Bayeux Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery
The Bayeux War Cemetery is the largest Second World War cemetery of Commonwealth soldiers in France, located in Bayeux, Normandy. The cemetery contains 4,648 burials, mostly of the Invasion of Normandy. Opposite this cemetery stands the Bayeux Memorial which commemorates more than 1,800 casualties of the Commonwealth forces who died in Normandy and have no known grave.
The cemetery grounds were assigned to the United Kingdom in perpetuity by France in recognition of the sacrifices made by the British Empire in the defense and liberation of France during the war. In addition to the Commonwealth burials, there are 466 graves of German soldiers.
The cemetery contains the Cross of Sacrifice or War Cross, designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).
Queen Elizabeth II and President of France Jacques Chirac attended ceremonies at the cemetery on June 6, 2004, marking the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
Read more about Bayeux Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery: History, Notable Graves, The Bayeux Memorial, Location, In Culture, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words commonwealth, war, graves, commission and/or cemetery:
“Honorable Senators: My sincerest thanks I offer you. Conserve the firm foundations of our institutions. Do your work with the spirit of a soldier in the public service. Be loyal to the Commonwealth and to yourselves and be brief; above all be brief.”
—Calvin Coolidge (18721933)
“How many people in the United States do you think will be willing to go to war to free Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania?”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (18821945)
“Blows the wind to-day, and the sun and the rain are flying,
Blows the wind on the moors to-day and now,
Where about the graves of the martyrs the whaups are crying,
My heart remembers how!”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (18501894)
“Children cannot eat rhetoric and they cannot be sheltered by commissions. I dont want to see another commission that studies the needs of kids. We need to help them.”
—Marian Wright Edelman (20th century)
“The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty in our century is extended to include yet another vast cemetery, that of the unborn.”
—John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla)