Menin Gate inauguration

[ceebee]

Field Marshall Lord Plumer's speech, which included those moving words "he is not missing; he is here", was delivered as part of the inauguration of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927. I have seen snippets of the speech, but never the full text. Could someone please assist with the entire speech or point me in the right direction.

Also, did Plumer write the speech himself?

All assistance is greatly appreciated.

Chris

[marina]

There's a big chunk of it here, ceebee. I cannot find the entire speech.

http://www.firstworldwar.com/today/meningate.htm

Marina

[Tom Morgan]

I'm sure this isn't all of it, but among other things, he said:

"One of the most tragic features of the Great War was the number of casualties reported as, "missing, believed killed."

.............. when peace came, and the last ray of hope had been extinguished, the void seemed deeper and the outlook more forlorn for those who had no grave to visit, no place where they could lay tokens of loving remembrance.......

...........and it was resolved that here at Ypres, where so many of the missing are known to have fallen, there should be erected a memorial worthy of them which should give expression to the nation's gratitude for their sacrifice and their sympathy with those who mourned them. A memorial has been erected which, in its simple grandeur, fulfils this object, and now it can be said of each one in whose honour we are assembled here today:

He is not missing; he is here!"

Tom

[ceebee]

Marina and Tom

Thanks for your responses. I'll drop a line to Joanna Legg, the author of the article on the First World War site.

Looking at the photo of the two ladies provided in that article took me back to a book I read many years ago by Gene Smith called Still Quiet on the Western Front. He has a small, poignant passage about the inauguration, which I'll share here:

The Gate was dedicated on July 24, 1927 by Field-Marshall Lord Plumer, who stood with the King of the Belgians before a giant audience from England. Among those present were some 200 women, many aged and infirmed, who had come on excursion trains at the expense of the Gate's engineer-constructor. The women brought rambler roses, snapdragons, lilies from their gardens. They sat in the hot sun facing the Gate with their backs to the Menin Road leading out to the Salient while buglers of the Somerset Light Infantry sounded the Last Post. Then six pipers for the Scots Guards, standing on the shell-shattered medieval ramparts by the Gate, played "Flowers of the Forest".

Pressmen said it seemed as if, from the throbbing silence when the calls faded away, there must come some sound, some sign, from the Salient up the road.

Lord Plumer said that of each one in whose honor they were assembled it could be said, "He is not missing. He is here." And the Mums in their funny hats and long black stockings put their hands over their faces.

Chris

[marina]

That is a lovely piece. Thanks, Chris.

Marina

[ceebee]

Marina

There is a version of Gene Smith's book in the October 1965 American Heritage Magazine which can be seen here. There are numerous passages which might interest you. The extract I provided in my previous post was taken from an abridged version published in the November 1968 Reader's Digest.

Chris

[marina]

Marina

There is a version of Gene Smith's book in the October 1965 American Heritage Magazine which can be seen here. There are numerous passages which might interest you. The extract I provided in my previous post was taken from an abridged version published in the November 1968 Reader's Digest.

Chris

Well, what can I say? I thought the extract was marvellous, one of the most moving I have seen. And such marvellous bits and pieces he has assembled to make a poignant read.

Thanks, Chris.

Marina

[Ivor Anderson]

I have 2 great uncles named on it. An informative link on the inauguration: http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/memorial-menin-gate-inauguration.htm

Edited 21 April by Ivor Anderson

[Ivor Anderson]

Menin Gate remembrance medal, approx 28mm diameter, has a detailed image of the Menin Gate to the front and 'Menin Gate in remembrance YPRES 24 VII 27' on the reverse.

Was this issued for the commemoration ceremony or sold for a time afterwards?

Edited 21 April by Ivor Anderson