The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, the Hon Dan Tehan
MP, will today lay a wreath at the Menin Gate memorial
in Belgium in honour of Australian soldiers who died in
the First World War.
The names of
55,000 missing soldiers, including 6,000 Australians,
are recorded on the Menin Gate memorial in Ieper
(Ypres). Each night at 8pm traffic is stopped at the
memorial and buglers from the local Fire Brigade sound
the Last Post under its arches.
Mr Tehan is in
Europe for commemorative services to mark the 100th
anniversary of Australian military involvement on the
Western Front. He attended services for the Battle of
Fromelles on Tuesday and will attend a service for the
Battle of Pozières on Saturday.
Mr Tehan said more
than 46,000 Australians died in France and Belgium and
about 18,000 have no known grave.
“Thousands upon
thousands of Australian soldiers passed through the site
of the Menin Gate on their way to fight on the Western
Front one hundred years ago and, sadly, so many never
returned,” Mr Tehan said.
“As a nation we
must keep alive the memory of every Australian who
defends our values and freedoms as a reminder of the
tragedy of war and a reminder of their bravery and
mateship.”
Mr Tehan will also
visit the construction site for the Sir John Monash
Centre at the Australian National Memorial,
Villers-Bretonneux.
“The Sir John Monash Centre will be a focal point for
visitors seeking to understand and commemorate
Australia’s service on the Western Front. It will be an
important place where our stories can be told and our
soldiers are remembered,” he said.
