Organisers of an evening of music and reflection commemorating the Battle of Passchendaele are seeking people to help illuminate the October event at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium.
Silent City Meets Living City, organised by the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 and the municipality of Zonnebeke, will be held on 14 October 2017.
With nearly 12,000 graves and 35,000 names on the monument to the missing, Tyne Cot is described as the ‘most important silent witness’ of the struggle for Passchendaele a century ago.
All the graves and names on the Tyne Cot Memorial will be ‘symbolically brought to life’, illuminated with lights held by visitors registering to take part in Silent City Meets Living City.
The site near Ypres, cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world.
About 200 participants from different Flemish regions will be involved in an event that also features a sound and light performance, music, readings and moments of silence.
‘Silent City Meets Living City’ is part of a continuing commemorative programme in Flanders, honouring all those who fought in the Third Battle of Ypres, also known as Passchendaele, from 31 July-10 November 1917. Participation in ‘Silent City Meets Living City’ is free but you must register before Monday 9 October at Passchendaele 2017.
Burials started at Tyne Cot during the closing weeks of the Allied offensive to capture Passchendaele ridge in autumn 1917. The cemetery was considerably enlarged after the First World War. It was the setting for the UK Government’s centenary commemorations on 31 July 2017 remembering the start of the Third Battle of Ypres.
Source: Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917
Images © Wilfried Manhaeve
Posted by: CN Editorial Team