This German War Cemetery located 12km west of Saint Lo in Normandy was originally a burial site for both US and German soldiers.
Some of the Germans initially buried here came from the pre-D-Day Allied bombing raids, while most of those now resting at Marigny were killed in battle during the fierce fighting around Saint Lo and the Allied advances during Operation Cobra in the summer of 1944.
In 1945 and 1946, the US personnel were either repatriated or reburied at the Brittany American Cemetery, at Saint-James in Normandy – another incredibly moving war grave site.
In their remembrance, at Marigny there is a memorial stone to the US VII Corps near to the entrance of the current German burial site, an entrance which has been constructed to match the style of Norman churches.
Movement of German troops from field graves and smaller cemeteries was carried out until 1957 and the Marigny cemetery was officially inaugurated on September 20, 1961.
Inside the stone-walled site are five long blocks containing 11,169 graves with two names on each of the ceramic plaques along with ranks and birth and death dates, where known. These blocks are interspersed with groups of crosses watching over those resting here.
Furthest from the entrance building is a communal grave where 33 soldiers who were unable to be identified are remembered and there are many ‘unknown soldier’ plaques dotted around the main blocks too. These simple state ‘Ein Deutcher Soldat’.
Perhaps the most notable of all those buried in Marigny is General Erich Marcks. Born June 6, 1891, Marcks had a distinguished army career and was the recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with posthumous award of Oak Leaves for his leadership in Normandy.
In June 1941 he was wounded while fighting in the Ukraine and lost his left leg. Marcks was the commander of the German LXXXIV Corps (84th Army Corps) which guarded the Normandy landing grounds.
On June 12, 1944, six days after his 53rd birthday he was travelling from Saint-Lo to Carentan to oversee a German counter attack on the Allied forces breaking out from the beaches when his car was attacked by an Allied fighter bomber near Hebecrevon.
Marcks sustained injuries to his groin which would end his life the same day. He is buried in Plot 2, Row 38, grave number 1478.
Some of those buried here are well known, some infamous, and some are of high ranking, but they all feature the same grave plaque as the lowest ranked and unknown soldiers. In death, everyone is equal.
The Marigny Cemetery site is maintained by volunteers and is kept immaculate as with the US and Commonwealth cemeteries in Normandy.