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What does the Menin Gate represent?
The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown.
What names are on the Menin Gate?
The memorial bears the names of 54,389 officers and men from United Kingdom and Commonwealth Forces (except New Zealand and Newfoundland) who fell in the Ypres Salient before 16 August 1917 and who have no known grave. View of the belfry in the market square through the western entrance of the Menin Gate Memorial.
How many men have their names on the Menin Gate?
The YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL now bears the names of 54,370 officers and men whose graves are not known.
Who designed Menin Gate?
Sir Reginald Blomfield
The design Sir Reginald Blomfield, one of the Commission’s first three Principle Architects, was appointed to design the memorial. He sought to design a monument based around the concept of a triumphal arch and a central hall.
Why was Menin Gate built?
The site of the Menin Gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. It commemorates casualties from the forces of Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and United Kingdom who died in the Salient.
How long does the Last Post ceremony at Menin Gate last?
For many years, the Last Post ceremony lasted barely two minutes. Until the 1980s, those watching could often be counted on the fingers of one hand. On special commemorative occasions or when eminent visitors were present, a more extensive ceremony was organised.
Do they still play the Last Post at the Menin Gate?
Every evening, at 8pm on the dot, a group of buglers sound the last post under Menin Gate at Ypres in Belgium.
Do they still play The Last Post at the Menin Gate?
Why Taps is played at military funerals?
The languid, melancholy sound of a bugle call is a fixture at military funerals. But it wasn’t always that way. The song taps used to signal ‘lights out’ for soldiers to go to sleep.