THE YPRES LEAGUE
84
lest we fforget."
23, Henrietta Street,
Cavendish Square,
London, W, 1.
For the men who fought at Yper
In the heart of storied Flanders,
Faced the guns and stoutly manned them.
Swam the slough and dug the trenches
For the men who served and suffered,
For the youth who died for England,
Kept the foeman from this city
In the heart of ancient Flanders
Veterans of the Bloody Salient,
Wardens of the Gate to Calais 1
The Wardens of the Gate.
Extract from the opening address by Field-Marshal Earl French of Ypres at the Annual
General Meeting of the League on the 11th November, 1921.
On November 11th, 1914, occurred, in front of Ypres what was probably the most magnificent
defence by the British Armycertainly there was none more hotly wagedone of the most thrilling and
outstanding feats of arms of the whole war. The League was concerned not merely with one anniversary
or one battle, but with a matchless series of battles, all linked to the defence, enduring for four years,
We must always look upon this Belgian town, this patch of Belgian soil, as a Greek might
have regarded Thermopylaeas a place apart with deeds and memories to sanctify it, even were
it not, as it was, the vastest cemetery of our British dead. Those who served in the Ypres Salient
could never regard Ypres with indifference. As long as any of them were left alive it would have a close
and particular claim upon their emotions for the suffering and the glory which were enacted there.
And after we were gone it would continue to be a shrine for the children yet unborn of the men who
served at Ypres. It rested with all of them, and with the tens of thousands who were to-day responsive
sensitiveto appeals to the national honour, to the spirit of those sleeping in the fields of Flanders,
to make this Ypres League an increasing power for patriotic unity."
The Immortal Defence of Ypres.
The Ypres Salient is the Holy Ground of British Arms. Ypres is to the British
Empire what Verdun is to France, with the addition of greater historical interest and
architectural beauty.
To defend Ypres cost the lives of over 250,000 soldiers. For four years the German
legions hurled themselves on the Flemish city in vain. For four yearsfrom October,
1914, to October, 1918our troops stood fast in this grim enclave, resolved not to yield
it to the foe. The men who served at Ypres saved the British Empire.
The aim of the Ypres League is to keep alive the spirit of comradeship which had its
birth in those stirring and critical times to commemorate the comrades who fell in that
immortal defence to rescue from oblivion the names of places consecrated by deeds of
valour, and to extend the hand of fellowship to the brave and patient people who are now
building up their hearths and homes on the Ypres Battlefield.
The first meeting of the Ypres League took place on September 28th, 1920, when it
was announced that His Majesty the King had graciously accorded his patronage to the
movement.
Objects of the League -
1. To preserve at Ypres a Koll of the honoured Dead. It will endeavour to record the name of
every soldier who fell in the Defence of Ypres.
2. To compile Charts of the Battlefield showing the position of Corps and Armies in the first and
second battles of Ypres, and the trench systems in the third battle.
3. To secure the erection of an outstanding Memorial of the Defence.
4. To establish cordial relations with the dwellers on the Battlefield.
5. To furnish information concerning historic sites in the old Ypres Sector, which will be marked
in a suitable manner in co-operation with the various authorities.
(5. To promote the comradeship and re-union of the Officers and Men who served at Ypres.
7. To establish in the Ypres Salient a Hostelry where the fullest information will be available
concerning Battlefields and Graves. The Hostelry to be endowed with beds for the
accommodation of members and relatives who cannot afford a hotel.
