90th Anniversary Of Menin Gate Unveiling

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the unveiling of the Menin Gate Memorial.

The monument, built alongside the road which troops marched to battle from Ypres, commemorates almost 55,000 soldiers from Australia, Britain, Canada, India and South Africa who have no known grave.

5 major battles were fought in Ypres and today it’s the home to this memorial to British and Empire troops who died there without a grave.

It was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield with sculpture by Sir William Reid-Dick and unveiled by Lord Plumer on 24 July 1927.

The Commonwealth War Graves Committee has hosted a special ceremony in Belgium to mark the anniversary and they hope the remembrance service will have several similar elements to the original ceremony in 1927.

Hundreds of people, from all generations attended the service, and musical accompaniment came from the Royal Band of the Belgian Airforce.

Representatives of commonwealth countries gave readings, before laying wreathes to the fallen.

The anniversary service concluded with 20 thousand poppy petals being released from inside the Menin Gate. 

The service is part of a week-long commemoration and finishes on Sunday.