The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is located in Ypres in Belgium. It is dedicated to the Commonwealth Soldiers of World War I who were killed in the Ypres Salient and have no known grave. It is located at the eastern exit of Ypres. This point was the starting point for the soldiers and one of the main roads that would take the soldiers to the front.

During medieval times the gateway on the eastern edges of the town was very narrow and over time was greatly fortified. When World War I began the gate cut through what remained of the ramparts and crossed a moat.

Ypres was a strategic position in World War I because it blocked the path of the German military from reaching the rest of Belgium. In October of 1914, the Belgian military broke the dykes of the Yser River to the north of the city in an attempt to keep the western point of Belgium out of the hands of the Germans. Ypres was the centre of a road system occupied one end of the defensive system which was also essential for the Germans. For the Germans to capture the channel ports they needed to go through Ypres. The channel ports were used by the Allies and all supplies flowed through these ports. Ypres was important and would become the last major Belgian town that was not under the control of the German military.

During the war years 5 major battles took place around Ypres. The First Battle of Ypres stopped the German advance to the east of the town. The Germans then surrounded the town on three sides and bombarded the town throughout much of the war. In April 1915 the Second Battle of Ypres took place when the Germans tried to take the town. The Third Battle was Passchendaele in 1917 which was a complex 5 month battle. The last two battles took place in 1918.

Commonwealth soldiers passed through the gate on their way to the front and 300,000 of them would fall in battle and 90,000 men have no known grave. However, the gate was constantly being shelled and because of that most troops passed through other gates on their way to the front.

The Menin Gate was designed with a barrel vaulted passage for traffic through the mausoleum in 1921. The mausoleum honours the fallen with no known grave. 

Once completed it was found that the memorial was too small to hold all the names of the fallen. Those names of soldiers who fell and are not on the Menin Gate are honoured and remembered at the Tyne Cot Memorial 

The Menin Gate Memorial was dedicated in 1927 and at that time the citizens of Ypres decided it was appropriate to honour and remember the fallen.

The Last Post Ceremony began on July 2, 1928 at 8 pm. This ceremony has been continuous and is conducted by the Last Post Association. During World War II the ceremony took place at Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey - England. When Ypres was liberated in September 1944 the Last Post Ceremony once again took place at the Menin Gate even though there was still bitter fighting taking place in areas of Ypres. To date 33,559 ceremonies have taken place in all manner of weather.

I have attended and participated in this ceremony three times and it is one of the most meaningful and emotional ceremonies to attend. At times there can be 8,000 people in attendance.

The ceremony takes place with choirs, bands and military personnel from all around the globe. The longer ceremony is when there is a wreath laying ceremony and I have done this.

The Last Post was a bugle call played in the Commonwealth Armies which marked the end of a day's  labours and the beginning a a night's rest. With the Last Post Ceremony and the act of remembrance it has now become a final farewell to the fallen at the end of their labours and the beginning of their eternal rest.

The Reveille was a bugle call to begin the day, to rouse the men so they can begin their daily duties. It signifies a return to daily life at the end of an act of homage, but also the resurrection of the fallen on the Day of Judgement.

On the ramparts of the Menin Gate Memorial there there are nearly 55,000 names etched and of that total 6,940 are Canadian. On the Tyne Cot Cemetery Memorial there are 966 Canadians. This means that there are 7,906 Canadians still in the fields of the Ypres Salient.