THE YPRES TIMES
memory of the late Field-Marshal
Viscount Plumer, who was with us
on the 1931 parade, the last public
occasion of his life.
Following the address, the
Lament was played by the
pipers of the 1st Bn. Scots Guards.
The last notes of the pipes died
away into a dead silence, broken
almost immediately by the clear,
thrilling notes of the most moving of
all bugle calls The Last Post,"
while men stood bareheaded and
motionless, heedless of wind and rain.
The rain ceased as the whole
parade, headed by the band, formed
in procession, and marched to the
Cenotaph, where Field-Marshal
Viscount Allenby laid the Ypres
League wreath.
The wreath-bearers were Major
G. R. P. Roupell, V.C., East Surrey
Regiment, and Sergeant O. Brooks,
V.C., late Coldstream Guards, while
the Ypres League banner and flag
were borne by Lieut. W. A. White,
V.C., late M.G.C., and Lieut. Michael
O'Leary, V.C., late Connaught
Rangers. At the conclusion of the
parade, a party of members and
friends of the League, headed by
four of the V.Cs., placed a wreath on
the grave of the Unknown Warrior.
The service was conducted by Canon
C. S. Woodward, M.C., who also paid
a tribute to the memory of Lord
Plumer.
It has been said that in maintain
ing these annual parades we are
fostering the militarist spirit.
Surely, all our members must rise
in refutation of such a charge.
In keeping alive the memory and
spirit of the comradeship learned in
the war, we believe we do our part
in preparing the only sure road to
peace on earth, the growth of good
will and the spirit of peace in men's
hearts. Only so can we really keep
faith with those we honour. Other
wise the memory of the horror and
sacrifices of Ypres must eventually
be blotted out by future tragedies, the magnitude of which may well be beyond our
imagination.
Photo
[By kind permission of The Sport General Press
Agency, Ltd.
FIELD-MARSHAL VISCOUNT ALLENBY
LAYING THE YPRES LEAGUE WREATH
AT THE CENOTAPH.