To the Editors,
A tribute and thank you to my grandfather, Major E.T. Kelly of the 37th Haldimand rifles. 1872 to April 24, 1915
As Remembrance Day approached, and as of the Saturday before it having come into possession of my grandfather’s ceremonial sword, I felt it was appropriate to comment on an ongoing event which resulted out of the five battles at Ypres.
I am speaking about the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium. Ypres was the gateway to England and we can only wonder what the world would be like had the enemy been successful in crossing over to England.
As an appreciation in July of 1927, the Menin Gate Memorial, which covers the Menin Road for 60 yards, was unveiled. The Menin Road was the pathway to Flanders Fields and the front lines. 90,000 officers and men perished in the mud of the scarred terrain and were never found. 55,000 of these have their names inscribed in this Menin edifice. 35,000 are remembered in the Tyne Cot memorial in Passchendaele.
To me the most amazing thing about all of this is, since 1927 until today, two buglers from the Last Post Association in Ypres have closed off this road at 20:00 hours and sounded the Last Post. The exception to this was when the German Army occupied this area during WWII until September 6, 1944. During that period it was carried on at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey England. As there is so much tradition in Europe, the buglers wear a uniform of the local fire brigade, of which they must be members.
The Last Post was the Bugle Call played in the British Army to mark the end of a day’s labour and the onset of the night’s rest. In the context of remembrance, it represents a final farewell to the fallen at the end of their earthly labours and the onset of their eternal rest.
One of the inscriptions in the gate is by Rudyard Kipling, which reads as follows: “Here are recorded the names of Officers and Men who fell in the Ypres Salient, but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”
A wreath placed by various British Regiments says it all: “When you go home tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today.”
At the end of my visit, in which approximately 75 people attended, there was not a dry eye among us. To conclude, if you know of someone, or do not, whose name might be here, it would be well worth a visit to participate in this ceremony and give thanks.
Dr. Jim Kelly
