chrislock Posted 28 April , 2015 Share Posted 28 April , 2015 Before you decide to amble along the ramparts in respectful contemplation, please see the thread applicable to the "The International Peace Bureau exhibition which comes with full town hall support which has been erected within the vicinity of the Menin Gate Memorial enclosure & nearby new memorial on behalf of Gurkha sacrifice. Many extreme images with text are included within the exhibition. Some are applicable to the Northern Ireland and Palestinian/Israeli conflicts. Please be patient and Frajohn will upload some images asap and then I welcome you to make your own minds up........ Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislock Posted 28 April , 2015 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2015 Images to follow and over to you guys. I welcome your thoughts on this development................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 28 April , 2015 Share Posted 28 April , 2015 Before you decide to amble along the ramparts in respectful contemplation, please see the thread applicable to the "The International Peace Bureau exhibition which comes with full town hall support which has been erected within the vicinity of the Menin Gate Memorial enclosure & nearby new memorial on behalf of Gurkha sacrifice. Many extreme images with text are included within the exhibition. Some are applicable to the Northern Ireland and Palestinian/Israeli conflicts. Please be patient and Frajohn will upload some images asap and then I welcome you to make your own minds up........ Chris Perhaps continuing with one's own respectful contemplation is the best and most dignified response to the "International Peace Bureau - but I have also communicated with the CWGC in the UK and Ypres to ask for their take on this so close to the Gate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislock Posted 28 April , 2015 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2015 Indeed Ian and I agree with your comments. I have also received a notification from CWGC Head Office at Maidenhead informing me that they are looking into this development and will come back to me in due course as are other offices from vested persons or departments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 28 April , 2015 Share Posted 28 April , 2015 Indeed Ian and I agree with your comments. I have also received a notification from CWGC Head Office at Maidenhead informing me that they are looking into this development and will come back to me in due course as are other offices from vested persons or departments. It's good that the CWGC know that these developments are noticed and that people care. I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that such a potent symbol as the Menin Gate exercises a seemingly irresistible temptation in the minds of some to enlist it to support their causes. Good taste and decorum doesn't seem to come into their considerations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislock Posted 28 April , 2015 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2015 No less than what many others have said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummell Posted 28 April , 2015 Share Posted 28 April , 2015 (edited) ianw, I do have some sympathy with the 'Fair enough, but display it elsewhere' argument but it seems to me that the only cause in which the 'popularity' of the Menin Gate is being used here is that of those people against war, oppression and violence. Hands up anyone in favour of those things? The examples chrislock has highlighted are emotive for some people, but that is how a point is made. I am a serving officer who dislikes the Army and its soldiers being unfairly disparaged, but I cannot find the Londonderry mural objectionable. I would not discount simple ignorance here rather than a political purpose on the council's part. If the text had read 'British soldiers mercilessly and without reason slaughtered thousands of etc., etc.,' then that would be unfair. But it doesn't. There's just a picture of a common scene. For me, the proximity of the display to the Menin Gate is intended to invite people to apply their thoughts on the Gate and the events of a century ago to the conflicts that are still ongoing. Some of us may believe history is worth studying for its own sake, others may believe the purpose of study is to inform present-day thinking. It seems the town council thinks the latter. Fair enough. - brummell Edited 29 April , 2015 by SPOF Removed a sentence which is not really applicable to the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 28 April , 2015 Share Posted 28 April , 2015 Brummell - each to his own of course. Yes, the Menin Gate and the names upon it are indeed thought provoking but the tens of thousands of men whose names are inscribed upon it would have encompassed all shades of political opinion . I find it grossly offensive that they should be dragooned into mutely supporting a particular political viewpoint albeit one draped in the handily criticism repellent cloak of "Peace". There have been other such uses in the past both at Tyne Cot and The Menin Gate. In my opinion the CWGC were quite correct in issuing guidelines about the use of these memorials for such purposes. These concentrated on prescribing the use of the interior space of the cemeteries and memorials. It may well be that the current signage obeys the letter of these guidelines , I don't know. However, even if this is the case, the signs appear to me not to be in good taste given their proximity - they definitely seem to be "getting in the face" of the Menin Gate to me. No doubt the intention of them , of course. I would imagine that the signs are a response to the large centenary crowds at the Menin Gate who no doubt need educating in the opinion of some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnumbellum Posted 28 April , 2015 Share Posted 28 April , 2015 I am puzzled as to why an item concerning the (British) Tank Memorial, Ypres Salient, is headed "International Peace Bureau". The IPB is an honourable international organisation established in Rome on 27 August 1892, at the conclusion of the 4th Universal Peace Congress, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910. It has no connection with tanks, British or otherwise, or with the Ypres Salient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 28 April , 2015 Share Posted 28 April , 2015 I think you have jumped too soon, MB ... the Tank Memorial link is part of Chris's 'signature' and unconnected with the subject of this thread, which is awaiting the posting of images by another member ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frajohn Posted 28 April , 2015 Share Posted 28 April , 2015 Hi Chris Lock has asked that I post these images on his behalf. There are two others but I have not been unable to download those as yet, will try later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frajohn Posted 28 April , 2015 Share Posted 28 April , 2015 Another Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislock Posted 28 April , 2015 Author Share Posted 28 April , 2015 Thank you for posting these images Frajohn and gratitude to Siege Gunner for pointing out to Magnumbellum that he needs to work on his reading skills! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 28 April , 2015 Share Posted 28 April , 2015 Oh my eye. Can't wait to visit ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 Obviously designed to get a message across to people travelling towards the Menin Gate and the positioning of the signage firmly puts the Gate in as the focus/final destination. Personally i find this distasteful - many will not - but I find it unlikely that there is anything that can be done about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frajohn Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 Last one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 International Peace Bureau, founded in 1892..... perhaps they need to look at some review of the effectiveness of their strategies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 I have just received a response from CWGC Ypres confirming that the City of Ypres is entitled to position the signage as they have done and that no CWGC rules and guidelines have been infringed. The City of Ypres has agreed to put no signage in the memorial garden without CWGC permission and have not done so. So that appears to be that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarchetta Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 International Peace Bureau, founded in 1892..... perhaps they need to look at some review of the effectiveness of their strategies. They are based in Switzerland - a country at peace ever since the IPB was formed... so a roaring success I would say! James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 Do we know how long these signs are going to be there, please? It's not something that I like, either, but given the response from the CWGC supplied by ianw above, there's nothing that I / we / anyone can do about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 Do we know how long these signs are going to be there, please? They look well entrenched and semi-permanent to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scorer Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 They look well entrenched and semi-permanent to me. Yes, it looks as if you're right - thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterhogg Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 i must say, from an aesthetic point of view, those signs are really ugly. It's just a lot of clutter and makes the path just look dreary. Why don't they put the signs up in war zones instead? Y'know where there's a war….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muerrisch Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 Grotesque. Avoid. Before spending a fortune on signs and erection, what was the originators' "Objective"? Or "Why"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummell Posted 29 April , 2015 Share Posted 29 April , 2015 Connor - I agree. They are ugly, and boringly designed. One would have to stand on the grass to read them, although I'm sure the grass will survive the encounter. I don't expect heavy footfall... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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