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almost all Canadians here Wil.. couple of allied troops, maybe 20..

2900 buried here.


umm the real shock comes with the US cemetery... 9000+ in one cemetery..

   

No my uncle was in the same landing craft as Major Love. My uncle survived that one but was killed 4 weeks later....to the day.

   

Cemetery: BRETTEVILLE-SUR-LAIZE CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY

Location Information: This cemetery lies on the west side of the main road from Caen to Falaise (route N158) about 14 kilometres south of Caen and just north of the village of Cintheaux. The village of Bretteville lies 3 kilometres south-west of the cemetery.

Historical Information: The Allied offensive in north-western Europe began with the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944. For the most part, those buried at Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery died during the later stages of the battle of Normandy, the capture of Caen and the thrust southwards - led initially by the 4th Canadian and 1st Polish Armoured Divisions - to close the Falaise Gap. Almost every unit of Canadian 2nd Corps is represented in the cemetery. The cemetery contains 2,957 Second World War burials, the majority Canadian, and 87 of them unidentified.

No. of Identified Casualties: 2872

   

Cemetery: BENY-SUR-MER CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY, REVIERS
Country: France

Visiting Information: The Commonwealth War Graves Commission wishes to announce a 3 year headstone replacement programme at Beny Sur Mer Canadian War Cemetery. The replacement of some 2048 headstones is required because an unusually rapid deterioration of the existing markers has resulted in poor standards of legibility. The project will consist of three stages. Phase one involves the replacement of 768 headstones within plots II,III,VI,VII,X and XI. This work will be carried out between September 2008 and November 2008. Phase two will consist of 640 headstones for plots I,V,IX,XIII,and XIV. This phase will take place during 2009 -10 but will be scheduled not to impact upon the 65th D-Day anniversary ceremonies in June 2009. Phase three will consist of 640 headstones for plots IV,VIII,XII,XV1 and XV. The whole project is anticipated to be completed by March 2011.

Location Information: Reviers is a village lying 18 kilometres east of Bayeux, 15 kilometres north west of Caen and 4 kilometres south of Courseulles-sur-Mer. The cemetery lies on the north side of the main road 1 kilometre east of Reviers.

Historical Information: The Allied offensive in north-western Europe began with the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944. Many of those buried in Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery were men of the 3rd Canadian Division who died either on 6 June or during the early days of the advance towards Caen, when the Division engaged a German battle group formed from the 716th Division and the 21st Panzer Division. The cemetery contains 2,048 Second World War burials, the majority Canadian, and 19 of them unidentified.

No. of Identified Casualties: 2030

   

last ones today:

this is Reginas uncle.. and the beer i bought for him at that restaurant.

thank you Regina, for the sacrifices your family made for our country.



I 'liberated' a flower for him too

   

Thanks for stopping off to see him and sharing a refreshment. I noticed the flower was there for some but not all the shots. Hope you didn't piss off some granny by taking her flower!

   

.. no


there are flowers growing all over the cemetery.

   

Just thought I’d redo this one and put them together.



I can shed some light on one of those headstones. Major John Vernon Love, D Company of the Regina Rifles was killed when his landing craft hit one of the underwater mines. My uncle was also on that landing craft and was one of only two who survived the explosion. They were only in 10 feet of water by that time but the men were loaded with 80lbs of gear. If not for the fact my uncle was a good swimmer he wouldn’t have been able to keep afloat. He and another man were able to grab onto a rope which was trailing on the floating tanks which pulled them ashore. My chum Lt. Col. Gordon Brown DSO, MID who recently passed away took over of D Company after Love was killed.

Major John Vernon Love, 25, of Yorkton, Saskatchewan joined the Regina Rilfes in June 1940 after completing first year science, pre-Med, at the University of Saskatchewan. A member or the university contingent of the Canadian Officer’s Training Corps he was commissioned in 1940, promoted Captain in 1942 and Major in 1943. The report from his company Commanders course described him as “a good leader…calm and good humoured under stress….exceptional knowledge….and inspires great confidence.” His death on D-Day was a great loss to the battalion.

   

Thank you for sharing those memories. RIP brave and gallant men.

   

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