Ypres and the Menin Gate

[Neil Ashley]

I did a brief battlefield tour of the Ypres area last week end with my TA unit.

We visited Tyne Cot Cemetery, Sanctuary Wood and the Menin Gate. Included was a rather unpleasant meal in the Canada Cafe by the entrance to Sanctuary Wood. The officer went in and ordered 50 Burgers and Chips which kept repeating for the rest of the day. I think you guys in Canada need to try and improve the standards of cuisine in the cafe carrying your countries name.

The highlight of the tour was the last post ceremony ceremony at the Menin Gate which we participated in uniform. Apart from a break during the second world war, this ceremony has been carried out every night at 8.00pm since 1928 when the Gate was completed. According to the Guide Book, on the 6th September 1944 while the libersting Poles were still exchanging shoots in the town, a jubilant bugler repeatedly played the last post at the gate.

The gate is inscribed with the names of those soldiers of the British Empire who fell in the First World War and have no known grave. Although the gate is vast, when built they found that it only had sufficent room for 54,900 names. The remaining 34,888 names were inscribed on the memorial at Tyne Cot Cemetory.

During the ceremony a list of soldiers names killed during that particular month of the war were read out. Two very smart School girls marched accross to lay a wreath, putting to shame our drill, and the last post was played.

We owe a great debt of gratatude to the town and people of Ypres who continue to honour our war dead so long after the cession of hostilities.

I believe the town has a Menim Gate ceremony web site if members wish to read further.

[cmperry4]

FYI, the sequence of names on the Menin Gate were what inspired Maya Lin to do the sequence of names on the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington, D.C. She was a student of Vincent Scully and the gate forms part of his teaching on art and architecture.

The gate was designed by British architect Edwin Lutyens, now best known for his design of the government complexes of New Delhi.