Menin Gate Memorial and Last Post

The Menin Gate Memorial stands at the eastern end of Menenstraat in Ypres (Ieper), in West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium, on the road along which many troops marched to the front during the First World War. The memorial is a large triumphal arch of white stone, and its walls carry the names of more than 54,000 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Ypres Salient and have no known grave. The names are arranged by regiment and rank across the panels of the arch and its halls, and visitors often search for a family name among the lists. Above the entrance, a lion guards the arch, and the building is open to visit at all hours at no charge. Every evening at 20:00, buglers of the local fire brigade sound the Last Post beneath the arch, a ceremony held almost continuously since 1928, apart from the German occupation in the Second World War. Traffic is stopped and the road is filled with attendees, and the ceremony lasts about 15 minutes, with wreath-laying by visitors and groups on many evenings. A visit including the ceremony usually takes about 45 minutes. Because the space is small, arriving by 19:30 helps to secure a position near the arch, and summer evenings and Remembrance weekends are especially crowded. Visitors are expected to stay quiet and dress respectfully, and men are asked to remove hats during the ceremony. The memorial is a five-minute walk from the Grote Markt and the In Flanders Fields Museum, making it an easy end to a day exploring the Salient, and other cemeteries such as Tyne Cot lie within a short drive.