Opposite this cemetery stands the Bayeux Memorial which commemorates more than 1,800 casualties of the Commonwealth forces who died in Normandy and have no known grave.

The CWGC is responsible for marking and maintaining the graves of those members of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars.

British Army Corporal Sidney Bates, a member of the 1st Battalion The Royal Norfolk Regiment, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallant actions on 6 August 1944 near Sourdeval.

The Latin epitaph along the frieze of the memorial is reference to William the Conqueror and the Invasion of England in 1066: NOS A GULIELMO VICTI VICTORIS PATRIAM LIBERAVIMUS.

On the night of 23 July 1944, the ship was anchored off the coast of Ouistreham (Sword Beach), and the regiment was awaiting to disembark.

The theme of 'survivor's guilt' figures prominently in Causley's war poetry, and this poem is deeply affected by that condition.