In pictures: US sacrifice in war honoured at Cambridge American Cemetery
The American Battle Monuments Commission’s Cambridge American Cemetery commemorated Memorial Day on Monday (May 30).
The ceremony, which was open to the public, honoured the service, achievements and sacrifice of the US Armed Forces and also marked the 80th anniversary of Operation Bolero, the Allied cover name for the movement of US forces across the Atlantic to the UK.
Matt Brown, superintendent at the American Cemetery, said it was a “very meaningful ceremony”, pointing out that the photographs displayed “put a face to the name of these young men and women” – “and in doing that it helped us remember that they were very young, they had their whole lives ahead of them, and that they were here at the behest of their nation to fight our wars, to look out for our national interests, and it was right for us to remember them because they gave their lives for our nation.”
The isolated pictures on the grass with flags are those, tragically, who have no known grave. “We have 3,800 people who are buried here, but we have another 5,000 who are listed on our Wall of the Missing,” explained Matt, who revealed that one Second World War veteran, fighter pilot Bill Lyons, 98 – who was stationed at Steeple Morden during the war – was able to make the journey across the Atlantic.
“Those [the photographs on the grass] are our Missing in Action soldiers and that memorial to the missing is a very powerful point of remembrance.”
A number of American politicians in US Congress attended, as did Anthony Browne, MP for South Cambridgeshire.
And this year’s service marked the anniversary of Operation Bolero? “That’s right,” said Matt, “the ‘friendly invasion’ – that was the theme of our ceremony.”
More than 1,000 people attended and 108 wreaths were laid. There were also flypasts from US Air Force (KC-135, 2x F-15) and vintage aircraft from IWM Duxford (B-17 Sally B, American Spitfire, and three Piper Cubs. Music came from the Royal British Legion piper and a US Air Force Europe (USAFE) band.