press kit press release
7 5 th anniversary of the liberation of bayeux
Freedom started here...
In June, Bayeux will be celebrating its liberation. The streets of the town, spared from the bombings of 1944 and liberated on 7 June by British troops, are decorated with banners in the colours of their liberators every year. For this 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy in 2019, a large variety of activities and ceremonies are being organised.
a festive anniversary for all the family
With concerts, shows, military parades, processions, theatre plays, guided tours, exhibitions… From 31 May until 29 June the town council, voluntary organisations, the tourist office and local shops and businesses will be inviting locals and tourists alike to celebrate the Liberation of Bayeux. From the traditional Freedom Ball to the football match between inhabitants of Bayeux and British soldiers, not forgetting a flyover of Bayeux by the Patrouille de France (national air display team), this anniversary promises to be unforgettable !
the town pays its respects
Notwithstanding the popular activities, the town has never forgotten the sacrifice made by thousands of French and foreign soldiers, nor the civilian losses resulting from the conflict. So ceremonies are being held with the British Legion at the Cathedral and the British Military Cemetery to honour the men and women who perished during the fighting.
freedom started here
On 7 June 1944, the day after the Allied Landings on the beaches of Normandy, Bayeux was liberated by British troops who entered the town at dawn. They had landed the previous day in the zone code-named “Gold Beach”. The small Calvados town, the “hospital town” which had been spared from bombing attacks, experienced a summer like no other. Until the liberation of Paris on 25 August 1944 Bayeux was the administrative capital of the liberated parts of France. contents
th the programme of the 75 in bayeux p. 3-4
th the exhibitions of the 75 in bayeux p. 5-6
the official ceremonies yesterday and today p. 7
june to august 1944 a summer like no other p. 8
bayeux, freedom started here p. 9
the scars of war p. 10
practical information p. 11
contacts p. 12
PRESS KIT - 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION 2 PRESS CONTACT : +33(0)2 31 51 60 47 - [email protected] the programme of the 75th in bayeux
+ 75th Souvenir stamps ! Get your souvenir stamp from the Amicale philatélique bayeusaine : - At the tourist office the 6th and 7th June from 10.00 AM to noon and from 2.00 PM to 6.00 PM - At the freedom Ball, place de Gaulle, the 7th June from 7.00 PM - On the market, place Saint-Patrice, Saturday 8th June (morning) friday 31st may saturday 8th june GOSPEL CONCERT 11€/8€€ by the Accueil des Villes Françaises MILITARY PARADE The « Accueil des Villes Françaises » organisation celebrates peace and 200 soldiers of the Sherwood Rangers, one of the British units which freedom in a gospel concert by the Arbolesco group. took part in the liberation of Bayeux in 1944, will parade in uniform all Saint-Patrice Church 8.00 PM the way along the main street of the town, preceded by a brass band. Saint-Patrice street > Saint-Jean street From 11.00 AM Tickets: 1 rue des cuisiniers or on the spot to noon
thursday 6th june saturday 8th june
THE POPPIES SONG COMMEMORATIVE by the town of Bayeux FOOTBALL MATCH Sound-light-poetical installation by Fredandco. Giant poppies and by the Bayeux Football Club and musicians join together in a quest to find harmony at nightfall. the association Bayeux libéré
On 14 July 1944 the Bayeux football team played against the Hôtel du Doyen 10.00 PM and 11.00 PM Sherwood Rangers team, whose members had landed on Gold Beach just a few days earlier. The Franco-British match ended up with Bayeux being beaten 5-2. 75 years later the Bayeux Football th Club, the Bayeux Liberated Association and the Sherwood Rangers friday 7 june military team will hold a replay of the match at the Henry Jeanne stadium !
FREEDOM BALL Henry Jeanne Stadium Kick-off at 3.00 PM by the town of Bayeux Swing, brass and a big band with the Hot Swing Sextet and Glenn’s Swing Orchestra, both of them major bands on the swing scene. To go back in time, dance to the rhythms of the th th th th 1940s and share the sense of jubilation following the liberation. the 5 , 7 , 8 and 9 june Place de Gaulle From 7.00 PM Unicorns, almost written by Restauration on place Owen Sheers, directed by John Retallack English only From 20€
Unicorns, almost is a new one–man play about the life and work of World War II poet Keith Douglas. Unicorns, almost conjures Douglas back into confrontational existence before an audience. Echoing the frequent direct address of his poems, Douglas’s pressure to speak to us is twofold: a desire to remind us of the horrors of war and what it steals from us, and a frustration that despite having seen his poems into print they have remained, for the last 70 years, largely unread.
