La Cambe German Cemetery

[Taffnp]

I am going on a battlefield tour shortly, and will visit the German military cemetery at La Cambe. While I know the history of it and that Wittman is buried there, I was hoping that someone may be able to tell me a few interesting facts.

In the British cemeteries, I am told of the youngest buried there, brothers, medal winners etc. I was hoping for something similar.

Thanks

[John W. Howard]

Hello:
I cannot answer all of your questions, but be sure to visit the visitor's center and leave enough time to read the letters posted there; they are heart-rending and, in my opinion, one of the most poignant war memorials around. Best wishes.

[John P. Moore]

Here is a link to the description to be found of La Cambe at the VDK Web site.

http://www.volksbund.de/kgs/stadt.asp?stadt=14

There are other nearby German military cemeteries in Normandy where you can find the graves of notable personalities. These include Marigny, Mont-de-Huisines, Orglandes, Liseux and Champigny along with the Commonwealth cemetery at Bayeux. You can find further decriptions and driving directions here-

http://www.volksbund.de/kgs/land.asp?Land=99010

John

[Richard Hargreaves]

I actually find La Cambe more moving than any of the Allied cemeteries, possibly because of the starkness of the graves and the fact that it's all rather grey and sombre, unlike the gleaming Allied graves. The visitor centre's very good and they used to sell a booklet "Menschen wie wir", a collection of last letters written by fallen soldiers.

Although La Cambe's one of the larger German cemeteries, you will find German dead in some Allied ones; there are certainly some buried at Bayeux (which is a beautiful cemetery; the inscription on the main memorial, nos a gulielmo victi victoris patriam liberavimus never fails to move. We who were conquered by William have liberated the conqueror's motherland.)

I could recommend my book as a handy reading companion for your travels around Calvados, but that would be shameless.