There are 2048 burials at the Canadian War Cemetery in Beny-sur-Mer, the majority of them Canadian. And many of these Canadians were from the 3rd Canadian Division, who died in the invasion on June 6 and the subsequent advance towards the key strategic town of Caen.
We were nearing the end of the tour, when the guide stopped walking. A few people opened umbrellas against the drizzling rain. The group gathered around her, leaning in to hear another story.
There are 4,648 soldiers buried in the Bayeux War Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth cemetery of the Second World War in France. There was little fighting in Bayeux, despite its strategic importance to the invasion of Normandy, so the burials come from fighting in surrounding regions.