Menin Gate
The Menin Gate (Dutch: Menenpoort), officially the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing,[a] is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium, dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown. The memorial is located at the eastern exit of the town and marks the starting point for one of the main roads that led Allied soldiers to the front line.
Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing
24 July 1927
54,896
Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front)
Cultural
i, ii, vi
Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and built by the Imperial War Graves Commission (since renamed the Commonwealth War Graves Commission), the Menin Gate Memorial was unveiled on 24 July 1927.[1] In early 2023, the monument was closed for extensive restoration works, expected to be completed in time for the memorial's centenary in 2027.[2]
Eight recipients of the Victoria Cross are commemorated on this memorial, listed under their respective regiments:[10]
Others listed include:
In art[edit]
Menin Gate at Midnight (also known as Ghosts of Menin Gate) is a 1927 painting by Australian artist Will Longstaff. The painting depicts a host of ghostly soldiers marching across a field in front of the Menin Gate war memorial.[31] The painting is part of the collection of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.[32]
Monument to Indian soldiers
Gurkha memorial
Town ramparts near Menin Gate
Tactile model of Menin Gate
On the city walls near the Menin Gate are further memorials to Allied soldiers who fought and died at Ypres, the most notable being those to the Gurkhas and Indian soldiers.