Salle Toulouse-Lautrec 10.00 AM, 3.00 PM and 5.00 PM (3 performances/day)
PRESS KIT - 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION 3 PRESS CONTACT : +33(0)2 31 51 60 47 - [email protected] the programme of the 75th in bayeux
+ #Mission100e by La Renaissance Le Bessin newspaper (Place de Gaulle, from 5.00 PM) For the 75th anniversary of the La Renaissance Le Bessin newspaper (23 June 1944 - 23 June 2019) come and leave us a little souvenir with #mission100th. All you have to do is write down something you remember about D-Day and put it in the time capsule. It will be buried in a symbolic place somewhere in Bayeux and opened in June 2044 for the paper's 100th birthday !
from june 3 to 14 (except on June 6)
th 75TH SPECIAL GUIDED VISIT sunday 9 june BAYEUX 'S MIRACULOUS SURVIVAL : FROM THE OCCUPATION TO GENERAL DE GAULLE'S SPEECH CHARGED BAYEUX LIBERATION by the tourist office of Bayeux Intercom PROCESSION by the tourist Relive the daily lives of the townspeople in 1944 through memories office of Bayeux Intercom and stories. Archive photographs, buildings used by Germans or the Hundreds of historic British and American vehicles will parade resistance together with graffiti will all plunge the visitor into the along the main street of the first town to be liberated in mainland atmosphere of the period. France, preceded by a pipe band. Departures at 10.30 AM and at 2.00 PM from the tourist office (duration 1h30) Town-center From 11.00 AM
Tickets from the tourist office from june 4 to 11
LICHTJESROUTE Eindhoven and Bayeux are celebrating freedom by lighting up the streets in a celebratory installation symbolising friendship 75 years after both towns were liberated. The illuminations will be switched on 4 June !
Vaucelles round about, Eindhoven boulevard, from Saint-Patrice street to Saint-Jean street, Larcher street, place de Gaulle the 7th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th june
GUIDED TOUR OF THE BRITISH THE PARADE WILL BE OPENED BY 8 MILITARY CEMETERY (TOURS IN FRENCH ONLY) by the Bayeux Museum outreach department ALPHA JETS FROM THE PATROUILLE DE FRANCE WHO WILL FLY OVER Wander along the paths of this place of memory and go back in history in the company of the outreach department of Bayeux Museum. THE PROCESSION AND GREET THE AUDIENCE WITH THEIR TRADITIONAL Departure at 4.00 PM in the Cemetery, Fabian Ware boulevard THREE-COLOUR VAPOUR PLUMES ! saturday 29 june
BY-PASS FESTIVITIES by Bayeux Shopping Businesses along the Bypass are celebrating ! Try your luck from 6 to 21 June to win trips in Jeeps or other vintage vehicles. Over 300 trips to be won.
From 10.00 AM to 8.00 PM
PRESS KIT - 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION 4 PRESS CONTACT : +33(0)2 31 51 60 47 - [email protected] the exhibitions of the 75th in bayeux
18 may 2 june 18 may 22 september
EXPOPAIX DE GAULLE 1940-1944, ENQUÊTE by Artistes en Normandie D’ARCHIVES DE GUERRE 65 artists have come together for this 6th edition. The guest of honour By the town of Bayeux CHARGED will be Ruta Jusionyte (Lithuania), a major figure in the “Magical Realism” artistic movement which inspired artists such as Joan Miró. An original exhibition resulting from an international search for archive images retracing the career of General de Gaulle between Hôtel du Doyen Everyday 10.00 AM > 6.00 PM 1940 and 1944. Amongst the archive images you can see a 1940s desk graced by the typewriter which was used to type the famous Monday > Saturday, Espace culturel E.Leclerc text of de Gaulle’s Appeal to the French of 18 June 1940. 9.00 AM > 8.00 PM Musée Mémorial de la Bataille de Normandie
Everyday 9.30 AM > 6.30 PM 18 may 22 june
PAIX by les Peintres Amateurs du Bessin 35 local amateur artists present a selection of works on the theme of peace to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.
