Notre Dame de Lorette is the French National memorial. There are many elememts and there’s plenty to see. Several school parties were there when we arrived and a good number of independent visitors.

The church and lighthouse dominate the scene, but the scale of the cemetery is the most striking aspect. There are 20,000 named graves, two mass graves of nearing 5000 men, and an ossuary under the lighthouse containing the remains of a further 23,000 soldiers.

Upon entering the cemetery the row of graves to your left contains General Barbot’s resting place whose monument is pictured on the Souchez page.

Further in you’ll find a museum, a diarama exhibition, 3-D photographs, a café bar and a reconstructed battlefield along the original trench lines with artillery pieces on show.

At the entrance

The basilica

Inside the basilica - François Faber,

Inside the basilica - Louise de Bettignies

The lighthouse

The cemetery

The cemetery

The museum

The museum

The museum