75th anniversary of D-Day: Day 3- Sword Beach
Maison de La Mer and Montgomery Memorial
The Ardenne Abbey massacre occurred during the Battle of Normandy at the Ardenne Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery in Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe, near Caen, France. In June 1944, 20 Canadian soldiers were massacred in a garden at the abbey by members of the 12th SS Panzer Division. Currently, in the garden of the Abbey rests a memorial to the soldiers, unveiled on 6 June 1984. The inscription, followed by the names of those killed, reads: "On the night of June 7/8, 1944, 18 Canadian soldiers were murdered in this garden while being held here as prisoners of war. Two more prisoners died here or nearby on June 17. They are gone but not forgotten."
The Pegasus Bridge at Bénouville was renamed in honour of the British soldiers who captured it, making the bridge the first objective taken by Allied troops after the Landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944. The six gliders (each carrying 30 soldiers) landed that night, going unnoticed by the German troops who were awaken with surprise. The Cafe was the first building in France liberated by Allied forces
