Le musée de la Libération s’est installé au fort du Roule construit au sommet de la montagne du même nom qui domine la ville. Le fort, culminant à 117 mètres, a été reconstruit sous Napoléon III entre 1853 et 1857. Sa position stratégique, dominant la rade et formant un éperon central entre les deux seules voies de pénétration de l’intérieur des terres vers la ville (les vallées de la Divette et du Trottebecq), en faisait la clé de la défense de Cherbourg, d’où l’expression «qui tient le Roule, tient Cherbourg».

En juin 1940, il fut l’un des lieux phares de la Résistance française devant l’invasion allemande. Pris par les Allemands, le fort est transformé en véritable camp retranché et des souterrains sont creusés dans le roc. Cherbourg devient une forteresse. Le 26 juin 1944, après d’âpres combats, le fort est repris par les Américains, faisant de Cherbourg le premier port libéré de France. Pendant quelques mois, Cherbourg sera le plus important port du monde, avec 25 000 tonnes de matériel débarquées chaque jour !

En 1949, un historien local, M. Lemaresquier, lance l’idée de perpétuer sur ce  lieu les souvenirs du Débarquement et de la Libération de l’Europe. En 1954, avec l’appui de l’Ambassade des Etats-Unis, le musée de la Libération voit le jour avec un parcours retraçant l’histoire du port de Cherbourg depuis le Moyen-Âge et comprenant les salles militaires, plus spécifiquement dédiées à la commémoration de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

En 1994, à l’occasion du 50e anniversaire du Débarquement, le musée est entièrement rénové et sa muséographie revue. Aujourd’hui, les collections, riches d’environ 500 objets et documents, s’étendent sur 780 m² répartis sur deux niveaux.
Baigné dans la pénombre, le sous-sol évoque l’Occupation, entre 1940 et 1944. Six salles racontent l’exode et la Résistance, la propagande, le quotidien des civils et les préparatifs du Débarquement. L’étage retrace, en pleine lumière, le Débarquement et la Libération. Il permet de découvrir le rôle joué par Cherbourg, premier port libéré, dans l’avancée des troupes alliées. En effet, la prise de Cherbourg, seul port en eau profonde de la région, constitue un objectif stratégique vital pour les troupes américaines débarquées à Utah Beach. La ville est libérée le 26 juin 1944. Elle devient alors le centre d’un impressionnant effort logistique : le port permet le ravitaillement du front par la route, le rail et le Pipe Line Under the Ocean (PLUTO) qui alimente les troupes en pétrole. Cartes, photographies, enregistrements sonores, maquettes, objets et multimédia évoquent l’histoire de la ville.

• Service éducatif : Visites en classe

Vous êtes enseignant et souhaitez venir visiter les musées avec votre classe ? Le service éducatif se tient à votre disposition pour préparer votre visite (maternelle, primaire, collège, lycée). Un nouveau parcours pédagogique pour le musée de la Libération est disponible en couleur.

Contact : Yann Lautridou

02 33 23 39 54

yann.lautridou@ville-cherbourg.fr

Sources : ©Musée de la Libération de Cherbourg - Fort du Roule

Within the walls of the national cemetery is a memorial lantern, which serves as the commune's war memorial. In 1921, after having granted - in November 1920 - the principle of a permanent plot for the soldiers of the commune who had died for France, the Morvillars municipal council decided to erect the commune's war memorial within the walls of the military cemetery. This memorial, in the form of an 8 metre lantern, was inaugurated in 1923. Crowned by a Greek cross, this monument therefore carries the names of the 32 natives of Morvillars who died in 1914-1918 and those of the five who died in 1939-1945. Twelve graves of soldiers originating from Morvillars surround this monument, arranged in a semi-circle.

After the Second World War, this cemetery was reorganised in order to bring together the bodies of 1,045 French soldiers and prisoners-of-war from the Haut-Rhin, Germany and Austria who died for France between 1940 and 1945. The bodies of 2,238 Frenchmen including 1,300 in individual graves, 45 Czechs, 19 Russians, one Briton and one Serbian lie here. Two ossuaries contain the mortal remains of 938 soldiers. During the First World War, nearly 25,000 French soldiers died on the slopes of the Hartmannswillerkopf, also known as the "Mangeur d'hommes" (Man-eater) or "Montagne de la Mort" (Mountain of Death).

Begun in 1919 then extended in 1924 to bring together the temporary cemeteries of Schirmeck, la Broque and Colroy-la-Roche, this war cemetery contains the bodies of 1,487 French soldiers, 214 of which were placed in individual graves. Among these men, 54 British soldiers and 33 Russians are buried, 17 of which in a common grave. The remains of 1,273 servicemen were placed in three ossuaries.

