History of the Menin Gate, Ieper (Ypres)
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.
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Photo 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.
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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 in Canberra. See photo 2.
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.
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Photo 4 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 Photo 1 dated 1914. The location 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
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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.
Photo 5 is taken from the same location as Photo 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.
1918
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Photo 6 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.
Acknowledgements
- Map: Background detail from Ordnance Survey map, 1919.
- Photo 1: Postcard featured in Ieper in oude prentkaarten, by D Masure, no. 46
- Photo 2: The stone lion at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra courtesy of Stephen Brown.
- Photo 3: Postcard series Guerre Européenne no. 40: Ypres bombardé - Ypres bombarded.
- Photo 4: Postcard series Guerre Européenne no. 42: Entrée d'Ypres - Entrance of Ypres.
- Photo 5: British troops leaving Ypres through the Menenpoort during the war. Imperial War Museum, Department of Photographs. (Neg. no. not known)
- Photo 6: Postcard 40419-37 - Ypres. Porte de Menin et Fortifications. The gate of Menin and the forts. (Collection Photo Antony d'Ypres)
- Photo 7: Aerial view of The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing (©: www.greatwar.co.uk)