THE YPRES TIMES
85
THE pilgrimage to the battlefields, organized by the British Legion, will
consist of 11,000 pilgrims, coming from all parts of Great Britain, Ireland
and the Dominions overseas. They will be billeted in parties, according to
the area from which they come, in the towns of Amiens, Arras, Armentières,
Béthune, Cambrai, Hazebrouck, Henin, Lille, Poperinghe, Roubaix, Tourcoing,
Valenciennes and Ypres.
Departure from this country will be on Sunday, August 5th, by special boats
from Harwich, Tilbury and Dover. On Monday and Tuesday visits will be paid
to Beaumont-Hamel and Vimy.
On Wednesday, August 8th, there will be a great concentration in Ypres for
a Memorial Service and March Past, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales taking the
salute. On this day Y'pres will be closed to the general public; barricades will be
erected and guarded by gendarmes and soldiers. Only those bearing the British
Legion pass will be admitted, except, of course, the inhabitants. The rail traffic will
be so great that it will not be possible for any but the special trains of the British
Legion parties to travel on the line from Hazebrouck to Ypres on Wednesday.
Identification of the parties is to be by way of letters, the mobile unit will be a
train party, the number of pilgrims travelling in a special train, each of these trains
bearing a letter of the alphabet; the pilgrims will wear a badge bearing this train
letter.
The concentration will commence by the arrival in Ypres of the first party
at 7.30 a.m., and the last party is expected at 11.30 a.m. Arrangements are
being made for a meal to be served to each party on arrival, and the site of the
buffet will be near the station. After the meal the parties will proceed to the
various buildings allotted to them to deposit their luggage, and they will then
form up for the procession to the Menin Gate Memorial.
One group will approach the Memorial from the Lille Gate; another will
approach in two sections, one from the North Approach and the other along the
Avenue Maréchal Foch; a third group will approach from the Grande Place, and
the fourth, consisting of the Women's Section, will take up its position in the
procession near the British Memorial Church and approach the Menin Gate along
the North Ramparts. On arrival at the Memorial, standard bearers will detach
themselves and form a Guard round the Memorial. The pilgrims will then march
and form up in close formation of fours in certain allotted places, and a special
group, comprising the distinguished visitors, will be given a place of honour near
the main arch. On the North and South Ramparts chairs will be provided for the
disabled and other pilgrims who will not be able to bear the strain of standing
throughout the ceremony.
The form of service is to be a special one, following very closely the one used
by the British Legion delegates at the Scarborough War Memorial at Whitsuntide.
Following the service, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales will lay a wreath of
Flanders poppies on the Memorial, and the pilgrims will re-form for the March
Past. In the parade the Women's Sections will lead, followed by the other parties
in order of time of departure of their respective trains.
So will close the first pilgrimage organized on such a huge scale from this
country. Eleven thousand have already registered, but this number only repre
sents a tithe of those who would have gone had accommodation been available.
