Caen, the cathedral city behind
the D-Day landing beaches, suffered badly for its liberation.
Between a massive incendiary raid of 6 June and the
city's liberation on 9 July it is estimated that at
least 2,000 civilians were killed - one upper estimate
suggests 5,000.
The city was
the ambitious D-Day objective of the British 3rd Division
that had landed on SWORD beach but it was not reached.
Finally in
Operation Charnwood, preceded by a massive bombing raid
by Lancasters and Halifax aircraft, Caen was taken.
It was a ruin.
Today the
city is a thriving tourist and commercial centre with
a focus on remembrance in its fine Memorial Museum,
known as a 'Memorial for Peace'. There is a cineman,
a cafeteria, a bureau de change and plenty of parking
for cars and for coaches.
An addition
to the WW2 elements of the museum is the 'Cold War Hall'
shaped like a Nuclear shelter and there are many memorials
in the gardens that surround the Museum.
Full details
are given in our guide book both of the Museum and what
there is to see in the city itself. Click HERE
for more information.
