The Memorial to the West Riding Division
at Ypres.
The Ypres Times.
The Memorial to All Ranks of the 49th West Riding Division who gave their lives
for King and Country in the Great Warwas unveiled by Major-General Sir E. M.
Perceval, K.C.B., D.S.O., in brilliant weather on Sunday afternoon, June 22nd, 1924, at
C.25 a.50.78 (Sheet 28), that is, on the West Bank of the Canal de l'Yser, near Essex
Farm, about z\ miles N. of Ypres.
General Perceval commanded the Division in 1915, when it was holding that portion
of the British line which lay to the East of the Yser Canal.
A large company assembled at the Memorial at 1.30 p.m. and found that the band
of the 1st Bn. The K.O.Y.D.I, had arrived from Cologne specially for the occasion. The
official contingent in khaki formed a hollow square and were backed up by their old
comrades in mufti. The service and dedication was conducted by the Rev. F. Elgod, a
former chaplain of the Division, and after General Perceval had inspected the troops with
General Kennedy, the present G.O.C. the Division, the proceedings began.
General Perceval said that the
memorial was plain but was likely
to last as long as anything made by
human hands could last and would
stand to be seen by many future
generations. The Belgian Govern
ment had generously given the
ground on which it stood. They
remembered that it was the Bel
gians who gallantly withstood alone
the first German onslaught, and it
was the overrunning of Belgian
territory that was the immediate
cause of England's entry into the
War. He wished all present to
know that the King and Queen of
the Belgians had sent wreaths to be
placed on the memorial. It was acts
like these that bound nations together with ties of everlasting friendship. This site was
well selected. It was on ground familiar to the Division, and in 1915 near this spot the
great majority of those present fought desperately. The Division held the front here for
six months. I believe I am not exaggerating," the General said, when I say that the
line then held by the Division was the worst on the whole front. That the 49th held it
for six months without losing a single prisoner or a yard of ground is proof of the fine
spirit that animated the Division. I know what a Yorkshire Territorial is like on active
service. As I am neither a Yorkshireman nor a Territorial I may be allowed to express
the admiration I feel for him. He is a stubborn fighter, imbued in a very special way with
the British bulldog spirit. All that is given or handed over to him he will keep at all
costs. Appeals to his patriotism and to the love of his comrades never failed. When
going to the help of his friends nothing but death or disablement would stop him." The
49th served in many areas and truly had a full share of hard fighting. They lost in killed
alone 8,000 gallant soldiers. May the great sacrifice they made never be forgotten,"
said the General in conclusion.
Count Thibout de Boesinghe, Bourgmestre de Commune, said that the difference
of language could not influence feelings of true amity. It was with sadness but with
