"He is not missing, He is here"
Field Marshal
Lord Plumer at the unveiling of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing
24th July 1927.
The Menin Gate
Memorial to the Missing at Ypres bears the names of 56,000 soldiers
of the British Empire who fell in the Ypres Salient between November
1914 and 15th/16th August 1917 and have no known grave. Their names
are engraved in Portland stone panels fixed to the inner walls of
the Hall, to the sides of the staircases and inside the loggias
on the north and south sides of the building. A further 35,000 servicemen
who disappeared in the Salient between 16th August 1917 and the
end of the war are commemorated on The Tyne Cot Memorial at nearby
Passchendaele.
View memorial
plan
The Menin Gate
Memorial was completed in 1927, 10 years after the 3rd battle of Ypres.
Although the area was known as the Menin Gate, there has not been
a gate there since medieval times but the gap in the ramparts was
known as the Menin Gate. It is situated at the eastern exit from the
city on the road leading to Menen (Menin) and Kortrijk (Courtrai).
Almost all Allied troops fighting in the Ypres Salient passed through
the gate at some time. Today it is still an important thoroughfare
for traffic and pedestrians and every evening police close the road
to traffic while buglers of the The Last Post Committee sound the
Last Post.
In the centre
of both north and south sides there is a broad staircase leading from
the Hall of Memory up to the ramparts and to loggias that run along
the length of the building. Above the arch on the west side, facing
the town, there is a sarcophagus adorned with a flag and wreath. On
the east side a recumbant Lion watches out along the the Menin Road
and over the former battlefields of The Ypres Salient.
The inscription
reads
To the armies
of The British Empire who stood here from 1914-1918
and to those of their dead who have no known grave
Ieper
(Flemish) Ypres (French)
In
Medieval times Ypres was a prosperous town situated on the
major route between Lille and Bruges, a thriving centre
of the textile industry. The town was almost completely
destroyed during World War 1 when three great battles were
fought there. Over one million people were killed, wounded
or missing as a result of the actions in the Ypres Salient.
The town contains many museums and memorials to those lost
in the Great War, the most notable of these being the Menin
Gate.
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The Last Post Ceremony
The
daily sounding of the Last Post as a suitable memorial
to those commemorated on the Menin Gate began on 1st
July 1928, a year after the inauguration of the Menin
Gate Memorial, and was the idea of Monsieur Vandenbraambusche,
a superintendent in the Belgian police. Originally
held at sunset, the ceremony now takes place at 2000
hrs every day, except on significant days such as
Remembrance Day when it is also played at 1100 hrs.
During
WW2, from the commencement of the German occupation
of Belgium on 20 May 1940, the ceremony was carried
out daily at Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey.
On the very evening that Polish forces liberated Ypres
the ceremony was resumed at the Menin Gate, in spite
of the heavy fighting still going on in other parts
of the town.
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The
police halt the traffic through the Memorial and the
buglers take their position. At 8pm precisely the
sound of Last Post begins to echo round the Hall of
Memory. Large numbers of visitors witness the ceremony
each evening.
On
the 31st October 2001 a special ceremony marked the
25,000th sounding of the Last Post at the Menin Gate.
The Last Post Committe also decided that for one year
they would honour one of the Missing from the Memorial
by reading alound his name on the aniversary of his
death. A book will be produced and an exhit on these
men will be included in the 'In Flanders Fields' exhibition
in the Cloth Hall.
The author of this site advanced the name of Robert
Gordon for their consideration and has been advised
that his name will be read out on 19th June 2002.(11/11/2001)
Two of Pat's nephews, two neices and three others
will travel to Ypres to be at the Menin Gate on the
evening of the commemoration of their uncle. This
will be the first visit by family members to the area.
They also hope to visit the Le
Touret Memorial bearing the name of his brother
George.
Click
to view details and photos of family visit, 19/6/2002
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The
buglers sound Last Post
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IN
MAIOREM 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
Inscription
over the entrance to the southern staircase
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THEY
SHALL RECEIVE A CROWN OF GLORY THAT
FADETH NOT AWAY
Inscription
over the entrance to the northern staircase
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The
Southern staircase entrance.
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The
panels with the names of Gordon Highlanders are located
within the doorway leading to the ramparts.
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The
name of Pte Robert Gordon
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The
names are recored alphabetically by regiment and rank.
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Menin
Gate and Ypres photographed August 2001
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