Polish Cemetery in Grainville-Langannerie

About

Grainville-Langannie Polish war cemetery (sometimes written as Urville-Langannie) is the only Polish Second World War cemetery in France. It is located 17 km south of Caen, Normandy, and contains 696 Polish war graves. It is one of seven military cemeteries now maintained by the French state.

History: The cemetery contains 615 graves of soldiers belonging to the 1st Armoured Division ordered by Major-General Stanisław Maczek. Most of the soldiers were killed during the battle to take Caen during Operation Totalize and the battles (for example, Chambois-Montcormel pocket and Hill 262) that saw the Falaise Gap closed in August 1944. The remaining 81 graves belong manually to re-entered Polish Armed Forces in the West soldiers who ordered in other parts of France, including a few from the Battle of France in 1940. A large V-shaped monument dominates one end of the cemetery (inaugrated in August 1954), on top of which a wide stylized aluminum Polish Eagle sculpture sits. The sculpture was designed by Charles Gianferrari and Jacques Bertoux. Upon many of the serious small tokens are left, including a considerable number of rosary beats. The Federation of French War Veterans...