A group of intrepid and dedicated friends recently engaged in a visit to Belgium over the Armistice period with a plan to commemorate the fighting spirit of our troops in WWI with visits to numerous memorials and the Menin Gate. Involved in this group where Andy Jones, a Piper with the Seaforth Highlanders, Angela and Peter Pimperton from the Rotary Club of Retford and a group of people who were associated with the Coldstream Guards, The Parachute Regiment and the Tank Regiment along with their wives and friends.
On Tuesday 6th November Angela and Peter Pimperton along with their friends Paul and Dianne Beardsley attended the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke as guests to witness the re-burial of three unknown soldiers who had been recently located during excavation work in the area. Of these soldiers one was identified as a British soldier belonging to the Lancashire Fusiliers whilst the other two soldiers could only be identified as Australian. All three were buried with full military honours, and a three-volley salute, and with a lone piper playing ‘The Battles O’er’. A further re-burial also took place at Polygon Wood, when an unknown British soldier was again laid to rest by the Lancashire Fusiliers with full military honours. To be present at such events was truly humbling.
On 10th November Andy Jones together with his service friends attended the Sheffield Cemetery on the Somme and despite the atrocious weather they laid a wreath to the fallen comrades and Andy played ‘Amazing Grace’ at the memorial.
The 11th November, Armistice Day, saw Andy, Angela and Peter attend the Ploegsteert Memorial at 6.00am where Andy played ‘The Battles O’er’ with Angela and Peter singing with him. John Brewin, a former SAS Paratrooper from Sheffield, also read out John McCrea’s famous poem ‘In Flander Fields’. This was part of a larger ceremony that saw 2,500 pipers all over the world all playing ‘The Battles O’er’ at 6.00am as a tribute to the fallen. At 8.30am all three were once again involved in a ceremony at the WWI Memorial at Messen’s together with their friends and a large group of locals were in attendance with the local band. Once again, the lament ‘The Battles O’er’ was played and sung.
At 10.00am the whole group attended Ypres for the ceremony at the Menin Gate which, as it was commemorating 100 years since the end of WWI, was to be a very special event. Some of them took part in the Poppy Parade which sees a large group of people assemble to the rear of the Lace Hall and then parade through the centre of Ypres. A person within the group is allocated to lay a wreath at the Menin Gate. This year’s Poppy Parade was probably 5,000 people strong and took a long time to parade through Ypres on their way to the Menin Gate. For this local group Angela Pimperton was allocated the wreath which she laid at the Menin Gate on behalf of the Rotary Club of Retford, of which she and Peter are both members. It was noticeable whilst walking through Ypres that the whole of the market place, the ramparts, and beyond were packed with people looking at the large video screens that had been erected. It was estimated that about 100,000 people were in Ypres that day. It was truly a once in a lifetime moment.
The evening of 11th November saw a final tribute to the fallen, when the group attended the Ploegsteert Memorial once more at 7.00pm for a candlelight service where once again Angela sang ‘Amazing Grace’ to the gathered audience with Andy accompanying on the Pipes. As Angela sang the gathered crowd spontaneously joined in with her which was amazing to hear.
For anyone who has never visited the battlefields of Belgium and Flanders it is a truly humbling experience and puts into perspective the ultimate sacrifice that those brave souls made for us. It was truly an honour for us all to be part of those celebrations 100 years later.