Espace Saint-Patrice
Everyday 10.00 AM > noon and 2.00 PM > 6.00 PM (Saturday 10.00 AM > 6.00 PM)
24 may 30 september
CULTIVONS LA PAIX by Paroisse Notre-Dame du Bessin + Saturday 1st June, Premiere screening In the face of war, violence and hatred, the cultivation of peace is a of a new 26-minute ARTE documentary task for everyone. This exhibition presents men and women, actors and about the images of D-Day from the witnesses, martyrs and mediators, all working to build peace. Images, “Mystères d’Archives” (“Archive Enigmas”) facts and quotations invite the visitor to think about peace and to reflect. series, followed by an exchange with the documentary filmmakers Dominique Forget of Archives de Guerre. Bayeux Cathedral
Everyday 9.00 AM > 7.00 PM (10.00 PM in July and August)
5 the exhibitions of the 75th in bayeux
1 30 june 4 june 24 august
BAYEUX, VILLE HÔPITAL LA GUERRE DE KIRBY, by the town of Bayeux L'INVENTEUR DES SUPER-HÉROS Miraculously saved from bombing attacks, the town of Bayeux was able Follow the route of comic book artist Jack Kirby from his landing to receive many thousands of wounded arriving from the Calvados and at Omaha beach in July 1944 up to the terrible battle of Dornot Manche regions during the summer of 1944. From mid-June until the end in Moselle to see how his traumatic experience of the war led to of September Bayeux became a hospital town. This exhibition, initiated by the creation of all the main super-heroes who dominate today’s the Bessin Hospitals in close collaboation with the town of Bayeux and cinema. the University of Caen Normandy, tells the story of this moment in history. Médiathèque Les 7 Lieux Chapelle de la Tapisserie Every day 9.00 AM > 7.00 PM Tuesday > Saturday 10.00 AM > 7.00 PM, Sunday 3.00 PM > 6.00 PM
1 june 29 september may september DE GAULLE - EISENHOWER, DESTINS CROISÉS LES CHEMINS DE LA MÉMOIRE From the Charles de Gaulle Foundation, ET DE LA RECONNAISSANCE the Eisenhower presidential library, the by the Comité du Débarquement Eisenhower Foundation with support from 10 portraits exhibited in the open air along Liberty Alley pay tribute the First Alliance foundation to the soldiers, nurses and members of the French resistance who gave their lives to restore peace and democracy. Born just a few weeks apart, both Charles de Gaulle and Dwight D. Eisenhower decided at a very early age to enter the most prestigious Liberty Alley military academies in their respective countries. Their destinies ran in parallel throughout their lives and their careers as brilliant and nonconformist officers…..
Esplanade de la Liberty Alley
The original exhibition De Gaulle-Eisenhower is currently on show at the Musée de l’Armée in Paris: reprints of some of the panels are being shown in parallel in Bayeux.
PRESS KIT - 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION 6 PRESS CONTACT : +33(0)2 31 51 60 47 - [email protected] the official ceremonies yesterday and today
General de Gaulle came to Bayeux on 14 June 1944. Since that day, a succession of heads of state and crowned monarchs have attended the ceremonies commemorating 6 June. As the town was liberated by British troops, the British royal family has always been represented at the major anniversaries and will be once again in 2019.
In 1984, Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Philip, joined Président François Mitterrand in Bayeux for the 40th anniversary of D-Day. Five years later it was the turn of the Queen Mother, then aged 89, to visit the little Calvados town. Queen Elizabeth II returned to Bayeux for the 50th aniversary of D-Day in 1994, once again alongside Président François Mitterrand, and also joined by Harald V, King of Norway, and Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. A few days later French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur came to the Norman medieval town to celebrate the 50th anniversary of General de Gaulle’s famous speech. In june 1989, Jean Lecarpentier, Mayor of Bayeux, welcomes the Queen Mother.
