About WW2 Cemeteries & Memorials

Canadian cemeteries from WW2 contain burials from multiple battlefields and towns in nearby areas. Begin with Dieppe, where 708 Canadians are buried in a quiet cemetery just south of town, most from the unsuccessful landing on August 19, 1942 but, also, from the later successful liberation of the town in 1944.

At Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, near the Juno Beach Centre, and at Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, south of Caen, are the resting places of more than 5,000 Canadian soldiers who lost their lives either at the June 6, 1944 landing, or on subsequent days in bloody, often deadly, battles to liberate Caen and nearby airstrips and towns. Further north, where multiple Canadian divisions engaged in operations to free strategic port cities on the northern coast of France, the Calais Canadian War Cemetery is the final resting place for 594 Canadian servicemen.

There are Canadian memorials in many towns across France and in other countries. At Dieppe, along the quay and in the villages to the east and west are multiple memorials to the various regiments that came ashore in an effort to break Hitler’s Atlantic Wall and help to liberate Europe. In Normandy, at an area code-named “Juno”, the beach towns of Courseulles-sur-Mer, Bernières-sur-Mer and St. Aubin have touching memorials to the sacrifices made by numerous Canadian regiments that made it ashore on June 6, 1944 and suffered terrible losses. Canada’s Juno Beach Centre at Courseulles has wonderful displays and interactive exhibits, as well as a tour of an observation bunker at the shore. Just south of the landing beaches near Caen is a stretch of road where Canadians fought long and brutal battles in order to advance inland. On this road, there are poignant memorials at Villons-les-Buissons (“Hell’s Corner”), Buron, Authie, and Carpiquet.