PASSCHENDAELE REFLECTIONS
08 October 2007
Guard mounted at Menin Gate
Australian soldiers from the 51st Battalion, the Far North Queensland Regiment stood guard in a historic ceremony in Belgium to remember thousands of World War I diggers.
Twenty-one soldiers from the 51st Battalion, the Far North Queensland Regiment served as an honour guard during the Last Post ceremony at Menin Gate in the city of Ieper on October 5 2007.
The ceremony included wreath laying by the VCDF Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie, and an ode read by the commanding officer of 51FNQR Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Evans.
Two Australian Army musicians joined the seven Belgian Menin Gate buglers during the ceremony.
The Menin Gate was unveiled in 1927 after it was destroyed in World War I. Every Australian soldier who served on the Western Front marched through the gate, and today it is a memorial for the thousands of Commonwealth soldiers believed killed near Ieper but who have no known grave.
Over 54,000 names are inscribed on Menin Gate, of whom more than 6100 are Australian.
Two of these are Sergeant George Calder of the 51st Battalion and Private John Hunter of the 49th Battalion, believed missing until their remains were uncovered with those of three other Australian soldiers last year at a pipeline excavation near Westhoek.
All five sets were re-interred on October 4 2007 at Buttes New British Cemetery.
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| 20071005adf8262658_191 Musicians Lambton Cameron-Taylor and Sergeant Rod Fry lead the 51st Battalion, The Far North Queensland Regiment ceremonial guard into the Menin Gate in the Belgian city of Ieper. (Date taken: 05 October 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20071005adf8262658_206 Soldiers from the 51st Battalion, the Far North Queensland Regiment take post as a ceremonial guard at the Menin Gate in the Belgian city of Ieper. (Date taken: 05 October 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20071005adf8262658_285 The Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie lays a wreath at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ieper, Belgium. (Date taken: 05 October 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20071005adf8262658_323 Soldiers from the 51st Far North Queensland Regiment (51FNQR) take post as the honour guard at the Menin Gate memorial. (Date taken: 05 October 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20071005adf8262658_325 The Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie, Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Evans, Commanding Officer of the 51st Battalion, the Far North Queensland Regiment and Chaplain Major Jim Pearson salute during the Last Post at the Menin Gate Memorial. (Date taken: 05 October 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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| 20071005adf8262658_345 The Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie signs the official visitors book at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ieper, Belgium. (Date taken: 05 October 2007) Low-Res | Hi-Res |
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