As part of a series of events to mark the centenary of the ending of the Great War, (including an exhibition ) the School unveiled a memorial plaque at St. George’s Church in Ypres this past weekend. The church houses a number of plaques remembering individuals from many British institutions who died at the Somme and the Ypres Salient. The unveiling was part of the church’s regular Eucharist Service on March 3rd, and was attended by The High Master, a number of Old Mancunians, pupils and members of the MGS Development Office and Archives. The plaque was commissioned by Phil Macaulay, an Old Mancunian who had visited the church the previous year and suggested that the School should have a plaque created.
The memorial plaque in St. George’s Church, Ypres
The previous evening the group held a dinner in Ypres, and attended the Menin Gate for the Last Post Ceremony. Over 150 OMs died at the Somme and at Ypres, and are commemorated on the Menin Gate memorial and other memorials in the region.
The Menin Gate memorial
The Menin Gate memorial
Three of our Year 12 boys laid a wreath in memory of the OMs killed in WWI at the Menin Gate Memorial
The dinner was of significance because it is the first Old Mancunian dinner in Belgium since 1917, when serving OMs met at Poperinge. Read more about that dinner here
Old Mancunians, staff and pupils having dinner together at Ypres, over 100 years after the famous OM dinner at Poperinge
Old Mancunians, staff and pupils having dinner together at Ypres, over 100 years after the famous OM dinner at Poperinge
We also had the chance to visit a number of other cemeteries and memorials in the region, including Tyne Cot. Here we were able to locate on the memorial Ernest Schofield, whose letters we featured on “Hoots from the Archives” back in November
Ernest Schofield’s name on the Tyne Cot Memorial
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