Memorials to the Missing
"He is not missing, he is here”
Field Marshall Lord Plummer at the unveiling of the memorial 0n 24 July 1927
Of the 56,638 fatal casualties suffered by the C.E.F. during the Great War, 18.268 remain to this day as the Missing – meaning their remains were never recovered or recovered but never identified (the ‘Unknowns’). These men have no known graves. Those lost in France (11.285) are commemorated on the Vimy Memorial while those lost in Belgium (6,983) are commemorated on the Menin Gate. The 15th Battalion (48th Highlanders) suffered 1,467 fatal casualties all ranks of which 461 have no known resting place: 255 in Belgium and 202 in France.
Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and built by the Imperial War Graves Commission, the Menin Gate in the Belgian city of Ieper (Ypres) was unveiled on 24 July 1917. It contains names on stone panels of 54,395 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the Ypres Salient but whose bodies have never been identified or found. The panels are grouped by country and then by regiment with the names grouped by rank in alphabetical order.
Every night at 8 pm the traffic is stopped at the Menin Gate while buglers of the Last Post Association sound the Last Post in the roadway under the Memorial’s arches. For more information on the Last Post Association please check their website: www.lastpost.be and click HERE to see a short video of the daily ceremony.
Northeast of Arras on the ridge overlooking the Douai plain, the Vimy memorial was unveiled on 26 July 1936 by King Edward VIII. Carved on the walls of the monument are the names of 11,285 Canadian soldiers who died in France and whose final resting place was then unknown. Unlike the Menin Gate, the names of The Missing on the memorial at not listed by battalion or unit but instead they are all listed in alphabetic order. Initials and service numbers may be added to distinguish between individuals with the same name. Hence it is not possible to display images of the names of the 15th Battalion’s Missing as on the Menin Gate gallery below. Instead, the Vimy gallery contains only representative images of some of the 15th Battalion’s Missing whose names are inscribed on the memorial.
Click HERE to view a video of the 1936 unveiling ceremony.
Useful links for the Vimy Memorial: Wikipedia and Veteran’s Affairs Canada
Names on the Menin Gate
Click image to enlarge.
Names on Vimy Memorial
Some of the 15th Battalion men listed on the Vimy Memorial. Click image to enlarge.
