Brouay War Cemetery

• Country France
• Total identified casualties 370 Find these casualties
• Region Calvados
• Identified casualties from Second World War
• GPS Coordinates Latitude: 49.21465, Longitude: -0.56134

Location information

Brouay is a village in Normandy about 2 kilometres south of the main road from Bayeux to Caen and roughly midway between these two towns. The War Cemetery is next to the village church.

Visiting information

ARRIVAL

The cemetery is signposted. The CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) plot is behind the civilian graveyard at the top of a hill behind the church.

PARKING

There is no dedicated vehicle parking available close to the churchyard and CWGC cemetery.

ACCESS LAYOUT AND MAIN ENTRANCE

The CWGC plot is attached to the civilian cemetery close to Brouay Village Church

To access the CWGC plot there is an exceptionally long set of concrete steps (with a handrail on the left side). Each step is approximately 600 mm long, with the staircase approximately 30 metres long.

The steps follow the edge of the civilian cemetery and stop at a large stone shelter building with 3 further steps at the entrance and another 2 stone steps at the exit. The stone shelter forms the access route into the CWGC plot.

Once visitors have passed through the stone shelter, the exit opens into the CWGC plot.

The Cross of Sacrifice is opposite the exit to the shelter.

There is a stone bench with a wooden seat inside the shelter. The Register Box is built into the back wall above and behind the bench.

There is a wooden bench located at the rear of the cemetery, in line with the Cross of Sacrifice.

The internal cemetery paths are grass, the ground is sloped and steep in places.

ALTERNATIVE ACCESS

There is no alternative entrance into the cemetery.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The cemetery is permanently open.

History information

The Allied offensive in north-western Europe began with the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944.

For the most part, the burials in Brouay War Cemetery relate to the heavy fighting of June and July 1944, when Commonwealth forces attempted to encircle Caen to the south.

The cemetery contains 377 Second World War burials, seven of them unidentified.