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2 November 2007
West Yorkshire’s fire chiefs will attend a remembrance ceremony in Ypres, Belgium on November 11.
They will officially represent West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and accompany the Band of the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, which has been invited to perform during a ceremony at the Menin Gate.
Since 1928 the Last Post has been sounded at the Menin Gate every evening as a tribute to the memory of the soldiers who fell in the Great War of 1914-18. The Menin Gate Memorial contains the names of Commonwealth soldiers who died without graves, incised into vast panels.
The combined bands of the West Yorkshire and Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Services, with pipers from Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Service, will participate in the Last Post ceremony, parades, wreath laying and a remembrance concert in St Martin’s Cathedral, Ypres.
West Yorkshire will be officially represented by the Chair of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor Philip Booth, and the county’s deputy chief fire officer, Simon Pilling.
“The town of Ypres was the scene of some of the worst fighting of the First World War, described as being all the horrors of the Somme and the hell of Verdun. The consequences were drastic with 500,000 dead in an area of 25 square kilometres,” said Councillor Booth.
“Ypres, now a town of peace, is a solemn reminder of what we all owe to our fallen heroes.”
ENDS
For further details: Stephen Hardy, 01274 655717