THE YPRES TIMES
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Many of the pilgrims had dear ones resting in the numerous cemeteries, and no
effort was spared by our guides, so that all could visit the places they each
held so dear. What a tour it wasAlbert, Pozières, Delville Wood, and places too
numerous to mention were each in turn visited, and never shall I forget the gratitude
of those whom it was my privilege to help in their search for the resting-place of the dear
ones. One elderly lady, having found the grave of her son, was given a spray of
flowers plucked from the grave, replying I shall treasure this as long as I live
By such actions as these does the League justify its existence, and all ex-servicemen,
who know only too well what these poor mothers, wives and sweethearts were feeling,
should without delay show their appreciation
of the League's work by joining and so
making it a real League for Good.
Monday, August ist, the all-important
day arrived, and again we were en route
for the battlefields, to bear our part in
the unveiling of that great memorial to
the 73,000 heroes of the Somme. All roads
seemed to be full of pilgrims, all with the
same intent, Honour to whom honour is
due."
Typical Somme weather seemed to be
the order of the day, heavy clouds massing,
and then rain. How it rained And yet
none stirredlike their comrades whom
they were there to honour, they stood
and awaited our Prince. How all cheered
when H.R.H. The Prince of Wales arrived.
A soldier, one who had served with the
King's Army, the representative of the King
and Britain, one loved by all who had served
with the Army.
Hearts were too full to join in the first
verse of that grand old hymn, O God,
our Help in ages past," but gradually and
surely the singing swelled into a great
Paeon of Praise to the throne of the Father
of all. Prayers and hymns followed, and
then the Chairman of the Imperial War
Graves Commission, Major - General Sir
Fabian Ware, invited the Prince to unveil
the Memorial. I do not propose to quote
the speech of the Prince the daily papers
THE THIEPVAL MEMORIAL. have already given full reports, and all
have no doubt read them this is only to
give my impressions of this Sacred Day.
The Prince's speech ended, a bell pressed, and as the Flag of England and the
Tricolour of France fell from the Memorial, and others were hoisted on the two masts
which surmounted the Memorial, the sun came out. Was it a promise of better days
to come for the two Nations, who above all else had shared the trials of those awful
days Following the speech of our Soldier Prince came the tribute of the French
President, then the Dedication by Bishop Southwell, the Assistant Chaplain-General of
the Fourth Army the Benediction of the Bishop of Amiens, followed by the Last
Post" sounded by the buglers of the Durham Light Infantry, the Flowers of the