The Orglandes war cemetery is the resting place of German soldiers who died in Normandy during the Second World War.
Cemetery description
The small community of Orglandes is located in Normandy on the Cotentin peninsula on the English Channel. The war cemetery is located directly next to the last houses at the northern end of the village. The extensive lawn of the site consists of 28 cemeteries. Stone crosses mark the graves. They bear the names, ranks, birth and death dates of two or three fallen soldiers on either side.
Burial
More than 10,100 German soldiers who died during the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War are buried in Orglandes.
History
After US troops had cut off the Contentin peninsula by forming a bridgehead near St. Mère-Eglise in June 1944, they continued their advance via Valognes towards Cherbourg in the north. The soldiers who died in these battles were buried in Orglandes. The site is less than 25 kilometers from Utah Beach, the almost five-kilometer stretch of coast where the Allies landed in Normandy, and after 1945 only the German cemetery with 7,358 dead remained here, while the American fallen were reburied in St. Laurent-sur-Mère. The French burial service filled the vacated areas with German fallen from field graves and smaller sites in the surrounding area. in 1958, the Volksbund began gardening and construction work on the site. The cemetery was inaugurated on September 20, 1961.
