Visiting a Family Grave at Colleville

Finding a relative at the Normandy American Cemetery, and building the day around it

The Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer holds 9,389 graves and 1,557 names on the Walls of the Missing. Every year we bring families to a specific one of them. The visit works best when three things are settled before you leave home: the plot number, the time of day, and enough time.

Before you travel

• Look up the burial. The American Battle Monuments Commission keeps a searchable record of every burial and memorialization at abmc.gov. Search by last name. The record gives the plot, row, and grave, or the wall panel for the missing, plus unit and date of death. Print it or save a screenshot.
• Write to the cemetery. ABMC staff escort relatives to graves and can arrange a wreath or a small ceremony. The address is [email protected]. Give them your date, the name, and the time you expect to arrive.
• Tell us the name when you book. Your guide will have the plot before you meet, and the day will be timed so the cemetery gets the hours it needs.

What happens at the grave

A staff member walks you from the visitor center to the plot. For family visits, they rub sand from Omaha Beach into the engraved letters so the name stands out in photographs. The grave sits in a plot laid out on a grid, so it is easy to return to on your own afterward. Names on the Walls of the Missing are in a semicircular garden east of the memorial; a rosette beside a name means the remains were later found and identified.

The cemetery is open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. from April through September and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from October through March. The flag lowering, with Taps, is one hour before closing. Admission ends 15 minutes before closing.

Which tour to book

Book a private tour. The shared Normandy D-Day Tour reaches the cemetery last, around the flag lowering, which leaves little time for a search and a quiet visit. A private guide puts the cemetery wherever you want it in the day, usually first or after lunch, and stays as long as you need. The rest of the route still covers Omaha Beach below the cemetery, Pointe du Hoc, and Sainte-Mère-Église.

• Private Normandy D-Day Tour: driver-guide from your Paris hotel at 7:00 a.m., $2,425 for up to six people, back by 8:00 p.m.
• Private Normandy D-Day Train Tour: you take the morning train to Bayeux, a private guide and van meet you at the station, $325 per person with a four-person minimum, plus rail.

If the relative served in a unit that fought inland, tell us. Guides know the drop zones, the hedgerow villages, and the roads named for the men who died on them, and can add the spot where your relative was killed or wounded.

If you are researching more than one name

Ask the cemetery for a group visit or a private tour of the grounds when you write to them. For relatives buried elsewhere in France, ABMC runs Brittany American Cemetery near Saint-James, about 75 minutes from Bayeux on the road to Mont Saint-Michel, and a private tour can include it. Soldiers whose families chose repatriation after the war are buried in the United States and are not at Colleville; the ABMC search will tell you which.

For the rest of the day’s choices, see which D-Day tour and small group or private.

Questions

How do I find out if my relative is buried at Colleville?

Search the ABMC burial records at abmc.gov by last name. The record shows the cemetery, plot, row, and grave, or the wall panel for the missing.

Can the cemetery staff take us to the grave?

Yes. Write to [email protected] before your visit with the name and your date. Staff escort family members to the grave and can arrange a wreath.

What is the sand on the headstone?

Staff rub sand from Omaha Beach into the engraved name for family visits so the letters show in photographs.

What time is Taps?

The flag lowering with Taps is one hour before the cemetery closes: 5:00 p.m. from April through September and 4:00 p.m. from October through March.

Can we do this on the shared tour?

You can visit the grave, but the cemetery comes at the end of a full day and the time is short. A private tour gives you the cemetery when and for as long as you want.

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