Cambridge American Cemetery to host Faces of Cambridge during Memorial Day Weekend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press release

Cambridge American Cemetery to host Faces of Cambridge

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During Memorial Day weekend at American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) Cambridge American Cemetery (CAAC), join us to discover the young Americans who travelled to the U.K. during World War II and lost their lives for freedom. 
From Saturday, May 28, 2022 to Monday, May 30, 2022 from 0900 to 1700, Faces of Cambridge will exhibit all of the images from CAAC’s library of materials. Portrait photographs will either be displayed at the individual headstones or in the newly created “plots” for those whose names are inscribed on the Wall of the Missing. 

The vast majority of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, nurses and American Red Cross workers honored at CAAC had never left their home towns before, let alone travelled overseas. The first part of their journey involved training in different locations throughout the U.S., followed by deployment to countries they knew only through books or movies. 

At its peak, just before the D-Day invasion in June 1944, more than 1.6 million Americans were stationed in the U.K. Known as The Friendly Invasion, American forces became an integral part of English life, especially in the East Anglian region.

“Cambridge American Cemetery wanted a way to bring the memory of these Americans to life – to put a face to the name. With help from other researchers and historians, we have collected an archive of images, which is meant as a legacy for future generations,” said Matthew Brown, superintendent of Cambridge American Cemetery. “Although we now hold over 5,000 images on file, we are still actively collecting. Staff are also researching the stories of those commemorated, so that we are better able to tell their story. This is a project that we do not expect will ever be complete, but it is our way of honoring the fallen we look after and their sacrifice,” he added. 

Many Americans who took part in this conflict paid the ultimate sacrifice and never returned home. Almost 9,000 of those brave men and women are buried or memorialized here at CAAC.

CAAC is the only cemetery in the U.K. dedicated to honoring fallen Americans who served during World War II. The majority of the service members honored here died in the Battle of the Atlantic or in the strategic air bombardment of northwest Europe.