Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux is a Second World War German military

war grave A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...

cemetery, located close to the village of Saint-Désir and west of

Lisieux Lisieux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pa ...

in the Calvados department,

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, France. It is located adjacent to the British Saint-Désir War Cemetery and is unique as the two burial grounds are linked by a pathway. It is the smallest German war cemetery in Normandy and contains the remains of 3,735 German military personnel. The cemetery was created by the British Graves Registration Commission in August 1944 with British and German casualties buried in adjacent fields. Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux is usually chosen as the cemetery for newly discovered German war dead from across Normandy. The cemetery is maintained and managed by the voluntary

German War Graves Commission The German War Graves Commission (, ) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa. Its objectives are acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves; tending to next of kin; youth and ed ...

(''Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge'').

History

The majority of the German war dead buried at Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux were killed during the last days of the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...

and inside the

Falaise Pocket The Falaise pocket or battle of the Falaise pocket (; 12–21 August 1944) was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. Allied forces formed a pocket around Falaise, Calvados, in which German Army Group B, c ...

in August 1944. A high number come from the 7th, 15th, 7th Panzer Armies as the Allies pushed the Germans out of Normandy, across the Seine and towards Paris. The British Graves Service created the cemetery for both fallen Commonwealth and German service personnel. German soldiers that had been buried in field graves and small local cemeteries were disinterred and brought to Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux.

Formation

In the late 1950s the

(''Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge'') remodelled and expanded the cemetery. Headstones were replaced with red sandstone plaques giving the names, ranks, dates of birth and death of two fallen German soldiers. Saint-Désir-de-Lisieux was officially inaugurated as a German War Cemetery on 21 September 1961.

Personal fates

Buried at the cemetery: *''Oberleutnant'' Horst Hannig, a fighter pilot ace with 98 aerial victories, killed in action May 1943. *''Major'' Kurt Ubben, a fighter pilot ace with 110 aerial victories, killed in action April 1944. *''Oberstleutnant''

Egon Mayer Egon Mayer (19 August 1917 – 2 March 1944) was a Luftwaffe wing commander and fighter ace of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was credited with 102 enemy aircraft shot down in over 353 combat missions. His victories were all clai ...

, a fighter pilot ace with 102 aerial victories, killed in action March 1944. *''Oberleutnant'' Eugen-Ludwig Zweigart, a fighter pilot ace with 69 aerial victories, killed in action June 1944.

Volunteer maintenance

Unlike the American and

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

s, the German Commission is entirely voluntary and relies on gifts and collections to further its work. During the summer months one may see international school teenagers tending the graves. They volunteer to work with the Volksbund during their school holidays and visit American and German war cemeteries, memorials, sites of the invasion and take part in the memorial ceremony with veterans and the mayor of La Cambe.Sophia Kühn, Pauline Schurund, Lisa Thuriam: ''Eine wundervolle Erfahrung'' (Tales of some workcamp participants)
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References

External links