Bayeux War Cemetery

The largest British Second World War cemetery in France, containing 4,648 graves — most of them from the Normandy campaign of June–August 1944, though some date from the earlier Norwegian campaign. The graves are arranged in long rows of white Portland stone, each one identical, maintained to the immaculate standard of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The cemetery sits directly across from the Musée Mémorial de la Bataille de Normandie, and the two are naturally visited together. The German cemetery at La Cambe, 25 km to the west, provides a stark contrast: darker basalt crosses, grouped graves, a more somber aesthetic.

things to do sight
A story
The inscription on the memorial here, written by a Latin scholar, reads: "We, once conquered by William, have now set free the Conqueror's native land." The phrase refers to the fact that the liberating Allied forces in 1944 included Normans, the descendants of those William brought to England in 1066 — closing a circle nearly 900 years after it opened.