At Menin Gate Memorial

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 202, 9 August 1928, Page 5

At Menin Gate Memorial

Service of Remembrance Impressive Two-minutes Silence Inspiring Address By Dr. Lang [British Official Wireless.! (Received 9, 12.30 p.m.) Rugby, Aug. S. Deep emotions were touched among the 11 ,000 British Legion pilgrims, headed by the Prince of Wales, at the Service of Remembrance at the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres to-day The impressive two minutes’ silence so affected the multitude that women sobbed and men had difficulty in keeping back their tears.

Beside the Prince of Wales on the platform by the magnificent ruin of the old Cloth Hall, there were present at the service Prince Charles of Belgium. Admiral Lord Jellicoe, presi-

dent of the British Legion, and a number of distinguished French generals. The service, which was conducted by Dr. Jarvis, ChaplainGeneral to the Forces, was beautiful in its simplicity and contained no note of triumph beyond that of triumph over death. ARCHBISHOP’S ADDRESS. It concluded with an address by Dr. Lang, Archbishop of York and Archbishop Designate of Canterbury. He said:— “We meet here to revive the memories and spirit which have made this place for ever sacred in the hearts of the British race. “Yet when we remember the sacrifice of toil and treasure and the precious blood poured out on the fields of France and Flanders the question springs unbidden to the mind: Was it al! worth while? Here at this gate let there be no faltering in the answer ‘Yes.’ A thousand times ‘Yes.’ The spirit of war is an active menace which used war, or a threat of war, as a normal instrument of policy. It had been laid low—dethroned in the

very lands where once it seemed to reign. War will soon be renounced in a solemn and deliberate pledge by all those nations who, ten years ago, were locked in the throes of war "Through the suffering and saorifloe of war there has been won as never before In human history a settled will to seek peace and ensure It,”

The Archbishop added: “Ten years ago our hearts were full of high purpose; full of hopes for a jtter and richer life for all our people. What has come of them? How do they meet the challenge of insecurity, of unemployment, of depression, which lies like a blight upon the industrial north of England from which I come?” A CAUSE DEMANDING SACRIFICES. He declared that the bettering of the life of the British Commonwealth was a cause demanding sacrifices no less real than those which were offered in the stress of war. MARCH OF BRITISH LEGIONARIES. The last scene of the ceremony was a march of British Legionaries past the Prince of Wales, which occupied over an hour. Some of the Legionaries limped on crutches, others were armless; all wore medals. PRINCE’S GRACIOUS ACTION. The Prince noticed that Lady Haig, widow of the late Field Marshal who led the British forces to victory, was marching with the women pilgrims. He at once asked her to join him on the platform and share the salute. It was a gracious and spontaneous action which was particularly appreciated by wives and mothers. In the afternoon the Prince, accompanied by General Sir Fabian Ware, visited cemeteries in the neighbourhood

His Royal Highness returns to London to-night.