French National Memorial

One of the major French National Memorials (and her largest First World War Cemetery) the chapel and lighthouse tower at Notre Dame de Lorette dominate the ridge for which the French fought a long and bloody battle.

Situated just off the D 937 north of Arras it can also be seen quite clearly as you travel towards Arras along the A26 from Calais or from Vimy Ridge which sits opposite.

Notre Dame de Lorette

The original oratory at Notre Dame de Lorette was raised in 1727 by a painter called Nicolas Florent Guilbert. A native of the village of Ablain Saint Nazaire, in the valley below, he had made a pilgrimage to Loretto in Italy and been cured of his illnesses.

On his return home and in gratitude for his cure he raised his small oratory on the hill above his village in order to shelter a statue of the Virgin Mary which he had brought back from Italy. The oratory was destroyed in 1794 and rebuilt in 1815 before being transformed into a small chapel in 1880.

The battle for this imposing 165 metre high hill and its chapel raged for twelve months from October 1914 until October 1915.

The battle for Notre Dame de Lorette
The 2nd Battle of Artois

Opposite the main parking area at the front of the cemetery is an orientation table and a statue to General Maistre the Commander of the 21st Corps who took the hill.

I remember my first visit here one typically bleak winter afternoon. The rain pouring down, the surrounding fields, a sea of ploughed mud, and a wind that cut you to the bone. It was constantly in my mind as I slowly became soaked to the skin that at least I was going to have the luxury of getting back into my car in fifteen minutes. Something that the soldiers who had fought here could only have dreamed of.

In the distance you can make out the CWGC Cemetery at Cabaret Rouge

Probably because of its position it is only when touring the area that you realise how close everything is. From the Canadian cemeteries at Vimy the chapel and tower are quite visible.

The Lantern - Ossuary

The first stone was laid by Marshal Pétain on 19 June 1921 preceding four years of construction before it was inaugurated on 2 August 1925 by Paul Painlevé.

The lantern is 52 metres high on a 12 metre square base. At night the 3 000 candle power lamp revolves every 12 seconds and can be seen up to 70 kilometres away.

The crypt contains the coffins of Unknown Soldiers from the Second World War, the Concentration Camps (A deportee), Northern Africa, and Indo-China.

Immediately on entering you will see a marked tomb on the floor. The simple inscription states that here lie the remains of thousands of soldiers - in fact about 8 000 unknown soldiers.

Steps lead you upwards to a small display showing personal items and the history of the construction.

The hommes en béret are there every day to watch over the ensemble and to help visitors with information. They are made up of ordinary citizens who have taken an oath to attend the Ossuary at least one day each year. Their intention is to represent through their own ordinariness those who lie here at Lorette.

The Basilica

Constructed in a Byzantine style the outward appearance of the chapel is one of sobriety. 46 metres long and 14 metres wide the transept is 30 metres long.

The construction of the Basilica was inspired by Monseigneur Eugène Julien, Bishop of Arras, who wanted it dedicated to the memory of those who had fallen in this particularly bloody corner of France.

He laid the founding stone on 19 June 1921 after the design had been drawn up by the Lille Architect Luis Cordonnier.

The chapel was blessed in the presence of Marshal Pétain on 26 May 1927 and consecrated on 5 September 1937.

The interior is marked by the colourful mosaic work.

All around you on the walls are thousands of memorial plaques to units and individuals alike.

One in particular is dedicated to François Faber who had won the Tour de France in 1909 and died near Carency in 1915 whilst serving with the 1st Infantry Regiment.

Six of the windows were donated by Britain in thanks for the land given by France for British Cemeteries.

Louise de Bettignies

You will also notice a number of references to a woman called Louise de Bettignies. She had been born on 15 July 1880 to an aristocratic family, studied English at Oxford, and almost became the Governess for the children of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

In October 1914 she found herself in Lille then under German occupation. She managed to reach her mother (via England) at St Omer (Which also happened to be the British GHQ) carrying hundreds of letters for others written with lemon juice.

Once there she became Alice Dubois a British Agent working under Lord Cameron. She also worked for the French Intelligence Services under the name of Pauline, but it was really to the British that she addressed all her efforts facing as they did the Lille Sector.

One of her assignments was to sit relaxing in a café frequented by German soldiers - who had no realisation that she understood every word that they said.

Soon her unit had expanded and was helping Allied soldiers escape to Holland. On 20 October 1915 she was arrested at Tournai and sent before a Military Tribunal in Bruxelles. In March 1916 she was condemned to death, but perhaps as the result of the international reaction to the execution of Nurse Edith Cavell, her sentence was commuted.

She was transferred to the prison at Sieburg where she was confined to a cell for inciting the others to refuse to work for the Germans. Her health deteriorated and she was transferred to a hospital in Cologne. On 27 September 1918 she died of pneumonia.

Her body was brought back to France for burial in 1920 and here in the Basilica you can see her original wooden cross erected by the Germans in the Cologne Cemetery.

She was decorated with the Legion of Honour, Croix de Guerre, OBE, and Military Cross (The last two being British awards).

The Cemetery

The initial sight of this enormous 13 hectares cemetery is imposing, but as you begin to walk around, its size seems to grow as the eye catches yet more crosses as you realise that you are standing on the crest of the hill.

The army gathered up all of their dead from the battlefield with the exception of La Targette (With its 11 000 graves) and a few other smaller cemeteries including that at Hébuterne containing soldiers killed in the diversionary attack on 7 June 1915.

Each was given a similar grave - including General Barbot of the Alpine Corps (Who is buried close to the main entrance). At the far end of the same row as the General is a double grave: that of Anatole and Edmond De Sars, father and son, killed in 1914 and 1940.

The grave of General Ernest Barbot

General Barbot and Souchez

The 20 000 identified graves with their crosses or headstones are joined by two mass graves of unidentified soldiers each containing about 5 000 soldiers in front of the lantern and if you look in the trees by the Muslim and Jewish plots you will see a further row of mass graves each containing about 1 800 soldiers.

All told there are about 45 000 burials here.

A further 12 080 identified soldiers were returned to their families for private burial.

Opening Hours

Museum

There is an excellent museum to the rear of the cemetery.

The Museum

Desecration of graves

Sadly there are young Frenchmen who feel that paintiing slogans on graves is a way of striking out at people they hate.

The Muslim Plot