ACE Arthur
The Last Post Ceremony at The Menin Gate. More details below.
ACE Arthur
Private 667, 2nd Welsh Regiment
Killed in Action 31st October 1914, aged 34, near GHELUVELDT, BELGIUM during The First Battle of Ypres. ( For more details, click the link).
Remembered on YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL, (link to CWGC) Leper, Belgium. See also below.
Wife, Margaret of 9 St Johns Rd, Manselton.
Later Margaret remarried and became Mrs. Ford and lived at 62, Dinas Street, Plasmarl.
One of six children of John and Ellen, later of 4, Boarspit Lane (now Glen Road).
Born in Village Lane, Southend, Swansea, enlisted Cardiff.
However the tragic news had not reached them, by the time this letter arrived:
The Cambrian Daily Leader, reported on 7 November 1914 that Private 667 Arthur Ace 2nd Bat. Welsh Regiment, writing home to his parents in Swansea, says he is perfectly well and happy and although he has been in many engagements has escaped without a scratch.
Mrs. Ace received an official communication from the War Office on 26 January 1915, informing her that Private Ace had been missing since October. Arthur Ace was a pre-war regular soldier called from reserve early in August and arrived in France in September.
The Menin Gate
Following the Menin Gate Memorial opening in 1927, the citizens of Ypres wanted to express their gratitude towards those who had given their lives for Belgium's freedom. Hence every evening at 20:00, buglers from the Last Post Association close the road which passes under the memorial and sound the "Last Post".
Except for the occupation by the Germans in World War II when the daily ceremony was conducted at Brookwood Military Cemetery, in Surrey, England, this ceremony has been carried on uninterrupted since 2 July 1928.[26] On the evening that Polish forces liberated Ypres in the Second World War, the ceremony was resumed at the Menin Gate despite the fact that heavy fighting was still taking place in other parts of the town.
During an extended version of the ceremony, individuals or groups may lay a wreath to commemorate the fallen. Bands and choirs from around the world may also apply to participate in the ceremonies. This extended version of the ceremony also starts at 20:00, but lasts longer than the normal ceremony, when only the Last Post is played. Schedules are available on the Last Post website. (Wikipedia)
Map: First Battle of Ypres (Leper) and the Race to the Sea
GHELUVELDT is towards the centre of the map above.
The First Battle of Ypres 19 October – 22 November 1914) was faught around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. The battle was part of the First Battle of Flanders, in which German, French, Belgian armies and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) fought from Arras in France to Nieuport on the Belgian coast, from 10 October to mid-November. The battles at Ypres began at the end of the Race to the Sea, reciprocal attempts by the German and Franco-British armies to advance past the northern flank of their opponents. North of Ypres, the fighting continued in the Battle of the Yser (16–31 October), between the German 4th Army, the Belgian army and French marines. (Wikipedia)
Map: Locations of the Armies
