The Ypres Times.
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The fii st was a pilgrimage to the Cenotaph, where the mothers of Britain were represen
ted by H.R.H. Princess Beatrice, who placed a lovely cross of roses sent by a member of the
League. The great wreath of massed deep blue cornflowers, crowned with white lilies,
framing the inscription, To the glorious memory of over 200,000 Britons who fell in
the Ypres Salient, 1914-1918" was laid by two V.C.sColonel J. Sherwood-Kelly and
Sergeant O. Brooks. Members of the League then passed round the base, placing
flowers that had been sent from all parts of the kingdom.
Having paid our tribute of remembrance we then proceeded to the Abbey, and stood
round the tomb of the Unknown Warrior beneath the Ypres flag.
- "He lies with his peers in the country's sanctuary
Where makers of Britain trod.
And will hold our pride in faith till reveillé sounds
At the call of God."
Here another wreathdeep blue crowned with whitewas laid by Princess Beatrice(
and Canon Storr gave the following address
Your Royal Highness,Let me first thank you in the name of the authorities of Westminster
Abbey for the honour you have done us in placing this wreath on this grave, which, young though it
is, is already historic. We here welcome the annual visit of the Ypres League and the placing of this
tribute in memory of the gallant fallen. We shall do our best to take care of the wreath as long as it
lasts.
The name of Ypres will never be forgotten, but the purpose of \-our League goes far deeper than
the purpose of merely securing a remembrance of the same. Names are, after all, only symbols, and
Ypres symbolises something which it must be the wish of all who care anything about the abiding
things in life shall be preserved. Ypres symbolises a spirit and a forcethe spirit of devotion to
duty, discipline, King, Empire the spirit which puts the cause above the worker for the cause the
spirit which has always characterised England at her best. And it symbolises a forcethe force of
endurance in the face of tremendous odds, of patient bearing of weariness and discomfort, of what we
in popular speech call grit."
Your League can do no greater service than try to see that this heroic temper helps to mould the
rising generation. I do not for a moment believe that England is decadent, but I think there is danger
lest we may forget that a nation's life must suffer if its moral fibres are allowed to grow slack. After
all, if the world has any meaning at all, we are not here simply to have a good time." If your
League can spread the spirit for which Ypres stands, the spirit of that critical last day of October in
the first Battle of Ypres, the spirit which kept those men cheery and bright in the trenches, and the
spirit which in the last great push of the enemy made theni die with their backs to the wall if, I say,
you can spread that spirit among us in these still anxious and critical days of peace, you will be doing
magnificent service to nation and Empire.
You must like to feel that your Commemoration Day falls on the eve of All Saints' Day. It must
give it a richer meaning. It must touch endurance and courage with a light not of earth. Your
League stands for remembrance. In manifold ways, and beautiful ways, you are trying to remember
Ypres and the gallant defenders of that Salient, whose bodies lie there in their thousands. Well, I for
one believe that God conserves all that is of real value that in ways unknown to us He takes any
real sacrifice which we may make and transmutes it into something grander. I am sure that he conserves
personality. And so I bid you think of those whose lives were so early cut off as being trained by Him
elsewhere for richer and nobler service. We do not forget them. He does not forget them. All
Saints' Day reminds us of these things. Time and eternity surely are very closely interwoven, and
death is but the ante-room to larger life.
May the League continue its fruitful work. You cannot measure the extent of spiritual influence
with a foot rule. You are doing work far greater than you know. Like a fire which, leaping from
point to point, brightens as it burns, so the spirit of your League is a growing and expanding thing
and thousands will thank you for having led them to think, to remember, and to serve.
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