Ardenne Abbey, or
"l'Abbaye d'Ardenne", is the site of a
PremonstratensianThe Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
monastery in
Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-HerbeSaint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe is a commune in the department of Calvados in the Basse-Normandie region in northern France.-References:* -External links:*...
, near
CaenCaen is a commune in north-western France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, containing a chapel built in 1121 and other medieval buildings.
The Abbey was used as an observation post by the Germans in the Battle of Normandy, and was heavily damaged by Allied forces. As a result, much of the Abbey visible today has been rebuilt or restored. The Abbey is most notorious for being the site of a massacre of prisoners of war during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
During the
Battle of NormandyOperation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation began on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy Landings when an airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault...
, Ardenne Abbey was the location of the headquarters of SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 25, commanded by SS-Standartenführer
Kurt MeyerKurt "Panzer" Meyer served as an officer in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. He saw action in many major battles, including the Invasion of France, Operation Barbarossa, and the Battle of Normandy....
.
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Ardenne Abbey, or
"l'Abbaye d'Ardenne", is the site of a
PremonstratensianThe Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
monastery in
Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-HerbeSaint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe is a commune in the department of Calvados in the Basse-Normandie region in northern France.-References:* -External links:*...
, near
CaenCaen is a commune in north-western France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, containing a chapel built in 1121 and other medieval buildings.
The Abbey was used as an observation post by the Germans in the Battle of Normandy, and was heavily damaged by Allied forces. As a result, much of the Abbey visible today has been rebuilt or restored. The Abbey is most notorious for being the site of a massacre of prisoners of war during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
World War II
During the
Battle of NormandyOperation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation began on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy Landings when an airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault...
, Ardenne Abbey was the location of the headquarters of SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 25, commanded by SS-Standartenführer
Kurt MeyerKurt "Panzer" Meyer served as an officer in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. He saw action in many major battles, including the Invasion of France, Operation Barbarossa, and the Battle of Normandy....
. On 7 June 1944, eighteen captured Canadian soldiers of
the North Nova Scotia HighlandersThe North Nova Scotia Highlanders was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. Originally founded in 1936 as The North Nova Scotia Highlanders by the amalgamation of the Cumberland Highlanders, The Colchester and Hants Rifles, and 'C' Company, 6th Machine-Gun Battalion and acquired its present...
and the 27th Canadian Armoured Regiment (
Sherbrooke Fusilier RegimentThe Sherbrooke Hussars is a Primary Reserve armoured regiment of the Canadian Forces.-Sherbrooke Regiment:The Sherbrooke Regiment was initially formed in 1866 as the Sherbrooke Battalion of Infantry, becoming the 53rd Battalion in 1867. The regiment provided volunteers for the 12th...
) were taken to the abbey and killed by members of the 12th SS Panzer Division.
The Regina Rifle Regiment liberated the abbey the following month, at which time evidence of the atrocity was discovered. The remains of the soldiers were eventually moved to the
Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War CemeteryThe Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery is a cemetery containing predominantly Canadian soldiers killed during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. The Cemetery is located in and named after Bény-sur-Mer in the Calvados department, near Caen in lower Normandy...
. At the end of the war, Kurt Meyer was convicted on three counts of war crimes, including responsibility for the killings at Ardenne Abbey. Meyer denied knowing anything about the murders, and no contradictory eyewitness evidence was presented at trial. Meyer served nine years in prison before release in 1954.
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