Nine bodies buried in the Baudre cemetery
The village of Baudre suffered the Battle of Normandy before the others. While the bombardments were about to burst on Saint-Lô, on June 6, in Baudre, on the night of June 5 around 11:30 p.m., an Allied plane was hit by the German DCA (anti-air defense). Residents saw the plane crash, on fire, down rue Renaumière. The 9 young soldiers, English and Canadian were killed instantly.
“Apart from the nine bodies buried in the cemetery and a small commemorative plaque, we had nothing to remember this tragedy. Some residents who are now 96 or 98 years old remember it, but time passes“, comments Daniel Joret, mayor of Baudre.
– Van Luc, Norman artist.
A Norman cow as a symbol
It is the sculpture of a metal cow, made by the artist Van Luc, which was chosen as the symbol of this night of June 5, 44.
The artist based in Arromanches (Calvados) has worked a lot on this page of history. “This cow was installed on the beach of Arromanches-les-Bains, the Gold Beach, for the 75th anniversary of the landing in 2018. It is very important, because among my hundreds of cow models, it is the only one that wears the name of freedomexplains the artist Van Luc.
“With the war in Ukraine, we see how fragile peace and freedom remain.”
This cow is made of pewter, it was laser cut by the Calvados company, “Axe Métal”. Then, the final cow shape was bent by hand by four people. “The sheet of steel is only 3 millimeters, it is quite thin, like freedom after all. It is very symbolic, to set up this cow since today, we see it with the Ukrainian news, peace and freedom remain fragile, even in Europe.
This cow was financed 60% by the municipality, and 40% by the Agglomeration of Saint-Lô, for a total cost of 6,500 euros.