 1914
In medieval times the original narrow gateway on the east side of the
city of Ieper (Ypres) was originally called the Hangoart Poorte.
The word "Poorte" is Flemish for "gate".
At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 this eastern exit
from the city was a cutting through the remains of the ancient
ramparts, with the road crossing the moat.
This cutting was known as the "Meenenpoorte",
which translates as the "Menen Gate". The road from this gateway
leads north-east for a few hundred metres. At a crossroads there is a
right turn into the road leading to the town of Menen, some 16 kilometres
(10 miles) away. From 1914-1918 this road became known to the British
Army as The Menin Road.
In 1914 two seated stone lions, one on each side of
the gateway, guarded this eastern entrance to the city. The lions had
originally been located either side of a set of steps at the Cloth
Hall (Lakenhalle). When the steps were removed the lions were relocated
to the Meenenpoorte.
 Photograph
1 is taken looking through the Meenenpoorte into the
city. The lions are guarding the gate, looking outwards to the east of
Ypres. The clock tower of the Cloth Hall can be seen in the centre of
the picture. The pre-war tower style spire of St.
Martin's cathedral can be seen to the left of the
tree on the right hand side of the picture. The ramparts on either side
of the gate are grassed over and trees can be seen growing on them. The
railings on either side of the road are to protect people from falling
into the moat, which is this side of the ramparts.
 During
the war both of the lions were removed from the gateway again to prevent
their destruction. In 1936 they were presented to the Australian nation
by the Burgomeister (mayor) of the city of Ypres. Over 36,000 Australian
soldiers were killed or wounded on the battlefields of the Ypres Salient.
Over 6,000 of them have no known grave and are commemorated on the Menin
Gate Memorial to the Missing, which now stands on the site of the
old Meenenpoorte. The two stone lions can now be found at the entrance
to the Australian War Memorial
museum at Canberra.
1915
 The
city of Ypres (Ieper) suffered the first serious damage to its buildings
during the First Battle of Ypres (19 October - 22 November
1914). German artillery fired onto the city from its positions in the
north-east, east and south-east. On 22 November 1914 the Cloth
Hall (Lakenhalle) was set on fire by an incendiary device.
A few months later in the spring of 1915 an intensive
German bombardment was started up on the town. This was carried out by
long range, heavy German artillery, which included a huge 42cm howitzer.
This gun was nicknamed 'Dicke
Bertha' (big/fat Bertha) by the German Army and consequently became
known as 'Big Bertha' to the British Army.
 The
bombardment was the prelude to the launch of a German gas attack on the
Allied front line in the Ypres Salient on 22nd April 1915.
It was the beginning of the Second
Battle of Ypres.
This photograph of the Meenenpoorte (Photograph 2) is
not dated but is believed to have been taken in 1915, before the city
was very badly damaged. It is taken looking into the town, almost from
the same position as Photograph 1 dated 1914. The location has suffered
some damage by German artillery, but the trees are still standing on the
ramparts and the road is still passable to vehicles. A barricade can be
seen placed partly across the road through the gate. A large shell has
landed in the brickwork of the rampart above the moat.
1914-1918
 During
almost the whole period of the war thousands of British and Commonwealth
troops marched through this gateway onto the Menin Road,
which led them into the battlefields of the Ypres Salient.
Thousands never returned from these battlefields. Many were buried in
marked graves. However, in addition to these graves, the remains of over
90,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were never found; they are either
buried in marked graves with no identity or they still lie buried in the
soil where they fell.
Photograph 4 is taken from the same location as Photograph 1 in 1914.
It shows British troops and horses making their way through the gateway
from the city. The damaged clock tower of the Cloth
Hall (Lakenhalle) is now visible in the centre left of the picture.
This is because significant artillery damage has destroyed the houses
in the street behind the gate, giving a clear view through to the market
square (Grote Markt) and the Cloth Hall. The trees on the ramparts have
been stripped of their leaves and branches.
 After
1918
Photograph 5 shows the damage to the Meenenpoorte after
the Great War. It is taken from the road which runs north along the moat
on the outside of the city gate and looking westward at the section of
the rampart on the north side of the gate. The road cutting through the
ramparts and the bridge across the moat can be seen from the centre-left
of the photograph.
The trees on the ramparts on both sides of the gate are still standing,
but have been stripped of all their foliage. The brickwork of the ramparts
has been badly damaged.
Site of a Memorial to the Missing
 The
location of the Meenenpoorte at the eastern exit of Ypres
(Ieper) was considered a fitting place for one of the two Memorials
to the Missing for the thousands of British and Commonwealth
soldiers who have no known grave in the Ypres Salient battlefields.
next >> Design & Construction
of The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing
Acknowledgements
Map: Background detail from Ordnance Survey map, 1919.
Photograph 1: Postcard featured in Ieper
in oude prentkaarten, by D Masure, no. 46
Photograph 2: Postcard series Guerre Européenne no. 42: Entrée
d'Ypres - Entrance of Ypres.
Photograph 3: Postcard series Guerre Européenne no. 40: Ypres
bombardé - Ypres bombarded.
Photograph 4: British troops leaving Ypres through the Menenpoort during
the war. Imperial War Museum, Department
of Photographs. (Neg. no. not known)
Photograph 5: Postcard 40419-37 - Ypres. Porte de Menin et Fortifications.
The gate of Menin and the forts. (Collection Photo Antony d'Ypres)
Photograph 6: Aerial view of The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing (©:
www.greatwar.co.uk)
Photograph of the stone lions at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra
courtesy of Stephen Brown.
Copyright Joanna Legg & Graham Parker
© 2003. All rights reserved |