In 2004 it was Président Jacques Chirac’s turn to welcome Queen Elizabeth II as the town wednesday 5 june celebrated the 60th anniversary. In 2009, the Queen was represented by Prince Charles, WREATH LAYING by the town of accompanied by British Prime Minister Gordon Bayeux, the foundation Charles de Brown. Most recently, the Queen returned Gaulle, the US embassy in Paris, the US once again to the first town to be liberated in commandment in Europe EUCOM and ABMC mainland France for the 70th anniversary of D-Day. On this occasion she was accompanied 10.30 AM to 11.45 AM : wreath laying at monuments Eisenhower by Prince Charles, and De Gaulle, in presence of Susan Eisenhower, grand-daughter of Camilla Duchess of Cornwall the General. and Prime Ministers Manuel Valls of France and David Cameron of the United Kingdom. thursday 6 june
CEREMONIES OF COMMEMORATION by the Royal British Légion
10.00 AM : official religious ceremony at Bayeux Cathedral
Noon : ceremony at the British military cemetery
friday 7 june
CEREMONIES OF COMMEMORATION by the town of Bayeux Queen Elizabeth II in Bayeux for the 70th anniversary of D-Day. The town of Bayeux pays homage to its liberators. The people of Bayeux are invited to come and celebrate the liberation of the town near the British military cemetery, in the presence of veterans of the Sherwood Rangers and the Essex Regiment Association, and with musical accompaniment provided by a pipe band! 11.00 AM, Musée Mémorial de la Bataille de Normandie
7 june to august 1944: a summer like no other
Having been spared from bombing attacks and liberated in the morning of 7 June by British troops who had landed on Gold Beach the day before, Bayeux quickly became a reception and treatment centre for wounded civilians and soldiers. It was the only town in liberated territory to have a functioning hospital. Bayeux thus became a “hospital town” in co-operation with Allied forces.
From June until September 1944 the Seminary, the clinic and every school in Bayeux was requisitioned by the authorities. Classrooms were quickly turned into hospital wards and large numbers of volunteers helped provide medical care to the many refugees arriving in Bayeux. In order to help the staff and ensure the necessary equipment was available the Prefect launched an appeal to the people of Bayeux, who donated beds, linen and clothing to those who were most in need. After this sadly unforgettable summer the makeshift hospitals closed at the end of September 1944 and the children, who had seen their school year suddenly finish early, went back to school from the beginning of October. Many of the volunteers subsequently took up careers in the medical professions.
a rear base for the troops + The Prix Bayeux Calvados-Normandie for War Correspondents was created on the 50th anniversary of D-Day in tribute to freedom and democracry. To find out more, go to prixbayeux.org In addition to being the reception centre for many civilian refugees Bayeux also became a rear base for many Allied soldiers, providing them with medical care and rest before they returned to the front. Journalists covering the conflict set up their headquarters in the Lion d’Or Hotel-restaurant.
bayeux, a miraculous escape
Although Bayeux is located only 7 kilometres from the D-Day Landings beaches, it was not destroyed by bombing raids. There are several explanations for this. Firstly, the town was not of strategic importance for allied air and naval attacks, which mainly concentrated on pounding the German coastal defences or places with major road intersections such as Saint-Lô or Caen. Secondly, the Allies had been planning to make Bayeux a place of refuge for the many wounded expected to be coming + « Bayeux’s miraculous survival : from the from the battlegrounds. Lastly, local tradition has it that Dom Aubourg, a occupation to General de Gaulle’s speech », guided tours specially proposed for the 75th priest, went to see the British troops to tell them that the Germans had Anniversary by the tourist office of Bayeux withdrawn from Bayeux, comforting the British in their idea that there (see page 4). was no need to use force to enter the streets of the town.
