Easter Pilgrimage.
Membership of the League.
THE YPRES TIMES
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The monument measures 70 feet in diameter and 38 feet high. It forms the
central feature of the Berks Cemetery Extension and faces the Hyde Park Corner
(Royal Berks) Cemetery on the other side of the road.
This is open to all who served in the Salient,
and to all those whose relatives or friends died
there, in order that they may have a record of
that service for themselves and their descendants,
and belong to the comradeship of men and
women who understand and remember all that
Ypres meant in suffering and endurance.
Life membership, £2 10s. Annual members,
5s. Special charges are made to those who
cannot afford the 5s. subscription.
Do not let the fact of your not having served
in the Salient deter you from joining the Ypres
League. Those who have neither fought in the
Salient nor lost relatives there, but who are in
sympathy with the objects of the Ypres League,
are admitted to its fellowship, but are not given
scroll certificates.
There is also a Junior Division to which
children of those who served in the Salient, also
those who sympathize with our objects, have the
right to belong. Annual subscription is. up
to the age of 18, after which they can become
ordinary members of the League.
A PARTY of fifty ex-Service men and other pilgrims left Victoria at 9.50 a.m.
on Saturday, April 7th, and, after a pleasant crossing from Dover, reached
Ostend at about four o'clock in the afternoon. The train which bore us
thence to Ypres was by no means over-anxious to get there; we consoled ourselves
with the thought that "it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive"; and tried
to extract amusement from the Flemish countryside, flourishing and peaceful to
the eye, and covered with bright new villages. Only here and there a German
pill-box" reminded us of war, and as we drew near to our destination the torn
and broken woods gave us some idea of its desolation.
At Ypres, we went straight to the Hotel Splendid and Britannique. Here we
were received, amiably, but somewhat unintelligibly, by the proprietress, who
immediately proceeded with the billeting arrangements in her own masterful style,
allotting double bedrooms in a reckless manner and without any regard for the
private wishes of the victims. However, by dint of much swapping," we
straightened ourselves out later on, and all was well.
On Easter morning we passed th^ time according to our several inclinations;
some explored the city itself, while others walked or "bussed" out to their own
particular bits of the Salient. Everyone made a pause at the Menin Gate; many
had names to look for; all were impressed by the architectural beauty of the
memorial, which alone justifies a visit to Ypres.
In the afternoon most of the party availed themselves of the motor tour of the
Salient which was organized. The route followed was via St. Jean and St. Julien
where a halt was made at the fine Canadian Memorialto Poelcappelle, and
thence to Passchendaele. The view from the ridge gives one an excellent idea of
the great advantage enjoyed by those who held it, from the point of view of
observation.
After visiting Tyne Cot Cemetery and the memorial to the 7th Division, we
reached the Menin Road by way of Westhoek, and left it, at Birr cross-roads, to
