Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial at Madingley

I had a look at my AA book of places to visit in Britain and I saw that they recommended Madingley near Cambridge because of the World War II cemetery. It’s the only World War II American military cemetery in the UK and the land was donated by the University of Cambridge, it covers 30.5 acres. It’s staffed by friendly and informative people. You can read about it here.

North Entrance, Madingley Cambridge

At one point there were 3 million Americans in Britain and sadly 3,812 of them ended up here. Some of them would have been involved in that disastrous training accident in Cornwall.

Crosses

There are 80 Stars of David in the cemetery, you can just see one of them in the photo below. I must admit that I prefer the British military plain headstones, for one thing there’s a lot more room on them for information. These ones only have name, number and state whereas the British ones have name,regiment, age and a space below for the family to add a sentiment of their own. Mind you when you see that their ages are usually about 19 it can be quite depressing. I saw a 15 year old in a French cemetery, a drummer boy from Durham, I didn’t even realise it was legal to have ‘men’ out there so young.

World War II graves

The whole place is beautifully cared for and is well planted with double pink hawthorn trees, tulip trees, catalpa, beech, oak and sweet gum as well as box hedging, roses and lots more small plants. I loved the espaliered pyracanthas which are looking great at the moment.

Espaliered Pyracantha

To the left hand side of the photo below you can see the massive memorial wall which is inscribed with the names and particulars of 5,127 people who are missing, their remains never having been found.

Long vista  + flagstaff

Below is a stitch of the land which is adjacent to the North Entrance, it’s very flat farmland but as you can see, the cemetery is nicely situated in a rural and peaceful setting. It’s a long way for any American relatives to visit but even in October there were a few graves with flowers and flags on them.

Fields at Madingley

Fields at Madingley

If you’re at all into that era or military history then you’ll find this an interesting if sad place to visit. It’s just so awful that there are still youngsters losing their lives in the name of freedom, politicians never seem to learn.

It wasn’t until after I left that I realised that there’s just a possibility that one of my many uncles pulled some of these poor souls out of the English Channel as he was in the RAF – Air Sea Rescue and spent most of his time soaking wet and freezing, which is how he got the chronic bronchitis which killed him at an early age too. He had been determined not to go into the army after hearing horror stories of his father’s experiences in the trenches. He would probably have been better off just waiting for his army call up.

8 thoughts on “Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial at Madingley

  1. beautiful places…beautiful sentiment. We’re planning a stop in Normandy on our way to the wedding in Scotland next fall. Dad made landfall at Utah beach there…was supposed to land at Omaha but their transports went off course. Couldn’t make it through “Saving Private Ryan” without big loud sobs. And it never ends, does it.

    I went to the funeral of a friend tonight. He was 92, and led a marvelous and full life. He was one of those rare forces of nature that few of us are fortunate to know. He was also a retired marine. I was a wee bit weepy throughout the service, but really lost it when the military escort played taps and presented his widow with the folded flag …not so much for the loss of my friend as from the knowledge that these kids – for kids they are – do this ritual so often that it has become second nature.

    Will it ever end?

    • Pearl,
      We visited all 5 landing beaches about 15 years ago and the many cemeteries in the area. I’ll try to dig out the photos soon. Colleville-sur-Mer is the American cemeterty and it’s massive, all Normandy casualties, they’re all unbearably sad. Jack’s dad was a Dunkirk survivor and they didn’t get sent back to France until about 2 weeks after D-Day. Not many of them reached 92, your friend must have had some tales to tell but in my experience they tended not to talk much about it..
      I think the armies rely on the fact that young lads always think that they’re invincible, and of course they find out too late that they’re not. It’s all about oil and the crazy thing is that if they had put the trillions into energy research instead of warfare then they would have been able to discover a way of living without oil. It seems never ending.

  2. A beautiful place for the final peace of all those soldiers. Our leaders should be required to visit places like this often enough to remind them of what their decisions cost in lives cut short.

    • Joan,
      I would like to think that making the politicians visit these cemeteries would make them think twice but they make sure that their kids aren’t cannon fodder and I don’t think they care about anyone else, well maybe for 1 minute they do. Then they get on with the business of lining their own pockets. Cynical? Me?!

  3. Yeah, I know. They like to think they’re looking at the big picture and they forget the tiny details like human lives. And you’re right on the money: if they were really looking at the big picture, they would invest that money and those lives in developing renewable, sustainable, non-polluting energy. I’m just as cynical as you are.

    • Joan,
      I think that the oil industry guys can’t bear to think of anything taking over from their stranglehold on power. It’s obviously not in their best interest to have green energy. To Hell with Earth is their attitude!

  4. Wonderful photos. There is something rather peaceful and calming about a cemetery especially military ones considering how tragic it was that these places are so full and the names of those who were never found.

    Having visited many in Belgium as part of a school trip, I think it should be a compulsory for everyone to visit one of these places and just spend a few minutes remembering this is what war does.

    As for our leaders visiting, do not even get me started on that! I think it is a I’m all right Jack attitude.

    • Jo,
      I don’t know if ‘enjoy’ is the right word but there is something about cemeteries which I find quite fascinating, especially military ones. We visited part of the Somme and a lot of World War I cemeteries and hope to go to Belgium sometime soon as we’re both interested in history in general and the Great War in particular.

      It seems to me that very shortly after anyone gets power they lose the ability to see thing as the rest of us do. It turns them more than a bit mad and we are the ones who have to cope with the fallout – whatever that may be!

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