Remembrance

Monday evening, after visiting so many cemeteries and memorials, we continued our "theme of remembrance" by attending the service at the Menin Gate in Ypres.  I attended this service 16 years ago, the last time I was there.  It is truly moving.  The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is a war memorial which is dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown.  The memorial, unveiled in July, 1927, is located in the eastern exit of the town and marks the starting point of the road that led many soldiers through that gate to the front line during that war.  We drove through this gate several times while we were staying here.  

Its large Hall of Memory contains names on stone panels of 54,395 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Salient but whose bodies have never been identified or found. On completion of the memorial, it was discovered to be too small to contain all the names as originally planned. An arbitrary cut-off point of 15 August 1917 was chosen and the names of 34,984 UK missing after this date were inscribed on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing instead. The Menin Gate Memorial does not list the names of the missing of New Zealand and Newfoundland soldiers, who are instead honoured on separate memorials.  The inscription inside the archway is similar to the one at Tyne Cot, with the addition of a Latin phrase: "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam – Here are recorded names of officers and men who fell in Ypres Salient, but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death". The Latin phrase means 'To the greater glory of God'. Both this inscription, and the main overhead inscription on both the east- and west-facing façades of the arch, were composed by Rudyard Kipling.

Following the Menin Gate Memorial opening in 1927, the citizens of Ypres wanted to express their gratitude towards those who had given their lives for Belgium's freedom. Hence every evening at 20:00, buglers from the Last Post Association close the road which passes under the memorial and sound the "Last Post".  Except for the occupation by the Germans in World War II when the daily ceremony was conducted at Brookwood Military Cemetery, in Surrey, England, this ceremony has been carried on uninterrupted since 2 July 1928.  On the evening that Polish forces liberated Ypres in the Second World War, the ceremony was resumed at the Menin Gate despite the fact that heavy fighting was still taking place in other parts of the town.

The length of the ceremony varies from about 12 minutes to longer depending on how many wreathes are being laid.  During an extended version of the ceremony, individuals or groups may lay a wreath to commemorate the fallen.  Bands and choirs from around the world may also apply to participate in the ceremonies.  This extended version of the ceremony also starts at 20:00, but lasts longer than the normal ceremony, when only the Last Post is played.

The night we were there, I was impressed with how many young people were there, including those lining up to lay a wreath.  I think it is remarkable that this ceremony is held every single evening when, in Canada, we do the same thing once a year on November 11th.

The Cloth Hall in Ypres main square looked very pretty on the walk back to our hotel.  After Ypres, we are finished with our "homage" to WWI and some of the next days will be about WWII.  At times, it is almost too much to comprehend so we also plan to do some other things not related to these two horrible wars.