On Tuesday, after a wonderful breakfast laid out for us, Marie and I walked a few kilometres from our B&B towards the Monument at Notre-Dame des Lorette in Artois. The road wound up through gently rolling countryside, fields of green grass giving way to the distant villlage of Ablain St. Nazaire and the mining basin. We could see the large monument at La Colline de Notre-Dame de Lorette before us as we crested the hill. All around thousands and thousands of white crosses stretched to the horizon in neat rows, the remains of 20,000 known soldiers. In between eight ossuaries held the bones of a further 22,970 soldiers inconnu, unknown but to God. General Ernest Barbot is buried in the cemetery, commander of the French 77th Mountain Division. He was killled on the Artois battlefield at Souchez in May, 1915. The grave marker was originally one created by his soldiers as a cross made out of shell casings but it was stolen in 1952 and replaced by the same simple cross that marks the final resting place of so many of the General's comrades in arms. German and French fought for possession of this stategic point - the battle of Lorette, lasting 12 months, from October 1914 to October 1915 claimed 100,000 lives. The national cemetery, containing the Lantern Monument (finished in 1921) and the Chapel (finished in 1927) is the largest French war cemetery in the world. One of the voluntary guard of honour, established here since 1920, welcomed us and explained the importance of this hallowed spot in the Pas de Calais.
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| Walking up the path (called the Le Poilu, the nickname of the soldiers of WW1) to the Monument |
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| Ablain St. Nazaire from Le Poilu |
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| The Chapel |
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| The Lantern |
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| father and son, killed in 2 wars |
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| the war comes to this area |
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| interior of the Chapel, Lorette |
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| L'Estaminet de Lorette restaurant bar |
A small museum on site recreated scenes from the underground passages and trenches and was full of displays of both German and French uniforms, weapons, maps and personal artifacts recovered from the battlefield. We had lunch at the nearby L'Estaminet de Lorette before looking at the impressive new International Memorial and the Ring of Remembrance that pays tribute to soldiers who fell in the Nord and the Pas-de-Calais between 1914 and 1918. The 580,000 names are listed in alphabetical order without any distinction made between rank or nationality, former enemies side by side. It was getting late so we returned to Souchez to explore the Lens 14-18 Centre d'Histoire Guerre et Paix. Opened a few years ago it explained in great detail the battles, the strategy and the outcomes, reflecting the viewpoint of all the protagonists of the conflict, along with actual film taken during the four years of war. There is also a memorial space that allows visitors to consult the records of the soldiers who are commemorated on the Ring of Remembrance. We planned to go there tomorrow to look up possible family after our visit to the Canadian Memorial at Vimy Ridge. gws
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| helmet belonging to an officer of the French army |
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| British Tank Mk IV |
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| The Ring of Remembrance Memorial |
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| Steward, Bourgoin on the walls from the International Memorial, Notre-Dame de Lorette |
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| Lens' 14-18 War and Peace History Centre, Souchez |
