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| La Cambe German war cemetery | |
|---|---|
| German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge) |
|
 The German military cemetery in La Cambe |
|
| Used for those deceased 1944 | |
| Established | 1944 (Finished 1961) |
| Location | 49°20′31″N 01°01′35″W / 49.34194°N 1.02639°WCoordinates: 49°20′31″N 01°01′35″W / 49.34194°N 1.02639°W near Bayeux, Calvados, France |
| Total burials | 21,222 |
| Unknown burials |
207 |
| Burials by nation | |
| Germany | |
| Burials by war | |
| World War II | |
| Statistics source: WWII Battlefields | |
Within a clearing dotted with trees and small dark stone crosses lie the remains of more than 21,000 German soldiers, sailors and airmen. In the center, topped by a large dark cross, which is flanked by statues is an impressive tumulus, which marks the resting place for 207 unknown and 89 identified German soldiers, interred together in a mass grave.
The War Cemetery at La Cambe was originally the site of a battlefield cemetery, established by the American Graves Registration Service during the war, where American and German soldiers, sailors and airmen were buried in two adjacent fields. After the war had ended on the continent and paralleling the work undertaken to repair all the devastation that the war had caused, work began on exhuming the American remains and transferring them in accordance with the wishes of their families. Beginning in 1945, the Americans transferred two-thirds of their fallen from this site back to the United States while the remainder were reinterred at the new permanent War Cemetery at St Laurent-sur-Mer (Colleville), which overlooks the Omaha Beach landing site.
Because of the pace of the war, the German war dead in Normandy were scattered over a wide area, many of them buried in isolated field graves - or small battlefield cemeteries. In the years following the war, the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfüsorge) sought to establish six main German cemeteries in the Normandy area, with the one here at La Cambe started in 1954 following the signing of the Franco-German Treaty on War Graves. During this period the remains of more than 12,000 German soldiers were moved in from 1,400 locations in the French departments of Calvados and the Orne. The German War Cemetery at La Cambe was inaugurated in September 1961. Since that date, the remains of more than 700 soldiers have been found on battlefields across Normandy, and reinterred at La Cambe.
The majority of the German war dead buried at La Cambe fell between June 6 and August 20 1944 and their ages range from 16 to 72. They died during the Allied landings and the ensuing combat.
Since the mid-1990s, there has been an Information Center on the site, where visitors can view a permanent exhibition about the German War Graves Commission and access a database to search for the location of German military dead.
Unlike the American and Commonwealth War Graves Commissions, the German Commission is entirely voluntary and relies on gifts and collections to further its work. During the summer months you may see German school children tending the graves; they volunteer to work with the Volksbund during their school holidays. It is one of the ways the Volksbund hope to promote peace. Victims of the war in Normandy are still being found, even after fifty years, and in Russia the Germans are still burying their war dead.
In total, as of July 2008, there are the remains of 21,222 German soldiers, sailors and airmen buried at La Cambe.
The sign in front of the cemetery reads as follows:
The German Cemetery at La Cambe: In the Same Soil of France
Until 1947, this was an American cemetery. The remains were exhumed and shipped to the United States. It has been German since 1948, and contains over 21,000 graves. With its melancholy rigour, it is a graveyard for soldiers not all of whom had chosen either the cause or the fight. They too have found rest in our soil of France.
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