later and to mourn them on behalf of our City, paying homage
by presenting a new plaque in honour of them in the church at
Guillemont where so many of them died.
It was a very solemn service with the Mayor of Guillemont
present who was overcome with emotion and thanked us all
most gratefully. One of my most memorable moments was at the
memorial to the Liverpool Scottish who died during the Battle
of Bellewaarde in June 1915. It’s a beautiful memorial but is
sited by a wood and we had to walk through corn fields to get
to it. The Lord Lieutenant and I got to the monument first and
a few tourists were already there but then we heard the wail of
our piper and saw - marching through the French cornfield our
standard bearers with standards flaring, just as they must have
done a century ago. It was one of several goose pimple moments
on that trip.
We visited many cemeteries and museums including a German
cemetery which we visited in the early morning just as the mist
was rising; it was a very eerie moment. Unlike our gravestones
which are white stone, the German graves are black crosses and
scattered amongst the black crosses are the graves of German
Jews who died for the fatherland. I found this particularly ironic
given the treatment of the Jewish people by the Nazis during
World War Two. The Thiepval memorial is particularly poignant
and contains the names of all the 72,000 men who have no
known grave in France, the ‘Missing of the Somme’. On every
facet of that great building can be seen the names etched of every
individual who fought, died and now cannot be buried with
dignity. Some of our party found their relatives names on this
Memorial which can be seen for miles around.
Another stunning location is the Canadian memorial called
‘Ghosts at Vimy Ridge’. Made of white stone, it towers into the
sky with the bodies of soldiers being passed by angels further
and further up into the hands of God. It is truly one of the most
amazing pieces of art I have ever seen and is genuinely awe
inspiring.
Our final destination was the amazing service held in the evening
at the Menin Gate to commemorate the fallen of the World War
One. Three firefighters play the ‘Last Post’ at the gates of the
city of Ypres to commemorate the Fallen. This has taken place
every evening for a hundred years. Our party had the honour
to present our standards and lay wreaths at the Menin Gate to
remember our lads from Liverpool and Merseyside who played
such a significant role in that war.
A hundred years later it is still as important to honour those men
today. They gave their lives so that we could enjoy freedom in
Europe, they travelled far from home and their families in order
to do it. They deserve our homage and our deepest respect.
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