MILITARY CEMETERIES OF SAINT-DESIR
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Military cemeteries testify to the terrible bombardment that took place on the spot and house soldiers’ graves.
Saint-Désir, a little-known place of memory. Indeed, in Normandy, one imagines that all the cemeteries of the Second World War are located in the immediate vicinity of the D-Day landing beaches. But few inhabitants of the Pays d’Auge are aware of the presence, in the commune of Saint-Désir, located 4 kilometers west of Lisieux, of two military cemeteries along the Nationale 13 - one German and the other British - which bear witness to the terrible bombing that took place here. More than 4,000 soldiers - most of them very young men - are buried here.
The British cemetery contains the graves (in beautiful white) of 598 soldiers, including 569 British, 16 Canadians, 6 Australians, 5 South Africans, 1 New Zealander and 1 American, as well as 4 British soldiers of the First World War and three unknowns. A small gate connects to the nearby cemetery, established in the summer of 1944 by order of the government of the Federal Republic, where 3,735 German soldiers are buried. It is one of the few German cemeteries of the Second World War. The entrance is through a small building with columns. The red sandstone headstones each bear four names. Through the alleys, one discovers two places that are very different in their design and atmosphere. The pedestrian walkway named "Alley of Peace", which links the two cemeteries, was inaugurated on August 5, 2006 and symbolises the reconciliation of peoples. At the halfway point, a stele recalls the event.
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