Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery

The Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery is a war cemetery containing predominantly Canadian soldiers killed during the later stages of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. It is located close to the village of Cintheaux and named after Bretteville-sur-Laize in the Calvados department, between Caen and Falaise in lower Normandy.

Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The war stone in the centre of Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery. The Cross of Sacrifice is visible in the background.
Used for those deceased 1944 (1944)
Established1944 (1944)
Location49°3′37″N 0°17′34″W
near 
Cintheaux, Calvados, France
Total burials2,958
Unknowns
87
Burials by nation
Canada: 2,782

Britain: 80
Australia: 1
France: 1

New Zealand: 1
Burials by war
Statistics source: WWII Battlefields

History
The Cross of Sacrifice of Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery.

Bretteville-sur-Laize was created as a permanent resting place for Canadian soldiers who had been temporarily buried in smaller plots close to where they fell. At the time of the cemetery's creation, France granted Canada a perpetual concession to the land occupied by the cemetery.[1] Of the 2,958 burials, 2,782 are Canadian of whom 87 remain unidentified, together with 80 British, four Australian and one each from France and New Zealand.[2] There are records for 2,792 of the Canadian men.[3]

A large number of dead in the cemetery were killed late July 1944 around Saint-André-sur-Orne and in the battle for the Falaise Pocket in August 1944. Soldiers from nearly every unit within the II Canadian Corps are represented in the cemetery.

Canadians killed earlier (June and early July) in the Battle of Normandy are buried near Juno Beach in the Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery.[1]

Location

The cemetery is located on the N158 road between Caen and Falaise, about 14 km from Caen, in the commune of Cintheaux. However, there is no access directly from the roadway. The road into the cemetery, the Rue du Prieuré/D167 runs north out of the village of Cintheaux

It can be seen on Google Maps here

Panoramic view of Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery.

See also

References
  1. John Grehan; Martin Mace (2012). Unearthing Churchill's Secret Army: The Official List of Soe Casualties and Their Stories. Casemate Publishers. p. 2. ISBN 978-1783376643.
  2. "Pin by Fallen Heroes of Normandy on Normandy WW2 Cemeteries | Pintere…". Pinterest.com. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
  3. "World War II Canadian Dead – Canada at War". Canadaatwar.ca. Retrieved 2014-06-07.
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