About Brittany American Cemetery

Overview

The Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial in France covers 28 acres of rolling farm country near the eastern edge of Brittany and contains the remains of more than 4,400 of our war dead, most of whom lost their lives in the Normandy and Brittany Campaigns of 1944.

Along the retaining wall of the memorial terrace are inscribed the names of 500 of the missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

The gray granite memorial, containing the chapel as well as two large operations maps with narratives and flags of our military services, overlooks the burial area. Stained glass and sculpture embellish the structure. The cemetery is located on the site of the temporary American St. James Cemetery, established on Aug. 4, 1944, by the U.S. Third Army. It marks the point where the American forces made their breakthrough from the hedgerow country of Normandy into the plains of Brittany during the offensive around Avranches, France.