Discover the Commonwealth memorial in the Bois-Plage cemetery
Some of the graves at Bois-Plage stand out for their immaculate appearance, the names inscribed on them, and the surprising propeller that sits between them. These are testimony to the tragedies that unfolded on the Atlantic coast during the Second World War. The first is the memorial itself.
On October 16, 1942, as a plane took off from England to drop mines on the coast to neutralize German U-boats, it was shot down by an anti-aircraft unit, with five British airmen and their pilot, Douglas Huntly Gordon, a New Zealander, on board. Only three of the soldiers and the pilot were found. He is buried in Bois-Plage, while his companions are buried in Sainte-Marie.
As for the other graves surrounding the propeller, they belong to some of the victims of the sinking of the Lancastria in 1940. A final grave recalls the failed Frankton operation, which was intended to enable the Allies to get rid of enemy ships in Bordeaux. However, the boat used in the operation capsized, and only one of the two Marines, David Moffatt, was found dead.
Commonwealth graves belong to the United Kingdom and its affiliated countries. As a result, all the graves at Bois-Plage, Ars-en-Ré, Sainte-Marie... are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
On October 16, 1942, as a plane took off from England to drop mines on the coast to neutralize German U-boats, it was shot down by an anti-aircraft unit, with five British airmen and their pilot, Douglas Huntly Gordon, a New Zealander, on board. Only three of the soldiers and the pilot were found. He is buried in Bois-Plage, while his companions are buried in Sainte-Marie.
As for the other graves surrounding the propeller, they belong to some of the victims of the sinking of the Lancastria in 1940. A final grave recalls the failed Frankton operation, which was intended to enable the Allies to get rid of enemy ships in Bordeaux. However, the boat used in the operation capsized, and only one of the two Marines, David Moffatt, was found dead.
Commonwealth graves belong to the United Kingdom and its affiliated countries. As a result, all the graves at Bois-Plage, Ars-en-Ré, Sainte-Marie... are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
