Ranville

Ranville
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Coat of arms of Ranville Coat of arms
Ranville
Location within Lower Normandy region Ranville
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Calvados
Arrondissement	Caen
Canton	Cabourg
Intercommunality	Campagne et Baie de L'Orne
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Jean-Luc Adélaïde
Area1	8.42 km2 (3.25 sq mi)
Population (2008)2	1,703
• Density	200/km2 (520/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	14530 / 14860
Elevation	1–49 m (3.3–160.8 ft) (avg. 26 m or 85 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Ranville is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.

Ranville was the first French village liberated on D-Day. The village was liberated by the British 13th Parachute Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Luard. The château du Heaume in the village was subsequently used by the headquarters of the British 6th Airborne Division.

The village features heavily in the book "13 - Lucky For Some" which is about the history of the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion. There are many then and now photographs as well as maps and diagrams of battles that took place in the region.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1962	883	—
1968	1,005	+13.8%
1975	1,519	+51.1%
1982	1,690	+11.3%
1990	1,681	−0.5%
1999	1,896	+12.8%
2008	1,703	−10.2%

Sights

• Château de Guernon-Ranville
• Pegasus Memorial
• Ranville War Cemetery

Gallery

• 

  A Bailey bridge section at the Memorial Pegasus museum in Ranville

• 1 Château de Guernon-Ranville, côté cour.jpg

  The Château de Guernon-Ranville

• FranceNormandieRanvilleCimetiereMilitaire.jpg

  Ranville War Cemetery

• Lavoir Ranville.JPG

  Lavoir

See also

• Communes of the Calvados department

References

• INSEE