In 1954, the bodies of 138 soldiers who died during the Battle of France in 1940 or the liberation of Plaine 1944-1945 were brought there.

In 1923, an equestrian statue of Joan of Arc was erected in the centre of the cemetery. Under the Nazi occupation, to avoid it being destroyed, this monument was buried in the cemetery and then reinstalled to its original location after the Liberation.

In 1914, faced with the proximity of the fighting, 14,000 of the 26,000 civilians fled the town. The elderly were moved towards the Haute-Saône, whereas the young orphans were welcomed in Mâcon. In order to ensure the security of the town, non-mobilised men welcomed the populations fleeing the fighting that was taking place in the sector of Raon-l'Etape and Badonviller.

Throughout the whole of the war, this stronghold would be subjected to numerous bombardments and became a town behind the front where warehouses, feed stores and hospitals were set up. These health structures opened in requisitioned buildings, such as numerous barracks, schools or civilian hospitals. 

In September 1921 the mayor of Epinal, Augustin Baudouin, asked for his town to be awarded the Croix de Guerre (War Cross): "Located a few kilometres from the line of fire which, at one point, was less than 25 km away, at the junction of numerous railway lines ending at Saint Dié, Nancy, Neufchâteau, Dijon, on the path of the troops going to the front, Epinal did not cease - throughout the duration of the hostilities - to be the enemy's target. (...) Epinal was constantly on alert throughout the hostilities; its inhabitants suffered both personally and materially; more than 250 torpedoes were launched at the town during the course of the fighting, not to mention the bombardments by machine guns and the inevitable accidents due to the defence fire from the square". In October 1921, the town received this honour, as it did in 1939-1945. In 1954, these two decorations were incorporated into the town's coat of arms.

Some of the soldiers buried in this cemetery were Commonwealth troops and came from India. Prisoners-of-war, these men were imprisoned at Frontstalag 315 in Chantraine near to Epinal. On 11 May 1944, an American squadron bombarded the sector. By mistake the barracks, like those of Chantraine, were for the most part destroyed. 500 Hindus died there, whilst over 2,000 left to hide in the forests surrounding Epinal.

Creation: World War I. Local hospitals.

Layout: 1924, 1934, 1935, bodies from the cemeteries in Neufchâteau and the vicinity in the southeast of the Vosges department (Contrexéville, etc.), Maxey-sur-Meuse and de Colombey-les-Belles, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department were brought together.

1955 to 1962, bodies from World War II were brought together.

1961, full renovation.

Pour accéder au panneau d'information 1 de la nécropole, cliquer ici 

From the First World War, there are 1,834 Germans, 388 French, 149 Russians, fifteen British, thirteen Austro-Hungarians and five Serbians buried there.

Visionner le diaporama

Pour accéder au panneau d'information 2 de la nécropole, cliquer ici 

From the Second World War, 2,008 French, 1,032 Germans, eight Yugoslavians, seven British, five Polish, five Australians, two New-Zealanders, one Canadian, one Dutch and one Armenian. Among them are buried the remains of the remains of some women, civilian victims or military nurses, and two children who died during World War II; Monique Ferret, born and died in May 1945 in captivity at Innsbruck (Square C, row 6, grave 6) and Jacques Budios killed during a bombardment along with his mother in August 1944 (Square C, row 2, grave 19).

In addition, the remains of two servicemen who died in Indochina are at Strasbourg Cronenbourg: Johann Jury, of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion, who died 15 January 1953 at Cau Xa in Tonkin (square D, row 11, grave 19) and Helmut Kraska, of the 2nd Foreign Regiment, who died in Nam Dinh (Tonkin) on 7 October 1953 (square C, row 1A, grave 15). More recently, there was a sapper parachutist of the 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment, a native of Strasbourg, Michel Lung-Hoi, who died on 4 September 1986 in Jwayya, Lebanon.

It includes ten graves of soldiers who died during the war of 1870-1871. As a result of the First World War, next to the 91 French soldiers lie 475 Romanians, 122 Russians and one Briton. As a result of the Second World War, 536 Soviets including 493 in ossuaries, 358 Frenchmen, a Pole and a Belgian are buried there, as well as seven British pilots who died during the night of 24-25 April 1944 when their bomber crashed over Soufflenheim. A commemorative plaque was unveiled in this village in May 2014.

Nearby, a German military plot containing 188 graves was also created.