St. Manvieu War Cemetery
The St. Manvieu War cemetery is located about 8km west of Caen on the D9 just past Manvieu village. The cemetery contains the remains of 1,627 Commonwealth soldiers, 49 of them are unidentified. There are also 555 German burials at the cemetery.
Most of the burials in St. Manvieu War Cemetery are from the battles from mid June to the end of July 1944 as part of Operation Epsom and Operation Jupiter between Caen and Tilly-sur-Seulles.
Operation Epsom (First Battle of Odon) was a British offensive intended to outflank and seize the German occupied city of Caen. Although the Germans managed to contain the offensive they had to commit much of their strength to do so including two panzer divisions that had newly arrived in Normandy which were originally intended for an offensive against the British and American positions around Bayeux.
The objective of Operation Jupiter was the capture of the villages of Baron-sur-Odon, Fontaine-Étoupefour, Chateau de Fontaine and the recapture of Hill 112.
