British Normandy Memorial

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British Normandy Memorial
United Kingdom
For the British dead of the Normandy landings
Location
Ver-sur-Mer, Calvados, Normandy, France
Designed by
Commemorated22,442

The British Normandy Memorial is a war memorial near the village of Ver-sur-Mer in Normandy, France. It was unveiled on 6 June 2021, the 77th anniversary of D-Day, and it is dedicated to soldiers who died under British command during the Normandy landings.[a]

The memorial records the names of 22,442 people from more than 30 countries under British command who were killed in Normandy from 6 June to 31 August 1944 .[1]

Background[]

The Normandy landings began just after midnight on 6 June 1944, with a glider assault to capture the Caen canal and Orne river bridges.[2]

US forces began landings on Utah and Omaha Beaches at about 06:30. About an hour later, due do different tide conditions along the coast, British and Canadian forces landed on Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches, from Port-en-Bessin in the west to Ouistreham in the east. Val-sur-Mer lies at the eastern end of King Sector of Gold Beach, near its border with the west edge of Juno Beach, on the road inland from the landing site around La Rivière to Crépon.

  • Map of the invasion area: Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches are in the eastern half of the landing area, with Ver-sur-Mer marked at junction of Gold Beach and Juno Beach, near the centre of the map

  • Aerial photo of the junction of King Red and King Green beaches, Gold assault area, on 6 June 1944. The Mont Fleury battery (WN 35a) and an anti-tank ditch (a long chevron) are visible in front of the village of Ver-sur-Mer

  • Map shows the British and Canadian beaches, and the positions at the close of D-Day

  • Column of British vehicles moving inland from King Sector, Gold Beach, on 7 June 1944

Establishment[]

In July 2015, George Batts, a veteran of the Normandy landings, met with BBC journalist Nicholas Witchell. Batts pointed out that the United Kingdom was the only major Allied nation without a dedicated memorial in Normandy. The Normandy Memorial Trust was set up after their meeting.[3]

Construction of the memorial cost 30,000,000 pounds sterling, of which £20,000,000 was funded by the British government using proceeds from fines levied after the Libor scandal,[4] and £10,000,000 by private donations.[1][3]

About 18 hectares of land for the memorial was acquired on a hill to the west of Val-sur-Mer overlooking Gold Beach, and permission for the memorial sought from French authorities in 2017 and 2018. The site was formally inaugurated by British Prime Minister Theresa May and the French President Emmanuel Macron on 6 June 2019, the 75th anniversary of D-Day, after the installation of David Williams-Ellis's D-Day Sculpture.

Construction was performed from 2019 to 2020 by the French company Eiffage-Route.[5] The stonework was made by the stonemasons at their works in Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland, using 4,000 tons of French limestone from Massangis.

Design and symbolism[]

The memorial was designed by British architect , who previously designed the British Armed Forces Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and also the RAF Bomber Command Memorial in London.[1] Long crossing paths of the memorial create a plan that resembles the Union Flag.

The centrepiece of the memorial is a bronze sculpture by David Williams-Ellis, with larger than life size statues of three soldiers coming ashore during the landings.[6][7]

The names of 1,746 people killed on D-Day, 6 June 1944, are inscribed on the D-Day Wall of the central memorial court, constructed around Williams-Ellis's sculpture. The dead on succeeding days are inscribed on 160 white columns of the cloister court in chronological order of death clockwise around the Memorial Court, up to 31 August (shortly after the closure of the Falaise Gap on 21 August and the liberation of Paris on 25 August, and just before the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force moved from London to Versailles and Dwight D. Eisenhower took direct command of Allied forces in Western Europe. The names are arranged on each day by service branch, including RAF personnel killed on supporting missions, and special forces and agents operating behind German lines, including members of the SAS and SOE.[8] The roll of honour was compiled by professional historians, Jane Furlong and .

The memorial lies parallel to the coast, about 700 m (2,300 ft) inland from Gold Beach. The site includes a memorial dedicated to the 20,000 French civilians killed during the war in Normandy.

In a field adjacent to the memorial are the remains of the Mont Fleury German battery of 122 mm (4.8 in) coastal guns that remained uncompleted on D-Day, with only one captured Soviet 122 mm gun M1931 (A-19) gun installed but not yet operational. The village of Ver-sur-Mer has a French war memorial, separate memorials to the Royal Artillery regiments of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and to the 2nd battalion of the Hertfordshire Regiment, and a preserved Sexton self-propelled 25-pounder gun.

Reception[]

Some local residents expressed concern over an increase in tourism and environmental degradation to the area.[9]

See also[]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Also known as D-Day or Operation Neptune.

Citations[]

  1. ^ a b c O'Connor, Mary (6 June 2021). "British Normandy Memorial unveiled in France to honour D-Day and Normandy fallen". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  2. ^ Dear, I. C. B.; Foot, M. R. D. (2014). "Overlord". The Oxford Companion to World War II. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780198604464.001.0001. ISBN 9780191727603. Archived from the original on 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  3. ^ a b "Making of the Memorial". British Normandy Memorial. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  4. ^ £20 million for D-Day landings memorial, gov.uk, 5 March 2017
  5. ^ British Normandy Memorial : inauguration le 6 juin, eiffageroute.com, 4 June 2021
  6. ^ Willsher, Kim (6 June 2021). "Normandy marks D-day anniversary with new memorial". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  7. ^ D-Day Memorial, dwe.com
  8. ^ "Long-awaited British memorial opens in Normandy to remember D-Day fallen". Radio France Internationale. 6 June 2021. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  9. ^ Bremner, Charles (19 February 2019). "La résistance fights D-Day memoria". The Times. Paris, France. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.

External links[]

Coordinates: 49°20′41.91″N 0°32′9.06″W / 49.3449750°N 0.5358500°W / 49.3449750; -0.5358500

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