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The Menin Road had been the main supply route from the town into the Salient. Sir Reginald Blomfield, the commissioned archiect, saw the site of the town gate, through which so
many troops had passed, as the obvious site of the major memorial to the British and Empire missing from the battles around the town. Work began in 1923, and it was officially inaugurated
in July 1927. It was meant to hold the names of all those with no known graves, but when designed the number was still not known. It turned out to be about 100,000, of which 54,896 are
commemorated here. The remaining are recorded at Tyne Cot.
The Gate also records the names of Ellesmere Port soldiers who were never found, including one of the three Bousfield brothers.
Every evening at 8.00 the traffic is stopped and buglers from the Ypres Fire Brigade blow the Last Post. This has happened every evening since 1928, with the exception of those years in the Second World War when the town was held by the Germans.
It has been honour for the pupils of Whitby High School to have led the ceremony on every occasion they have visited the battlefields.
The links below direct you to the Whitby High School Battlefields tour pages, where the full report of the Menin Gate ceremony is recorded
(once on those pages, select Menin Gate from left hand menu
)
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