World War I Commemorations in

Belgium in 2009

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In Belgium:

Addresses

WWII Commemorations

Ieper (Ypres) - every evening at 8.00 p.m.

Background music: "The Last Post"
Reproduced with permission www.greatwar.co.uk. Many thanks to Mr David Legg.

British Last Post blown by 2 or more Ieper firemen under the Menin Gate, commemorating all the Commonwealth servicemen who fought in the area during the First World War.
Info: Dienst voor Toerisme. Lakenhalle, B-8900 Ieper.
T: +32-57-22 85 84. Fax: +32-57-22 85 89.
Info: Last Post Association
http://www.lastpost.be

The Menin Gate, a memorial to the missing British and Commonwealth soldiers.
Source: http://www.lastpost.be

Text above the Menin Gate: "To the armies of the british empire who stood here from 1914 to 1918 and to those of their dead who have no known grave."
Source: http://www.greatwar.co.uk/westfront/ypsalient/meningate/meningate1418.htm

Ploegsteert - Every 1rst Friday of the month at 19.00 p.m.
Last Post Ceremony at the Memorial of Ploegsteert reported missing, ceremony organised too the 2 May and 6 June with the presence of Your Excellency the Australian Ambassador.
Info : M. Claude Verhaeghe. Comité du Mémorial de Ploegsteert. 159, rue de Messines. B-7782 Ploegsteert.
T: +32-56-58 84 41. Fax: +32-477-50 01 46. E-mail : auberge@skynet.be. Internet : http://www.auberge-ploegsteert.be.
Info: http://www.ww1plugstreet.org/

Plugsteert Memorial.
Source: http://www.ww1plugstreet.org/

Zeebrugge - 24 April
Commemoration of the Naval Attack on the German submarine basis on St-George's Day in 1918.
Info: Dienst voor Toerisme. Burg 11, B-8000 Brugge.
T: +32-50-44 86 86. Fax: +32-50-44 86 00.

Ieper (Ypres) - 25 April
Anzac Day Service at St-George's Memorial Church.
Info: St-George's. Elverdingestraat 82, B-8900 Ieper.
T: +32-57-20 01 18.

Passendale - Zonnebeke - 25 April
Commemoration ANZAC Day.
Info: De heer Frank Bostyn. Dienst voor Toerisme. Ieperstraat 5, B-8980 Zonnebeke.
T: +32-51-77 04 41. Fax: +32-51-78 07 50.
Info: http://www.liv-coll.ac.uk/pa09/europetrip/brussels/swood.htm & http://www.liv-coll.ac.uk/pa09/europetrip/brussels/3rdypres.htm

Canadian Gunners in the Mud, Passchendaele
Painted in 1917 by Alfred Bastien (1873–1955)
Source: http://www.civilization.ca/cwm/canvas/1/cwd435e.html
Fifteen thousand Canadian men were killed, wounded or reported missing in the fighting at Passchendaele between October and November 1917.

Passendale before and after...

Halen - August
Commemoration of the Battle of the Silver Helmets in 1914.
Info: Museum "Slag der Zilveren Helmen 1914". Rotemstraat 14, B-3545 Halen.
T: +32+13-44 10 14.

Andenne - August
Commemoration of the Massacre of 674 Civilians in 1914.
Info: Service du Tourisme. 48 Place des Tilleuls, B-5300 Andenne.
T: +32-85-84 96 40.

Memorial at Messines in Belgium on the site where the London Scottish Regiment first went into action on 31st October 1914 (The first territorial unit in action).
Source: http://www.londonscottishregt.org/memorials.cfm

Dinant - August
Commemoration of the Execution of 674 Civilians in 1914.
Info: Service du Tourisme. 37 rue Grande, B-5500 Dinant.
T: +32-82-22 28 70.

Info:

http://www.silentcities.co.uk

Loncin (NW of Liège) - 15 August
Commemoration of the resistance of the forts around Liège in 1914 and of the explosion of the fort.
Info: Fort de Loncin. 15bis, Rue des Héros, B-4431 Loncin.
T: +32-4-246 44 25. E-mail: contact@fortdeloncin.com

Tamines - 26 August
Commemoration of the Execution of 384 Civilians in 1914.
Info: Hôtel de Ville. Place Communale, B-5060 Tamines.
T: +32-71-26 0208.

Diksmuide - 26 August
Commemoration of the Battle of the Yser in 1914.
Info: Dienst voor Toerisme. Markt 28, B-8600 Diksmuide.
T: +32-+32-51-51 91 46. Fax: +32-51-51 00 20.

Facsimiled of a decree of the 26 germinal year VI, where is reported the flood which took place in 1794-95 for the defense of Nieuport-Dixmude. This principle was re-used in October 1914 to stop the Germans.
Source: L'Illustration of December 1, 1917.

Diksmuide - 26 August
Ceremony at the Memorial of the 12th Manitoba Dragoons.
Info: Dienst voor Toerisme. B-8600 Diksmuide.
T: +32-
Info: Canadian Embassy. 2 avenue de Tervuren, B-1040 Brussels.
T: +32-2-741 06 11. Fax: +32-2-741 06 43.

Melle (near Ghent) - 24 Sepember
Commemoration of the battle of Melle (near Ghent), where the French Fusiliers-Marins, lead by Admirai Ronarc'h, held their ground besides their Belgian comrades-in-arms.
Info: Dienst voor Toerisme.

Melle memorial

Passendaele - Zonnebeke - 28 September
Commemoration of the Belgian regiments of Carabiniers and Grenadiers - Offensive of the Liberation of Belgium in 1918.
Info: De heer Frank Bostyn. Dienst voor Toerisme. Ieperstraat 5, B-8980 Zonnebeke.
T: +32-51-77 04 41. Fax: +32-51-78 07 50.

Brussels - 10 November at 10.45 p.m.
Remembrance Day ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Colonne du Congres. Wreath-laying by a Commonwealth representative and the Belgian Minister of Defence.
Info: Commonwealth-Belgian Joint Committee.

Throughout Belgium - 11 November
Armistice Day ceremonies remembering the end of WWI in 1918.
Info: local Town Hall or Tourism Office.

Sample poster produced in 1919 appealing to the Belgium population to contribute to a war reconstruction loan.
Source: http://www.firstworldwar.com/

Brussels - 11 November
Wreath-laying ceremony at the Unknown Soldier followed by a parade of War Veterans, units of the Belgian Forces and Patriotic Associations (11,00 hrs.).
Info: Service des Fêtes. Hôtel de Ville. Grand Place- Grote Markt, B-1000 Bruxelles/Brussels.
T: +32-2-279 43 65.

Yeper - 11 November at 9.30 a.m.
Remembrance Day service, organised by the Last Post Committee at Saint Martin's Cathedral followed by a wreath laying ceremony at the Menin Gate.
Info: Last Post Association (http://www.lastpost.be)
Info: http://www.dva.gov.au/commem/rememb/ceremony/overseas.htm (Department Veterans Affairs - Government of Australia)

Website of Belgian National Remembrance Committe