Ranville

Ranville
Coat of arms
Location of Ranville
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Calvados
Arrondissement	Caen
Canton	Cabourg
Intercommunality	Campagne et Baie de L'Orne
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Jean-Luc Adélaïde
Area 1	8.42 km2 (3.25 sq mi)
Population  (2008)	1,703
• Density	200/km2 (520/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
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.

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
• 
  The Château de Guernon-Ranville
• 
  Ranville War Cemetery
• 
  Lavoir

See also

• Communes of the Calvados department

References

• INSEE