Visit to Ypres

Ypres - Then and Now  (YouTube Clip)

Battle of the Menin Road  (YouTube Clip)


In November I was privillaged to represent Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Authority at the Menin Gate Ceremony, Ypres on Armistice day the 11/11/2011 accompanied by fellow Fire Authority member Steve Lloyd Janes, and ably guided by Service General Manager Roger Thomas and Station Manager Gary Williams.

What struck one immediately on visiting Ypres were the number of cemeteries (some 170)  that were concentrated within such a small area. Knowing the numbers does not somehow bring the true reality of the carnage – to be there brings the reality of what happened almost 100 years ago, literally in front of our eyes.  There are some 170 cemeteries within the vicinity of the town. Gary our guide with his wealth of knowledge of the history and his infectious enthusiasm was an inspiration to open our eyes to the enormity of the devastation.

It’s a history lesson that unfortunately we are slow to learn. Our politicians are still too ready to go to war. Ypres these days has the title of "city of peace" and maintains a close friendship with another town on which war had a profound impact: Hiroshima. Both towns witnessed warfare at its worst: Ypres was one of the first places where chemical warfare was employd, while Hiroshima suffered the debut of nuclear warfare. The city governments of Ypres and Hiroshima advocate that cities should never be targets again and campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The City of Ypres hosts the international campaign secretariat of Mayors for Peace, an international Mayoral organization mobilizing cities and citizens worldwide to abolish and eliminate nuclear weapons by the year 2020. Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign

 During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between the German and the Allied forces. Of the battles, the largest, best-known, and most costly in human suffering was the Third Battle of Ypres (21 July to 6 November 1917, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele), in which the British, Canadians, ANZAC, and French forces recaptured the Passchendaele Ridge east of the city at a terrible cost of lives. After months of fighting, this battle resulted in nearly half a million casualties to all sides, and only a few miles of ground won by Allied forces. Indeed the front line hardly moved throughout the period of the war. During the course of the war the town was all but obliterated by the artillery fire.

Battle of Ypes (You tube Clip)

The Menin Gate

  The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is a war memorial in Ypres, dedicated to the commemoration of British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of the First World War and whose graves are unknown. The memorial is located at the eastern exit of the town and marks the starting point for one of the main roads out of the town that led Allied soldiers to the front line.

Its large Hall of Memory contains names on stone panels of 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Salient but whose bodies have never been identified or found.

Every evening at 20:00, buglers from the local fire brigade close the road which passes under the Memorial and sound the Last Post. Except for the occupation by the Germans in World War II  this ceremony has been carried on uninterrupted since 2 July 1928
The ceremony is a solemn occasion, and therefore not intended as entertainment or a tourist attraction. The buglers usually remain at the scene for a short while after the ceremony, at which point appreciation can be expressed in person; it is not considered appropriate to applaud during, or after, the ceremony.

Menin Gate Memorial at night (Flikr Photo)


Poppy petals released from the ceiling of  the Menin Gate monument during the 11/11/11 ceremony

The names of just a few of the 54,896 soldiers who's bodies  have never been found (Flikr Photo)