THIS is the 90th anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War, the Battle of Ypres.
From July to October, 1917, 110,000 British, Canadian and Australian troops lost their lives to shelling, machine gun bullets, gas or by drowning in a sea of mud. Men, tanks and horses were swallowed up.
The Mein Gate (an arch) has the names of 55,000 and the wall of Tyne Cot Cemetery has another 34,000 of those missing in action. The cemetery holds 12,000 graves, the biggest cemetery in the world. Nearly 120,000 wounded were returned home.
The battles of Passchendaele, Arives, Alberl, Loos and the Mein Road contributed to this grim total.
Every evening the Last Post is sounded at the Mein Gate and a minute's silence held by the people of Belgium. They never forget so we must not. We must always remember.
S A BROWNING, Isle of Wight.
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