Ypres will share its tribute to the fallen of the First World War with a worldwide audience this evening when the Last Post is sounded for the 30,000th time.
The ceremony is being streamed live from the Menin Gate where the buglers, traditionally drawn from Ypres’ volunteer fire brigade, have performed the daily salute for almost 90 years.
More than 150 fire stations and other organisations around the world have answered a call to hold simultaneous commemorations marking the historic moment.
At some venues, people are being invited in to watch the event on big screens.
A short text, commemorating ‘a tribute to the tribute’, has been specially written for the occasion by the Flemish actor, Wim Opbrouck.
In London, an armed forces veteran at the Royal Hospital Chelsea will read a tribute to Private Sidney Barrow, a soldier killed on this day 100 years ago.
The Last Post has been sounded at the Menin Gate largely without interruption since 1928, apart from the years of the German occupation during the Second World War, when the tradition was kept alive at Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking, in the UK.
The ceremony and live links between the various participating countries will be broadcast online at www.deredactie.be and www.flandersfields1418.com. A mobile phone app is also available.
A list of participating fire stations can be found here. Some of the UK events are featured in Centenary News.
The 30,000th Last Post tribute is a joint venture between GoneWest, the West Flanders cultural remembrance programme, and the Last Post Association.
Source: Visitflanders
Images courtesy of © milo-profi photography/Visitflanders)
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News