The names of several Dimboola locals appear on one of the most impressive memorials built to commemorate fallen World War One Empire soldiers in Belgium on the Western Front.
The Imperial War Graves Commission had the aim that every Empire soldier to be killed during World War One would be remembered by name somewhere on the battlefield. Ideally, this is on a gravestone above his body where he is buried, but unfortunately for many, they have no known grave due to their body never being found or their original grave being lost or destroyed during subsequent battles.
For these soldiers, Memorials to the Missing were created, with Australians who perished on the Western Front in France commemorated at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, and for those who fell in Belgium, the Menin Gate memorial in the city of Ypres. Other such Commonwealth memorials include Theipval in France and Tyne Cot Cemetary in Belgium, which contain predominantly British names.
The Menin Gate is located in an opening in the ramparts surrounding the city of Ypres, a significant stronghold for the Allies throughout the First World War. Much fighting took place to the east of this city, and most soldiers to serve on these battlefields would have passed through this location at some stage during the War.
For this reason, this site was chosen for the Memorial to the Missing in the Belgian sector of the Western Front, and it was officially opened in July 1927. It displays the names of over 54,000 Empire troops with no known grave, including 6,198 Australians, 40,244 from the United Kingdom, 414 Indian, 564 South African, 6,983 Canadian, and 6 West Indians. Soldiers from New Zealanders and Newfoundland and honoured on separate memorials, and a further 34,984 United Kingdom soldiers are inscribed on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing.
The structure is an impressive arched mausoleum that spans a public road, forming the gateway for pilgrims visiting the battlefields east of the city.
Between 1915 and 1918, the gates were not the grand structure that stands there today, but a current feature that would have been familiar to the World War One soldier is the carved limestone lions that guarded the gates. Although they were damaged during the fighting, the Mayor of Ypres donated them to Australia in 1936. After restoration in the 1980s, they were placed near the entrance to the Australian War Memorial, although during the centenary commemorations in 1917, they were loaned back and spent the time between Anzac Day and Remembrance Day on plinths either side of the road where they originally sat.
One of the original lions that were donated to Australia in the 1930s, but loaned back to Belgium for the centenary commemorations in 1917.
Since then, replicas have been gifted by the Australian government to the people of Belgium, and two lions once again stand vigil at this solemn site.
The famous Last Post ceremony has been conducted every evening at 8 pm, rain, hail, or shine, since July 1928 by the citizens of Ypres to show their gratitude toward those who gave their lives to defend their country, except for the four years of German occupation during the Second World War. During this period, the daily ceremony was conducted at the Brookwood Military Cemetery in England but resumed at the Menin Gate on the day Ypres was liberated in September 1944.
The Last Post ceremony has been nighly at the Menin Gate memorial, for almost one hundred years.
Several soldiers with connections to the Dimboola district are commemorated on this memorial, including Alfred Kuhne, who lost his life fighting near Polygon Wood in September 1917. Although his name has appeared on this memorial since 1927, he was noted on the Dimboola memorial as having survived the War and returned. This oversight was corrected at a ceremony in May 1917 when a new plaque was unveiled in Dimboola’s Avenue of Honour.
Others include James Johnson and Robert Spackman who appear on the Antwerp honour roll that was dedicated in November 2018. Kuhne’s name is also on this roll.
Some of the Locals commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial -
| Bottle, Henry | Jeparit | 20 Sept 1917 | Menin Road
| | Collins, Cecil Claude Clifton | Kiata | 7-9 June 1917 | Messines
| | Coustley, Robert | Pimpinio | 9 Oct 1917 | Passchendaele
| | Gooding, Walter Tom | Dimboola | 26 Sept 1917 | Polygon Wood
| | Gould, Frank Robert | Cannum | 4 Oct 1917 | Broodseinde
| | Hirth, Alfred | Dimboola | 13 Oct 1917 | Passchendale
| | Johnson, James Schoular | Antwerp | 14 Sept 1917 | Westhoek Ridge
| | Kuhne, Alfred Gerhard | Antwerp | ~ 26 Sept 1917 | Polygon Wood
| | Spackman, Robert Stanley | Antwerp | 7 Oct 1917 | Celtic Wood
| | Williamson, John Cedric | Warracknabeal | 5 Oct 1917 | Passchendale
|
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of those from this area whose names appear on this memorial 
More than 54,000 names of Empire soldiers who fell in Belgium and have no known grave appear on the Menin Gate, including Henry Charles Bottle who enlisted in Jeparit in May 1916, and was killed during the Battle of Menin Road in September 1917.
|
