Le Touret Memorial

Le Touret Memorial is a white stone war memorial in northern France featuring covered galleries and colonnades that lead to a cloister surrounding a rectangular lawn. A central commemorative column stands in the middle, with name panels inscribed on the walls of the loggia listing those commemorated at this site.

The memorial was built to honor British and Commonwealth soldiers who died between October 1914 and September 1915 in the region between the Lys River and La Bassée. It emerged after the intense fighting that characterized this section of the Western Front during the war's early phase.

The memorial displays soldier names organized within covered galleries, where visitors can read inscriptions that make individual sacrifice visible and personal. Walking through the loggia, one encounters the weight of individual stories rather than abstract statistics.

The site is located about one kilometer past Le Touret village and can be reached from Bethune by following the D171 road through Essars. Visitors should allow time to walk through the galleries and read the inscriptions at a comfortable pace.

The memorial bears the names of four soldiers who received the Victoria Cross, the highest British military decoration for bravery. This rare distinction marks men whose actions at this location were deemed extraordinarily courageous.