Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial
American Battle Monuments Commission

Cambridge American Cemetery headstones, with the memorial building behind.
Used for those deceased 1941–1945
Established 1943
Location near Cambridge, England
Designed by Perry, Shaw, Hepburn and Dean (architects)
Olmsted Brothers (landscaping)
Total burials 3,812
Unknown burials 24
Statistics source: American Battle Monuments Commission

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial is a cemetery and chapel between the villages of Coton and Madingley in Cambridgeshire, England. It was opened in 1956, and commemorates American servicemen and women who died in World War II. It is administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The cemetery

Reflecting pool leading to chapel, and memorial wall on the right.

The cemetery dates to 1943, when it was opened as a temporary cemetery on 30.5 acres of land donated by the University of Cambridge.[1][2] After the war, it was selected as the only permanent American World War II military cemetery in the British Isles, and about 42% of those temporarily interred in England and Northern Ireland during the war were reinterred at Cambridge Cemetery. It was dedicated on 16 July 1956.[1]

The cemetery contains 3,809 headstones, with the remains of 3,812 servicemen,[3] including airmen who died over Europe and sailors from North Atlantic convoys. The inscribed Wall of the Missing includes four representative statues of servicemen, sculpted by American artist Wheeler Williams. The wall records the names of 5,127 missing servicemen, most of whom died in the Battle of the Atlantic or in the strategic air bombardment of northwest Europe.[4]

Besides personnel of the United States Forces there are also buried 18 members of the British Commonwealth armed services, who were American citizens serving chiefly in the Royal Air Force and Air Transport Auxiliary, besides an officer of the Royal Canadian Air Force and another of the British Royal Armoured Corps, whose graves are registered and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.[5]

In May 2014 a new visitor centre opened, containing exhibits about some of those individuals interred or remembered at the cemetery, and the wider World War II campaigns in which they were involved.[2]

Notable burials and memorials

The memorial (including chapel)

The memorial building is 85 ft long, 30 ft wide and 28 ft high; it is made of portland stone; the doors of teak are embellished with relief models of World War II military equipment. The memorial is separated into a large museum room with a small chapel at the far end from the doors. A great map on the wall shows schematically the air sorties flown from East Anglia, together with convoys across the North Atlantic and other actions in the war. The wall and roof has a mosaic of angels and ghostly aircraft.[6]

Design

The architects of the site plan were Perry, Shaw, Hepburn and Dean, while the landscape architecture was arranged by the Olmsted Brothers company.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 "Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial" (PDF). American Battle Monuments Commission. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 "American Battle Monuments Commission, Cambridge Cemetery". Retrieved 2014-09-15.
  3. ↑ The difference in numbers is accounted for by the fact that one headstone is over a grave with two servicemen, who could not be separately identified, and another is over a grave with three servicemen for the same reason.
  4. ↑ "American Battle Monuments Commission, Cambridge Cemetery". Retrieved 2010-08-12.
  5. ↑ CWGC Cemetery Report.
  6. 1 2 "Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial" (PDF). American Battle Monuments Commission. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
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Coordinates: 52°12′58″N 0°03′14″E / 52.2161°N 0.0538°E / 52.2161; 0.0538

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