Menin Gate (Ypres)
Belgium /
West-Flandern /
Ieper /
Ypres /
Menenstraat
World
/ Belgium
/ West-Flandern
/ Ieper
World / Belgium / Vlaanderen / West-Vlaanderen / Ieper
memorial, arch, monument, gate, First World War 1914-1918, interesting place, 1927_construction
The Menin Gate is one of four memorials to the missing of the First World War in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient.
The site of the Menin Gate as a memorial was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields.
The Gate commemorates 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers except New Zealand who were killed in action in the Salient before 16 August 1917 but the fortune of war denied them a known and honoured burial. The names of the forever missing are carved into stone panels around the monument.
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. As such, every evening at 8.00, buglers from the local fire brigade close the road which passes under the Memorial and play 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 very evening that Polish forces liberated Ypres in the Second 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.
If attending the ceremony it is not appropriate to applaud afterwards - it is not intended as an entertainment or a tourist attraction (although it has certainly become one). The buglers usually stay after the ceremony when appreciation can be shown in person.
The site of the Menin Gate as a memorial was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields.
The Gate commemorates 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers except New Zealand who were killed in action in the Salient before 16 August 1917 but the fortune of war denied them a known and honoured burial. The names of the forever missing are carved into stone panels around the monument.
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. As such, every evening at 8.00, buglers from the local fire brigade close the road which passes under the Memorial and play 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 very evening that Polish forces liberated Ypres in the Second 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.
If attending the ceremony it is not appropriate to applaud afterwards - it is not intended as an entertainment or a tourist attraction (although it has certainly become one). The buglers usually stay after the ceremony when appreciation can be shown in person.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menin_Gate
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 50°51'7"N 2°53'27"E
- Hooge Crater Cemetery 3.6 km
- The Canadian Hill 62 Memorial 4.3 km
- St. Julien Memorial 6.4 km
- Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing 8.5 km
- The IJzertower 20 km
- Lange Max Museum 30 km
- Dambuster's Memorial Park 129 km
- Moerdijk bridges 155 km
- Kamp Amersfoort (Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort 1941-1945) 223 km
- Military War Cemetery Grebbeberg 225 km
- Ypres (municipality) 2 km
- Ieper Wind Farm 3.7 km
- Bellewaerde Park 4.3 km
- Wienerberger 5.8 km
- Polygon wood 6.7 km
- Zonnebeke (municipality) 8 km
- Madonna 10 km
- Vijfwegen 13 km
- Quarters Bos van Houthulst (EOD) (Houthulst Forest) 13 km
- Lo-Reninge (municipality) 14 km
Comments