RHH's photos with the keyword: ranville

This church is next to the Commonwealth Cemetery in Ranville and there are some soldiers' graves in the churchyard. We did not visit the church but took this photo from the cemetery.

The Commonwealth Cemetery in Ranville has 2,236 graves, most of them British soldiers killed on D-Day or after, but also includes 90 "known only to God," 323 German graves and others of different nations. The cemetery is near Benouville, the first French town liberated on D-Day, and is next door to a church where there are other soldiers buried. I found the visit to the cemetery very moving, many of the soldiers were only boys of 17 or 18 years, some of them with wives and children left behind.

We visited several of the World War II cemeteries in the area of the D-Day beaches when we were in Normandy. This was taken at the Commonwealth Cemetery in Ranville. I was interested in the history of the D-Day landings but did not realize I would find our visit so deeply moving. This grave of a soldier who died was killed the day after D-Day was one of many that brought tears. The lad was only 18 years old and the bottom of the grave says, "Daddy, Jesus took you before I came. Through Mommy I'll always cherish your name." The cemetery has 2,236 graves, most of them British, but includes 90 "known only to God," 323 German graves and other nationalities as well.

One of our reasons for visiting Normandy was to see the D-Day sites, a very appropriate time to do so since it was the eightieth anniversary of the landings on June 6, 1944. After a weekend in the Etretat area we drove down and started our tour in Benouville at the Pegasus Bridge, a vital link over the Caen Canal, taken by British airborne troops early on D-Day. Benouville was the first French village liberated on D-Day. We had coffee at the nearby Cafe Gondree and then explored the area. We learned that the present bridge is a replacement and saw the original bridge on the grounds of a nearby museum.

One of the reasons for visiting Normandy was to see the D-Day sites and our visit took place, fittingly, on the eightieth anniversary of the D-Day landings. The Cafe Gondree and the nearby Pegasus Bridge were the location of the first combat on D-Day and Benouville, the village in which the cafe is located, was the first village liberated by the Thirteenth British Paratroop Battalion. We had coffee at the cafe before exploring the village and the nearby memorial and museum.