetery too.

Despite being attached to storied and illustrious Scottish regiments, many of the recruits going into battle for Operation Epsom were doing so for the first time.

The Division suffered heavy losses, including some 300 Scots soldiers killed and 2,700 wounded or missing.

Lying amid the Scottish war graves at St. Manvieu is Major Robert Bickersteth.

Robert served with the 7th Seaforth Highlanders. He was killed in action on 26 June 1944. His battalion had only arrived in France on 16 June, and this was their first battle of the Second World War. He was 36 years old.

Cambes-En-Plaine War Cemetery

Cambes-En-Plaine was taken three days after D-Day, but the graves here came later once the fighting around Caen intensified.

Over 160 men of the South Staffordshire, North Staffordshire, Royal Norfolk and Lancashire Fusiliers were buried in an area near the village on 8 July 1944.

In 1945, the graves were moved into the park of a local chateau, effectively creating Cambes-En-Plaine War Cemetery.

224 Commonwealth War Graves can be found in Cambes-En-Plaine War Cemetery. Many of the headstones hear share the same date and unit badges, creating a sense of comradeship, even in death.

Corporal Edward Clare

Image: Headshot of Corporal Edward Clare

Edward Clare, born in Hedensford, Staffordshire, was just 23 years old when he was killed in the battle for Caen.

Edward had been serving with the 7th Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment. The 7th endured horrendous casualties in the Caen sector, losing 40 dead and many more wounded. 

Nearly all of the 7th South Staffs who fell on 8 July 1944 are buried in Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery. Edward Clare is one of them.

At the time of his death, Edward was married to his wife Jessie who was serving with the Navy, Army and Air Forces Institute (NAAFI). 
Jessie chose the words for her husband’s headstone:

“Whoever reads your name salutes a mighty company. Always remembered by your darling wife Jessie”

Banneville-La-Campagne War Cemetery

As the Normandy Campaign wound on, more and more German forces were being thrown into the battle as the Allies relentlessly advanced.

Casualties on both sides were beginning to mount.

The terrain of Normandy, whether that was the winding hedgerows, sunken roads, and thick vegetation of the bocage, its quaint towns and villages, or the open “tank country” north of Caen, essentially favoured defence.

Despite the overwhelming advantage in men and materiel, the Allies still found it tough going.

The 2,170 burials at Banneville-Le-Campagne War Cemetery are testament to the intensity of the Normandy Campaign. 

The war graves at Banneville date from the period between the second week of July 1944, i.e., the capture of Caen, to the last week of August when the Allies sealed victory in Normandy.

Among the war dead commemorated at Banneville-La-Campagne are five Polish soldiers. More than 300 Polish soldiers lost their lives in the Normandy Campaign, and many are commemorated alongside their Commonwealth comrades by CWGC.

Lieutenant Rex Whistler

Image: Artist and tanker Rex Whistler

At Banneville lie casualties of Operation Goodwood.

Goodwood saw unprecedented numbers of Commonwealth tanks clash with German armour around Caen. It has become infamous as over 400 Allied fighting vehicles were disabled by the German opposition during the operation.

Ultimately, over half of the lost Allied tanks and fighting vehicles would be back on the frontlines in 24 hours, showcasing the manpower and equipment advantage held by the Allies in Normandy.

In command of a British Cromwell tank at Goodwood was Lieutenant Rex Whistler.

Rex was one of the most accomplished artists of his generation. Born in London in 1905, his most famous work is the somewhat controversial mural painted on the wall of the Rex Whistler Restaurant in the Tate Britain gallery, London.

Rex was 35 when war broke out, but he still volunteered to serve, joining the Welsh Guards. After training in England, Rex and his unit were posted to France, joining the Battle for Normandy.

In Normandy, Rex volunteered as the regimental burial officer. He carried a stack of wooden crosses on the back of his tank, ready to add temporary grave markers to fallen guardsmen. 

Never losing his artist’s bent, Rex also hung a bucket for his paintbrushes off the side of his tank, in case time for a spot of painting appeared.

Rex was killed on 18 July 1944, after leaving his tank to go to the aid of a wounded soldier. He was moved to Bannveille-La-Campaign War Cemetery in August 1945.

His mother, Helen, wrote to the Commission in 1946 and requested the inscription for his headstone:

“They shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day, when I make up my jewels”.

