British Normandy Memorial: ensuring the memory lives on

Perched on the heights of Mont Fleury, overlooking the Gold Beach sector, the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer is a place for reflection and remembrance of the thousands of young British soldiers who fell during the Battle of Normandy.

A Significant Chapter in History

On June 6, 1944, as he and his men advanced from Gold Beach into the heart of Normandy, Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis of the Green Howards spotted two German casemates at a location known as “Mont Fleuri.” Fueled by an unwavering sense of duty and courage, he bravely launched an attack, neutralising the enemy positions and capturing an astonishing 30 soldiers single-handedly. For his extraordinary valor, Hollis was awarded the only Victoria Cross citation given on D-Day, a testament to his heroism that would forever be remembered in the annals of military history. This remarkable act not only exemplified the courage of the Allied forces but also served as a pivotal moment in the liberation of France.

The location

Decades later, when the time came to choose a location for a memorial site, the decision naturally fell upon the site of this remarkable act by the British army in the commune of Ver-sur-Mer. Overlooking Gold Beach and boasting breathtaking views of the remnants of the artificial port of Arromanches, this memorial pays tribute to the 22,442 soldiers of the British army whose names are inscribed on 160 columns of Burgundy stone. It also honours the members of the merchant navy and the civilians who lost their lives on Norman soil between June 6 and August 31, 1944.

Why visit this memorial?

Inaugurated on June 6, 2021, the Memorial de Ver-sur-Mer is the only site that pays tribute by name to all the soldiers who fell during the Normandy campaign. Designed as a space for reflection and remembrance, it also offers visitors the opportunity to explore the key phases of the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy. Along the path leading to the memorial, interpretive texts are sculpted into the stone, guiding you as you walk and deepening your understanding of this significant chapter in history.

A Family Visit

To engage the children, here’s a little tip: ask them to choose the name of a soldier from one of the memorial stones and encourage them, depending on their age, to draw a picture or write a letter to that soldier, which they can keep as a memento. For older children, you might even have them conduct a little investigation to locate the soldier’s grave on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.