The D day series. Honouring sacrifice; A Journey through the Graves of German Soldiers in Normandy's La Cambe".
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The German military cemetery at La Cambe is a stark contrast to the American Cemetery at Colleville and the British Cemetery at Bayeux. Both are nearby and all three are well worth a visit. It is much smaller than Colleville, being 16.5 acres compared to Colleville’s 172.5 but contains 21 222 soldiers whilst Colleville has 9380 servicemen. However, what stands out the most is that Colleville allocates one white cross per soldier, Bayeux has one quite large white/beige headstone per soldier, whereas, La Cambe has two bodies per stone. Furthermore, each stone is small, flat on the ground and is grey in colour.
Above; The American Military Cemetery, Colleville.
Below;the British Cemetery, Bayeux.
Below; a typical gravestone in German Cemetery at La Cambe.
At first, during the last year of the war, this cemetery was used for both American and German soldiers, with one field each. At the end of the war, the American soldiers were exhumed and reinterred in the US or in the American Military Cemetery at Colleville as mentioned above.
To enter the cemetery, visitors have to use a narrow passage that only allows them to go in singularly. The design here was to force people to focus on the place and the reason for their visit. It was designed by Robert Tischler who wanted people to enter without chatting and therefore, concentrate on the cemetery and the people buried there.
The two figures either side of the four metre high cross represent “the grieving mother Mary” and “the grieving father John”. The cross is made from basalt lava and is resistant to frost and rain damage. Buried beneath the mound are 207 unknown soldiers along with 89 who have been identified.
Above; groups of five crosses are spread all across the cemetery to symbolise “honouring the comradeship amongst the soldiers”. Another interpretation is that they represent a “unit of soldiers standing in line with the commander at the head of his troops”.
Above and below; flowers show individual graves have not been forsaken.
Above; there is a small exhibition centre at La Cambe with these crosses on show. The American soldiers were given white crosses, whereas burials at La Cambe were initially given metal crosses for both Germans and Americans. The brown cross in this photo is an original German cross that Hitler ordered during the war, ie German soldiers had to have crosses that were designed with the shape of the “Iron Cross” medal.
Below; some graves of German soldiers before they were reinterred.
In 1957, the earthworks enclosing the cemetery were reconstructed. Under the motto, “Reconciliation above graves”, 500 young adults from 12 different countries helped carry out the work. Two of the young adults actually had fathers buried in the cemetery.
Essential Information
Address;
14230
La Cambe
As you can see from the map above, the cemetery is next to the N13, E46 main road and so either going east or west, take the slip roads with the sign La Cambe and then follow signs to the cemetery. Both are easy to miss, and so be careful.
These is plenty of parking and toilets are in the exhibition centre.
Weekly opening hours
Daily10 am to 6pm, with longer hours in the summer. Note the exhibition centre closes for lunch between 12 pm and 1pm.
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