Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery

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Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery
Cemetery Beny-sur-Mer.jpg
Country: France
Location: Reviers
Coordinates: 49°18′9″N 0°27′1″W / 49.3025, -0.45028
Type: Public
Owned by: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Number of gravesites: 2029
Number of unknowns: 19
Website: Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery

The Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery is a cemetery containing predominantly Canadian soldiers killed during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. The Cemetery is located in and named after Bény-sur-Mer in the Calvados department, near Caen in lower Normandy.[1]

History

Bény-sur-Mer was created as a permanent resting place for Canadian soldiers who had been temporarily interred in smaller plots close to where they fell. As is usual for war cemeteries or monuments, France granted Canada a perpetual concession to the land occupied by the cemetery. The graves contain soldiers from the Canadian 3rd Division and 15 Airmen killed in the Battle of Normandy. The cemetery also includes four British graves and one French grave, for a total of 2049 markers.

Because of confusion during the movement of remains from temporary cemeteries, the remains of one Canadian soldier were misplaced; his tombstone is set apart from the others, and bears an inscription stating that it is known that his remains are in the Bény-sur-Mer cemetery. Bény-sur-Mer contains the remains of 9 sets of brothers, a record for a Second World War cemetery.

A large number of dead in the cemetery were killed in early July 1944, when the Canadians were participating in the Battle for Caen, a particularly hard-fought battle which led to large numbers of casualties. The cemetery also contains soldiers who fell during the initial D-Day storming of Juno Beach. The Canadian Prisoners of War illegally executed at the Ardenne Abbey are interred here as well. Canadians killed later in the campaign were interred in the Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery.

Location

The cemetery is about 1 kilometre east of the village of Reviers, in the Calvados department, on the Creully-Tailleville-Ouistreham road (D.35). It is located 15 kilometres northwest of Caen, 18 kilometres east of Bayeux, and 3.5 kilometres south of Courseulles-sur-Mer. The village of Bény-sur-Mer is some 2 kilometres southeast of the cemetery. The bus service between Caen and Arromanches (via Reviers and Ver-sur-Mer) passes the cemetery. The cemetery can be accessed any time, and tours of the cemetery are available through companies offering tours of historic D-Day locations in the area. The cemetery is easy to find, and plenty of parking is available.

"We Rest Here"

Original grave marker for L/Sgt Hannay
The following members of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals are buried here.
Headstone Service Number Rank and Name Grave Location
Armstrong, Frederick James grave marker.jpg
F95497 Sigmn FJ Armstrong XI. G. 16.
Armstrong, John Herbert grave marker.jpg
B132379 Sigmn JH Armstrong X. H. 9.
Bolton, Walter Verdon grave marker.jpg
B110869 Sigmn WV Bolton XIII. C. 5.
Brodie, Stanley Francis grave marker.jpg
H20284 Sigmn SF Brodie XV. D. 5.
Crawford, John Douglas grave marker.jpg
A37249 Sigmn JD Crawford XI. D. 9.
Crawford, Patrick Morris grave marker.jpg
B38550 Sigmn PM Crawford XIII. A. 3.
Eisener, Harold George grave marker.jpg
F29653 Sigmn HG Eisener V. H. 1.
Gordon, William K. grave marker.jpg
D21035 Sigmn WK Gordon XV. B. 7.
Grittner, Leslie Loren grave marker.jpg
M41933 Cpl LL Grittner III. A. 5.
Hannay, Alexander grave marker.jpg
C3526 Sgt A Hannay XIII. A. 7.
Howes, Douglas George grave marker.jpg
L20001 Sigmn DG Howes XV. B. 9.
Logan, Andrew James grave marker.jpg
B75064 Sigmn AJ Logan XII. G. 14.
Luther, Gordon Rufus grave marker.jpg
A103763 Sigmn GR Luther IX. E. 4.
Maclean, Norman Douglas grave marker.jpg
L100250 Sigmn ND Maclean IV. G. 6.
Maguire, Clarence Almer grave marker.jpg
L110012 Sigmn CA Maguire XVI. D. 11.
Major, Roland Roher Albert grave marker.jpg
C75693 Sigmn RRA Major VI. A. 1.
Miller, Lloyd George grave marker.jpg
L74849 Sigmn LG Miller XIV. F. 2.
Mole, George Herbert grave marker.jpg
A2113 Sigmn GH Mole XVI. A. 6.
Mount, Phillip James grave marker.jpg
B32374 Sigmn PJB Mount VII. C. 14.
Murchison, Robert Bruce grave marker.jpg
- Lt RB Murchison I. B. 6.
Nicoletti, Roland grave marker.jpg
- Lt R Nicoletti VI. D. 10.
Rhodes, James R. grave marker.jpg
A55970 Sigmn JR Rhodes XIV. D. 6.
Shirlow, Archie E. grave marker.jpg
B32284 Cpl AE Shirlow XII. F. 4.
Simoneau, Paul grave marker.jpg
E10437 Sigmn P Simoneau VII. E. 1.
Smith, Sydney W. grave marker.jpg
H38644 Sgt SW Smith VII. C. 10.
Stanley, William Harold grave marker.jpg
H102710 Sigmn WH Stanley III. E. 12.
Swan, Elmer Grenville grave marker.jpg
C75648 LCpl EG Swan V. E. 13.
Tadgell, William H. grave marker.jpg
D116159 Sigmn WH Tadgell X. H. 3.
Tolstad, John grave marker.jpg
M41934 Cpl J Tolstad XII. D. 13.
Trainor, Francis Maurice grave marker.jpg
F26430 LCpl FM Trainor I. F. 13.
Van Acker, Edmond grave marker.jpg
A2384 Sigmn E Van Acker XVI. H. 9.

See also

References

  1. with text from Wikipedia