1005 graves: 986 British, 13 Canadian, 3 Australian, 3 French Close to the sea and to Landing Beach Sword, Hermanville was taken early in the day on 6th June 1944 by men of the 1st Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment. They were joined later in the day by the Shropshire Light Infantry supported by the armour of the Staffordshire Yeomanry. Most of the soldiers buried here, fell on 6th June or in the first exchanges in the advance on Caen. Not far from the village church, the cemetery stands alone at the end of a lane bordering a wood. Through a little gate a flagstone path winds between the trees and rockeries with roses and heather. In January there is an immaculate carpet of snowdrops. At the far end, only the Cross of Sacrifice stands out. The whole gives an impression of a well kept little public square that fades only as the head stones come in sight: modest graves in the shade of apple trees. The visitors' hall of rough-hewn limestone under a slate roof is reminiscent of little chapels in the region. Its main facade has three open bays consisting of gothic arches.
