‘Immense sacrifices’ remembered 100 years on

BELGIUM: Every night in the Belgian city of Ypres at 8pm sharp, the Last Post echoes out across the Menin Gate.

Since 1928 the buglers of the Last Post Association have performed this simple act of remembrance to the 250,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers killed here during World War I.

Sometimes they have played in the driving rain that defines this part of Flanders with not a soul watching. Yesterday evening (local time), at an event commemorating the centenary of one of the bloodiest battles of World War I, the eyes of the world were upon them.

Before the service began, the Duke of Cambridge stepped forward to speak on behalf of a nation. ‘‘Thank you for the honour that you do us,’’ he said.

Last night’s event at the Menin Gate was the beginning of two days of commemorations marking the Third Battle of Ypres, latterly known as Passchendaele, which raged between July 31 and November 1917 causing some 320,000 Allied casualties.

The Sir Reginald Blomfielddesigned Menin Gate is inscribed with the names of more than 54,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers killed around Ypres in WWI whose graves are not known – 40,537 were members of Britain’s armed forces.

The memorial was unveiled by Field Marshall Lord Plumer in July 1927 who told the assembled families of their fallen loved ones: ‘‘He is not missing. He is here.’’

Last night’s service, attended by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who was wearing a cream dress and hat with a poppy pinned to her chest, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, and dignitaries from the 19 nations that fought on the Ypres Salient, was the 30,752nd time the Last Post has played here after the custom was started by a Belgian policeman.

When the final notes echoed off the cobbles of the medieval Belgian city dubbed ‘‘Wipers’’ by the British troops posted here, the chairman of the Last Post Association Benoit Mottrie read the Exhortation.

The Duke of Cambridge then laid a wreath alongside King Philippe, followed by British Prime Minister Theresa May.

During his reading the duke, who was wearing a suit with medals pinned to his chest, described how in WWI, Britain and Belgium stood ‘‘shoulder to shoulder’’.

‘‘One hundred years on, we still stand together, gathering as so many do every night, in remembrance of that sacrifice,’’ he added.

During his address, King Philippe spoke of his pride at the people of Ypres for continuing the Last Post tradition for so many years and of ‘‘the immense sacrifice’’ of those who fell here.

‘‘Every time we stand here under the Menin Gate, we feel overwhelmed by the immensity of the sacrifice of the men whose names surround us,’’ he said. ‘‘This battle, a hundred years ago, makes the bond between our countries strong and everlasting.’’

After the wreaths were laid, the National Youth Choir of Scotland performed the song O Valiant Hearts, which was adapted from a poem by John Stanhope Arkwright and has become known as the Ypres Hymn.

As they sang, 54,391 poppy petals cascaded from the top of the Menin Gate – one for each name inscribed within its Portland stone arches.

About 200 descendants of those who fought in Passchendaele are in Belgium for the observances which continue today at Tyne Cot Cemetery. – Telegraph Group