Bretteville-Sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery

Almost every headstone in Bretteville-Sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery bears the Canadian Maple Leaf.

Canada’s Normandy experience had been bloody. The fighting to break through at Caen had cost them dearly. Ultimately, their sacrifice was not in vain.

Despite failing to achieve a decisive victory with Operation Goodwood, the efforts of the Canadian and British units at Caen allowed the Americans to make a major breakthrough in the West.

This was Operation Cobra, which saw American forces punch through the depleted Germans in their way.

Bretteville-Sur-Laize itself was captured by the Canadians towards the end of the Normandy campaign in August 1944. 

In 1945, Canadian casualties were brought into Bretteville-Sur-Laize. Now, almost 3,000 Second World War burials, the majority Canadian, lie within the war cemetery here.

Warrant Officer Class II Harold Burr

Image: Warrant Officer Class II Harold Burr and his wife, Mary

Warrant Officer Class II Harold Burr served with the 10th Armoured Regiment (Fort Garry Horse). 

Born in December 1913 in Owen Sound, Ontario, he worked as a salesman before enlisting in June 1940.

After training in Canada and England, Harold arrived in Normandy on 12 July 1944, and his unit was involved in some of the most ferocious fighting around Caen. 

He was killed in action on 8 August, and his widow chose the words inscribed on his headstone: 

“Beloved husband of Mary Edna Burr”

Closing the Falaise Gap

Image: British tanks and vehicles on their way to Falaise towards the end of the Normandy Campaign (© IWM (B 9233))

Following Operation Goodwood and the success of Operation Cobra, the Wehrmacht was on the retreat in Normandy.

The British and Canadians pushed south, while the Americans advanced to the southeast.

On 7 August, a German counteroffensive, Operation Luttich, was launched, aimed at splitting the Allied advance. While some holes were punched into the American lines, heavy Allied aerial bombing stopped the German advance over six days.

The Germans had essentially buried themselves in a small pocket in an area of Normandy called Falaise. This was the famous Falaise Gap or Falaise Pocket.

With Luttich hitting American lines, British General Sir Bernard Montgomery ordered the Canadians and British forces under his command to push southeast around Falaise towards Trun and Chambois in the Dives Valley.

On the gap’s other flank, the Americans headed for Argentan. With this pincer movement, the Allies would outflank the German Army Group B and encircle it.

The “hole” in the top of the Falaise Gap was “plugged” by the 1st Polish Armoured Division. 1,500 Poles held the line for two days against 100,000 fleeing Germans, allowing the Commonwealth and American forces to complete their encirclement.

On 21 August, the Falaise Pocket was sealed. Around 60,000 German soldiers were trapped inside, 50,000 of which were taken prisoner.

Aftermath of the Battle of Normandy

Image: Wrecked German tanks and vehicles keenly show the carnage wrought in the Falaise Pocket (© IWM (B 9583)

On 25 August, the German garrison occupying Paris surrendered. Flanked by thousands of jubilant French civilians waving tricolours, the victorious Allied forces marched into the French capital some 4 years after it fell into Nazi hands.

While the mood in the capital was upbeat, back in Normandy, the citizens and soldiers were counting the cost of the monumental battle.

An estimated 35,000 Normans had been killed by Allied bombing before D-Day or during the fighting.

120,000 buildings, some dating back to before William the Conqueror, had been destroyed. A further 250,000 were considered uninhabitable. Hundreds of thousands of French civilians were homeless.

Entire roads and villages were considered no-go zones for years after the guns fell silent in Normandy. Bloated animal and human corpses filled county lanes. To this day, the scars of war are visible across Normandy.

Militarily, the price of victory had been high. The Allies suffered over 200,000 casualties killed, wounded or captured, during the Battle for Normandy. 

For the Germans, it was a crushing defeat. Over 200,000 German soldiers are still missing from the battle, not including those killed, wounded, or captured in Operation Overlord.

Visit Commonwealth War Graves’ Normandy Cemeteries & Memorials

The cemeteries and memorials in Normandy are permanent reminders of the cost of liberation paid by the Allies in the Second World War.

Uniquely, many are situated close to or on the former battlefields of the Normandy Campaign.

You can visit the men who fought and fell in this most momentous battle at the place where they eternally lie.

Use our Find Cemeteries and Memorial tool to discover the Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites in Normandy and experience their legacy of liberation in person.