Article published on May 6, 2026 in Ouest France “ligne de la défense” defense news from west to east – By Philippe Chapleau
Memorial tourism in La Manche is about to take on a new dimension.
On December 12, 2025, the Conseil Départemental de la Manche officially launched the project for a museum of wartime captivity in Foucarville, the commune that took in over 100,000 German prisoners between June 1944 and early 1947. The museum, MUCAP, will be created near the site where over 100,000 German prisoners passed through after the June 1944 landings. Building it on the site of the former prison camp was not possible due to town-planning constraints.
“It’s not just another museum,” says Maryse Le Goff, departmental councillor for the Carentan area. “It will be a different kind of museum. It is intended as a mediation tool, weaving links with the present. The project involves a 1,370 m² building on a 1.3 ha site, located between the town of Ravenoville and the former Foucarville camp. A memorial garden symbolizing the camp will also be created. The budget is estimated at eleven million euros, half of which will be funded by Europe. The département and region will each contribute €200,000 in subsidies. The Warren-Kennedy Association, chaired by Dominique Imbert, will also cover part of the budget, through sponsorship and borrowing.
As La Presse de la Manche recalled on April 30, 2025, Europe’s largest prison camp was set up in a Manche village with a population of just 200. “In just a few months, it had become a veritable town, with electric lighting, a railway line, two churches, a hospital (1,000 beds), a bakery with five ovens, a cinema and two theaters… The site, called Continental Central Enclosure n° 19, originally intended for 20,000 men, grew over the months to accommodate up to 60,000 prisoners, including 218 generals and four admirals. The camp was built over 100 hectares with the help of the prisoners themselves. It was served by a railway line derisively called “le rapide de Foucarville”. It closed at the beginning of 1947, and a stele was erected to commemorate its existence.
At the head of the camp was an American commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Kennedy. Hence the name of the Warren-Kennedy Association, chaired by Dominique Imbert, which is piloting the museum project.