PRESS KIT - 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION 8 PRESS CONTACT : +33(0)2 31 51 60 47 - [email protected] bayeux, freedom started here
Just a few days after D-Day, General de Gaulle visited the capital of the Bessin region to give a speech in which he both confirmed that the liberating troops included French forces and re-established the rule of Republican law on French soil.
administrative capital of liberated territories
In his speech of 14 June 1944, General de Gaulle entrusted the administration of the liberated parts of France to a Regional Commissioner of the Republic – Bayeux thus became the administrative capital of liberated territories until the liberation of Paris on 25 August.
the bayeux speech
General de Gaulle, who had resigned as president of the Provisional Government of France in January 1946, chose the second anniversary of the liberation of Bayeux to return to the town and make his political comeback. On 16 June 1946 he returned to the place where two years earlier he had given his first speech in liberated France. This time, in the “Bayeux Speech”, he set out the basic principles of what would become the Fifth Republic. The speech of 16 June 1946 would result in the square where it took place being given its present name.
liberty, a fundamental value in bayeux
As the first town in mainland France to be liberated, located only a few kilometres from the Normandy Landings beaches, custodian of the renowned Bayeux Tapestry which is listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World register, and host to the Prix Bayeux Calvados-Normandie for War Correspondents… Bayeux is a town where the word “Liberty” means many things. In the historic heart of the town, at the foot of the majestic Cathedral, the Tree of Liberty which was planted in 1797, just after the French Revolution, sits proudly in the centre of the square which bears its name.
+ Liberty Alley In Bayeux the name “Liberty Alley” serves to link the town’s places of memory: the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy, the British Military Cemetery, the British Memorial and the Reporters’ Memorial. This last is a space unique in Europe in recognition of the journalists killed in the exercise of their profession since 1944.
PRESS KIT - 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION 9 PRESS CONTACT : +33(0)2 31 51 60 47 - [email protected] the scars of war
Although an atmosphere of popular jubliation still fills the streets of Bayeux in June every year, the scars of the summer of 1944 are still very much in evidence as well. Great importance is attached to respecting and transmitting memory, especially through the British Military Cemetery and the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy.
bayeux british military cemetery
The British Military Cemetery at Bayeux, spread over 3.2 hectares (about 8 acres), is the largest Second World War Commonwealth cemetery in France. A total of 4,648 soldiers are buried there. In addition to the 3,935 British soldiers, there are 466 Germans and soldiers from several other nationalities. It has been managed, funded and maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) since its inception. On the Memorial facing it, where are the names of the 1807 missing soldiers, is engraved the following sentence: "We, vanquished by William, have liberated the Conqueror's homeland". It recalls with a certain humor the bonds that unite Bayeux and England, since the epic of William the Conqueror in 1066.
memorial museum of the battle of normandy
The Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy in Bayeux devotes 2,300m² (about 23,000 sq ft) to showing the military operations undertaken during the Battle of Normandy during the summer of 1944. Inaugurated in 1981, it is the only museum in the region which provides a chronological presentation of all the military operations which took place on Norman soil over the summer of 1944, starting from 7 June.
the “bypass”, bayeux ring road
Bayeux is a medieval town with narrow cobbled streets, which made traffic conditions very difficult for the British troops’ vehicles. So the Allies decided to build a large road around the city, known by the British as a “bypass”. Works begun on June 18, 1944; the British engineers thus create the first peripheral boulevard of France. This little ring road which is still used today has kept its name, but the people of Bayeux pronounce it with a French accent – and so the “beepass” was born!
+ The “TT40” sign in the Rue des Bouchers At the corner of the Rue Foch and Rue des Bouchers there is still an inscription. “TT40” is the badge of the 50th Infantry Division which liberated Bayeux on 7 June 1944 and was used mainly as a road sign. British troops entering Bayeux would thus know that the officers of the division were located a bit further up the street should they be needed.
PRESS KIT - 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION 10 PRESS CONTACT : +33(0)2 31 51 60 47 - [email protected] practical informations
full programme to download on 75e.bayeux.fr
press accreditation
Communication department of the Prefecture
02 31 30 66 12
photo credits
UNIK Studio graphique / Virginie Meigné / Grégory Forestier / IWM / OT Bayeux Intercom / Stéphane Maurice / Michel Jouary / DR / Ville de Bayeux
PRESS KIT - 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION 11 PRESS CONTACT : +33(0)2 31 51 60 47 - [email protected] contacts
Communication department
19 rue Laitière
14400 Bayeux
+33(0)2 31 51 60 47
During the 75th Anniversary: Alexandra ASSELIN – +33(0)6 72 67 14 75e.bayeux.fr
PRESS KIT - 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION 12 PRESS CONTACT : +33(0)2 31 51 60 47 - [email protected]