At the entrance of the football field.

Monument

A stone monument honoring the 3,000 American soldiers who were killed and temporarily laid to rest in this area from June 1944 to 1948. The monument is written in French. 

During World War II, the football field served as a temporary military cemetery. It was established on June 10, 1944, by Major-General Lawton Collins, commander of the VII Corps, following the intense fighting around Utah Beach and the Cotentin Peninsula. German prisoners of war, under American supervision, helped dig graves for fallen soldiers, with approximately 3,195 soldiers eventually buried in Cemetery No. 1 near the town’s church. This cemetery was the first large American military burial ground in Normandy. Many of the graves were later transferred to permanent cemeteries, such as the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer.

Source of information: war-documentary.info, www.findagrave.com 

Source of photo: www.google.com/map

ICI

REPOSÉRENT

DE JUIN 1944

A 1948 

3000 SOLDATS

AMÉRICAINS

TOMBÉS

DANS LES

PREMIERS

COMBATS

DE LA

LIBÉRATION

9th Infantry Division

79th Infantry Division

1st Engineer Amphibious Brigade

English Translation:

FROM

JUNE 1944

TO 1948

3000 AMERICAN

SOLDIERS

FELL

IN THE

FIRST

BATTLES

OF 

LIBERATION

On the lower left side of the monument:

4^th Infantry Division

70^th Tank Battalion

82nd Airborne Division

On the lower right side of the monument:

101st Airborne Division

746th Tank Battalion

90th Infantry Division