Memorial de Caen

FROM EUROPEAN WAR TO WORLD WAR 1941: Germany launched operation Barbarossa against the USSR and Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. The Soviets and the Americans joined the Allies in their fight against the Axis countries: the European war became a world war. GLOBALIZATION OF THE CONFLICT In 1941, after numerous attacks on both sides of the globe, war becomes global... In 1941, the war went global. Since 1939, the Third Reich had spread in search of conquest: Europe, the Balkans or North Africa, when Hitler come to the aid of Mussolini’s Italian troops who had been defeated by the British in Egypt. Meanwhile the Reich was also waging a war without quarter in the Atlantic, relentlessly attacking allied convoys en route for Europe. Both the African campaign and the battle of the Atlantic are featured in large displays at the start of the first room. In Asia, Japan had already invaded China in 1937. In 1941, these two distinct wars were combined, setting the whole world aflame. The first room is devoted to the two military events which marked 1941: in June, operation Barbarossa, starting the flood of German troops into the USSR and the spread of the conflict to the East; in December, the Japanese attack on the American naval base of Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States, previously the Arsenal of Democracy, into a war which duly became a global conflict. The war with Japan features significantly here, which is intentional. 40% of the victims of the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945 died in the Asia-Pacific theater, including 24 million Chinese. Japanese expansionism and its often brutal military conquests were made possible only by excessive worship of the Emperor, unquestioning nationalist fervour and an authoritarian system headed by the Japanese army. Finally, there is a large display devoted to the Japanese warrior, an essential cog in the Japanese war machine. THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY This exhibition space deals exclusively with the Invasion of Normandy, a key episode in the liberation of Europe. For the first time ever, we cover every detail of the Invasion of Normandy. Indeed, few people really know how much Normandy suffered following 6 June 1944. 20,000 inhabitants of Normandy were killed, that is a third of all French civilians killed during the Second World War. Towns were razed to the ground in mass bomb attacks, battles as fierce as those on the Eastern front raged, civilians were subjected to terrible suffering and many were evacuated, the German army fled and was pursued. The Battle of Normandy was not supposed to last more than a few weeks. It would only end on 12th September with the liberation of Le Havre, one hundred days after the Landings. FILM "1944: SAVING EUROPE" Discover it during your visit to the Caen Memorial Museum! Comprised of exclusively archive footage, the film « 1944, saving Europe » recounts all the stages of the battle up to the liberation of Le Havre. 19 minutes of History and emotion plunge the audience into the heart of the battle as they have never seen or heard it before. Directed by David Dessites Produced by "The Submarine Productions" Reviewed by Fabrice Drouelle Duration: 19 minutes

4 hours