La Glacerie: excavating a prisoner-of-war camp in Normandy

Prisoner-of-war camps were set up in Normandy for German soldiers following the D-Day landings. After the capture of Cherbourg and the Cotentin Peninsula, the Allies stopped sending prisoners to internment camps outside Europe. The camp at La Glacerie, established by the American authorities in August 1944, was the first of many to be erected in the region. In August 1945, it was handed over to the French authorities and was finally closed in October 1946. It was during archaeological investigations for Gallo-Roman remains, in advance of a proposed housing development, that the excavation team came across significant archaeological features containing WWII artefacts. Further research, inc