France: July 2024
(continued)
The British Normandy Memorial is a war memorial near the village of Ver-sur-Mer in Normandy. It was unveiled on 6 June 2021, the 77th
anniversary of D-Day, and it's dedicated to soldiers who died under British command during the Normandy landings. The memorial records
the names of 22,442 people from more than 30 countries under British command who were killed in Normandy from 6 June to 31 August
1944. To commemorate the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, a total of 1,475 silhouettes (‘Standing with Giants’) were placed at the
Memorial, representing the number of fatalities under British command on 6 June 1944
In the nearby village of Crépon, a bronze statue of a British soldier taking a moment's rest has been erected to pay tribute to the
men of the Green Howards who landed in the Gold sector on June 6, 1944. A plaque on the base pays special tribute to Sergeant Hollis,
who died in England in 1972.
Stanley Hollis was awarded the Victoria Cross by King George VI in October 1944, the only one awarded
to a British soldier on D-Day.
Ryes War Cemetery is a Second World War cemetery of Commonwealth soldiers located close to the commune of Bazenville, 8 km east of
Bayeux, Normandy. The graveyard contains 653 Commonwealth war graves, one Polish and 335 German war graves
Robert and Joseph Casson, two brothers who lost their lives in Normandy. Robert died on D-Day while his brother Joseph was killed
just a few weeks later on 27 June 1944.