The Ypres Tii^es.
215
reported as Hissing, believed killed.'' To their relatives there must have been added to their grief a
tinge of bitterness and a feeling that everything possible had not been done to recover their loved ones'
bodies and give them reverent burial. That feeling no longer exists it ceased to exist when the
conditions under which the fighting was being carried out were realised.
But when peace came and the last ray of hope had been éxtinguished the void seemed deeper
and the outlook more forlorn for those who had no grave to visit, no place where they could lay tokens
of loving remembrance. The hearts of the people throughout the Empire went out to them, and it was
resolved that here at Ypres, where so many of the missing are known to have fallen, there should be
erected a memorial worthy of them which should give expression to the nation's gratitude for their
sacrifice and its sympathy with those who mourned them. A memorial has been erected which,
in its simple grandeur, fulfils this object, and now it can be said of each one in whose honour we are
assembled here to-day He is not missing he is here."
But this monument which is now to be unveiled does not express only the nation's gratitude and
sympathy it expresses also its pride in the fulness of the sacrifice. It is an acknowledgment that
it was only by their sacrifice and the sacrifice of all who laid down their lives that we who fought and
survived were able to carry out the task entrusted to us. Indeed, this archway, standing as it does in
splendid grandeur at the gate of the town, is like the main body of a protecting army, the lines of defence
being represented by the numerous cemeteries grouped around it. Together they are a testimony,
more eloquent than any words, of how the troops defended successfully for four years the Ypres
Salient.
Moreover, this ground, which for all time will be known as the Ypres Salient, is a historical record
of the friendship and comradeship which existed and will always exist between the two armies, British
and Belgian, who fought there side by side and the town of Ypres, which was shattered beyond all
recognition during the war, and has now been rebuilt, illustrates fitly the unconquerable spirit of the
Belgian nation.
Then, turning to face the memorial, the Field-Marshal spoke the closing words
To the glory of God and to the memory of those whose names are inscribed hereon I
unveil this memorial in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost."
As he did so he pressed an electric button on the rail of the platform, and the three flags
concealing the dedicatory inscription slipped down to lodge on the cornice, where they
rested invisible from below.
The King of the Belgians
then gave an address in
English.
His Majesty declared that
there was no ground in the world
more sacred than that of the
Ypres Salient, for it was to up
hold the sanctity of treaties that
England came into the war it
was to avenge the unjustifiable
attack on Belgium that the
British Empire took up arms
to the remotest parts of its
possessions. In truth, for 50
months Ypres marked the thres
hold of the Empire, and through
out centuries to come its name
would stand as the symbol of
British courage and endurance.
Ypres was to the British Army
what Verdun was to the French
Army. Those two bastions re
mained inviolate in spite of
inconceivable efforts made
against them.
After the hymn "For all
the Saints," Dr. John M.
Simms, of the Presbyterian
A3
PhotoThe Times Copyright.
KING ALBERT'S EULOGY.
