In keeping with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) decree that all British men killed in the war should have their names recorded, after the war a number of Memorials to the Missing were constructed on the former battlefields. These striking memorials record the names of those soldiers whose bodies were never found (many of which still lie beneath the fields) or whose bodies are buried, but could not be identified (and are marked by one of the thousands of “Unknown” gravestones in cemeteries throughout France and Belgium). 

The two best-known Memorials to the Missing are the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres (Ieper), Belgium and the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing in France. More than 55,000 names are recorded on the Menin Gate and more than 75,000 names are recorded on the Thiepval Memorial. These two memorials receive more visitors than any other site on the Western Front. They are not the only Memorials to the Missing; thousands more names are recorded on memorials at Pozieres, Ploegsteert, Vimy Ridge, Delville Wood, Tyne Cot Cemetery, Polygon Wood and elsewhere. 

Australia’s missing are recorded on Menin Gate (more than 7000 names), in VC Corner Cemetery in Fromelles, France (more than 1200 names) and at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneaux, France (more than 11,000 names). The sheer size of these memorials, and the incomprehensible number of names inscribed on them, never fails to overwhelm visitors. 

Every night at 8pm the Last Post is sounded by buglers of the Ieper fire brigade beneath the Menin Gate, in honour of the fallen. This is the most important and memorable ceremony that takes place on the battlefields and is an essential inclusion on every visitor’s itinerary.