LA DÉLIVRANDE WAR CEMETERY
Douvres
Calvados
France
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 49.29027, Longitude: -0.37771
Location Information
Douvres-la-Délivrande is a village 14 kilometres north of Caen.
Take the main road northwards from Caen, the D7 to Langrune-sur-Mer. After about 12 kilometres, the War Cemetery will be found on the right of the road, a few hundred metres before reaching La Delivrande crossroads and its twin-spired church.
Historical Information
The Allied offensive in north-western Europe began with the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944.
The burials in La Délivrande War Cemetery mainly date from 6 June and the landings on Sword beach, particularly Oboe and Peter sectors. Others were brought in later from the battlefields between the coast and Caen.
There are now 944 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 65 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to a number of casualties known to be buried among them. The cemetery also contains 180 German graves.
Total Burials: 1,128.
Identified Casualties: United Kingdom 865, Germany 145, Canada 11, Australia 3, Poland 1. Total 1,025.
Cemetery images in gallery below © Werner Van Caneghem
F/65252 Private
Jean Marie Joseph Auriat
North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, R.C.I.C.
7th June 1944.
Plot II. A. 1.
Jean Marie Joseph Auriat
North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, R.C.I.C.
7th June 1944.
Plot II. A. 1.
J/14207 Flying Officer
Thomas Frederick Barker
620 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
6th June 1944, aged 27.
Special Memorial III. K. 1.
Son of Charles Frederick and Mary Ellen Barker, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; husband of Vere Cecile Barker, of Toronto.
His headstone bears the inscription "Beloved Husband Of Vere Cecile And Son Of Charles And Mary Ellen"
Thomas Frederick Barker
620 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
6th June 1944, aged 27.
Special Memorial III. K. 1.
Son of Charles Frederick and Mary Ellen Barker, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; husband of Vere Cecile Barker, of Toronto.
His headstone bears the inscription "Beloved Husband Of Vere Cecile And Son Of Charles And Mary Ellen"
404648 Squadron Leader William Walter Blessing D. S. O. & D. F. C. Royal Australian Air Force serving with 105 Squadron, RAF of Braidwood NSW (centre) outside Buckingham Palace after an Investiture, with Miss A P Birch (later became his wife) and Mr. H Birch of London. Sqn Ldr Blessing was awarded the D. F. C. for leadership in the low-level daylight attack on the railway workshops at Paderbornand, deep in Germany in March 1943, and the D. S. O. for his part in the daylight attack on the optical glassworks at Jena on 27 May 1943, when he led a flight of Mosquito aircraft through appalling weather and fierce anti-aircraft fire. Sqn Ldr Blessing was lost on operations over Normandy in France on 07 July 1944, and is buried in this cemetery in plot III. D. 3.
Son of Walter Clinton Blessing and Elizabeth Mary Blessing, of Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia; husband of Audrey Pamela Blessing, of Stanmore, Middlesex, England.
His headstone bears the inscription "Greater Love Hath No Man. He Laid Down His Life For His Friends"
Son of Walter Clinton Blessing and Elizabeth Mary Blessing, of Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia; husband of Audrey Pamela Blessing, of Stanmore, Middlesex, England.
His headstone bears the inscription "Greater Love Hath No Man. He Laid Down His Life For His Friends"
J/18411 Flying Officer
Irvine Nathaniel Caskey
620 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
6th June 1944, aged 24.
Plot III. K. 1A.
Son of Will A. and Mabel Caskey, of MacDonald, Manitoba, Canada.
His headstone bears the inscription "He Gave His Life That We Might Live In Peace"
Irvine Nathaniel Caskey
620 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
6th June 1944, aged 24.
Plot III. K. 1A.
Son of Will A. and Mabel Caskey, of MacDonald, Manitoba, Canada.
His headstone bears the inscription "He Gave His Life That We Might Live In Peace"
418808 Pilot Officer
Albert Lance Coates
Royal Australian Air Force
6th June 1944, aged 20.
Plot II. A. 3.
Son of James Lance Coates and Mary Coates, of Daylesford, Victoria, Australia.
His headstone bears the inscription "He Made The Supreme Sacrifice For His Country And Loved Ones"
Portrait of 418808 Flight Sergeant (later Pilot Officer) Albert Lance Coates RAAF, of Daylesford, Victoria, of No 299 Squadron RAF, an allied expeditionary air force glider-towing squadron. Pilot Officer Coates was lost on operations over France on 6 June 1944.
Albert Lance Coates
Royal Australian Air Force
6th June 1944, aged 20.
Plot II. A. 3.
Son of James Lance Coates and Mary Coates, of Daylesford, Victoria, Australia.
His headstone bears the inscription "He Made The Supreme Sacrifice For His Country And Loved Ones"
Portrait of 418808 Flight Sergeant (later Pilot Officer) Albert Lance Coates RAAF, of Daylesford, Victoria, of No 299 Squadron RAF, an allied expeditionary air force glider-towing squadron. Pilot Officer Coates was lost on operations over France on 6 June 1944.
B/95395 Lance Corporal
John Harold Greenwood
2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade Signals, Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
7th June 1944, aged 25.
Plot II. A. 8.
Son of Thomas Ernest and Margaret Anne Greenwood, of Wellandport, Ontario, Canada.
His headstone bears the inscription "You Were Loved By All Who Knew You"
John Harold Greenwood
2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade Signals, Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
7th June 1944, aged 25.
Plot II. A. 8.
Son of Thomas Ernest and Margaret Anne Greenwood, of Wellandport, Ontario, Canada.
His headstone bears the inscription "You Were Loved By All Who Knew You"
CDN/87 Lieutenant
Brian Freeman Lynn
Royal Canadian Infantry Corps attached to 6th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
8th July 1944, aged 21.
Plot III. D. 5.
Son of Harold Riviere Lynn and Ethel May Emery Lynn, of Thetford Mines, Province of Quebec, Canada.
His headstone bears the inscription "The Altar Of Our Love. A Parent's Tribute To A Brave Young Son Of Canada"
Brian Freeman Lynn
Royal Canadian Infantry Corps attached to 6th Bn. North Staffordshire Regiment
8th July 1944, aged 21.
Plot III. D. 5.
Son of Harold Riviere Lynn and Ethel May Emery Lynn, of Thetford Mines, Province of Quebec, Canada.
His headstone bears the inscription "The Altar Of Our Love. A Parent's Tribute To A Brave Young Son Of Canada"
D/117007 Warrant Officer Class II
George Alfred Newsome
45 L. A. D. Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
8th August 1944.
Plot III. C. 1.
Click on image to enlarge
George Alfred Newsome
45 L. A. D. Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
8th August 1944.
Plot III. C. 1.
Click on image to enlarge
105226 Private
Victor C. M. Paulson
Canadian Scottish Regiment, R. C. I. C.
9th July 1944
Plot II. A. 6.
Son of Karl and Marie Paulson of Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Victor C. M. Paulson
Canadian Scottish Regiment, R. C. I. C.
9th July 1944
Plot II. A. 6.
Son of Karl and Marie Paulson of Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Group Photo – Trooper R.E. Toffelmire is located in this photograph second from the right in the back row.
A/68153 Trooper Roswell Ernest Toffelmire, 6th Armed Regiment, 1st Hussars, R.C.A.C. Died 6th June 1944, aged 23. Plot II. A. 2. Son of Ernest R. and Hattie E. Toffelmire, of Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada. His headstone bears the inscription "Their Bodies Are Buried In Peace, But Their Name Liveth For Evermore"
