I scheduled this post for a certain time today as it seemed appropriate.

This is the North entrance to the US WW2 cemetery near Madingley, Cambridgeshire.

We visited it just after Grantchester. It’s set in some nice agricultural land a few miles east of Cambridge. The grounds are beautifully kept. Several people were busy keeping the paths clear of leaves while we were there.

The memorial itself is monumental in the same way that the corresponding cemetery at Collevilles-sur-Mer in Normandy is. Though Madingley has less than a third of the burials that are in Collevilles – which we visited over ten years ago now – it is still overwhelming when you pass through the entrance from the car park and see the thousands of grave markers. Most of the interred were airmen killed in the bombing campaign over Europe.

This is from the northern end. It doesn’t show the crescent effect that other angles give but from here the crosses (and stars of David) retreat into the distance.

The flagstaff is massive and there is an avenue leading from it to the memorial chapel on whose steps the photo above right was taken.

The long wall on the left here contains the names of all those who died either in the North Atlantic or Europe but have no known grave. A starred entry denotes a Medal of Honor recipient, Lt Col Leon R Vance, who sadly perished when the aeroplane taking him back to the US after he was wounded, disappeared. The statues along the wall represent the various US services, including coastguards as well as airmen, soldiers and sailors.

The chapel itself, seen below first from the flagstaff and then from among the graves, is an impressive building.

The circular pieces in the windows are stained glass images of the seals of the various individual States that make up the Union that is the United States.

The wall on the southern side of the chapel displays a map showing the location of the many US bases in WW2 Britain. The hedge enclosing the grounds made it difficult to get far enough back.

The chapel doors have bronze plaques of the heavy equipment the servicemen may have used and inside, a whole wall is given over to the North Atlantic and European theatres of war, showing the routes of convoys and various air-raids over occupied Europe. Below that, panels show the extent of the Axis advance and the Allied ripostes for both the Africa/Europe and Pacific areas over three different time intervals.

The visitors building near the flagstaff had a well signed visitors book and staff who were welcoming and helpful.

Despite the buzz of the leaf clearer, the overall effect was one of tranquillity and harmony, of a strange sort of peace. US citizens with relatives buried there may find that a small comfort.

The experience, like that of visiting any large war cemetery, was humbling.