IN FLANDERS FIELD...

TheWelsh Memorial in Flanders Campaign aims to build a cromlech in Flanders to commemorate all Welsh soldiers who served during the First World War. The plan is to have the monument completed by the centenary of the war's outbreak in August 2014. 

Local residents in Flanders have already donated land for the memorial, money from around Wales  has already been raised and the Welsh Government has pledged £25,000 pounds so that the memorial can be completed by next year. The Passchendaele Society suggested there should be a memorial to the Welsh soldiers who fought in the area. The Society and the Langemark Commune jointly purchased some land near Iron Cross on the Pilckem Ridge and obtained planning permission for the memorial.

Back in 1917 where there was significant Welsh involvement with the 38th (Welsh) Division, the 29th Division with the 2nd South Wales Borderers and the 2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment and the Welsh Guards in the Guards Division all serving time at the Salient. The memorial aims to  honour all Welshmen who served in many other Welsh units throughout the Salient from 1914 onwards and also in the multitude of non-Welsh units, not to forget the artillery, medical, supply and Tunnelling Companies, amongst other units.

Wales lost more men per capita than any other nation involved in the conflict. The campaign for the memorial has now raised in excess of £30,000 which will be enough to complete phase one of the campaign, i.e.  the transportation of the stones to Flanders and the construction of the "Cromlech” by the Belgian engineers. Phase two, the creation of a Welsh garden of remembrance around the Cromlech will be carried out and financed by the Belgian local authority at Langemark.

Phase three, will be the obtaining of a large bronze dragon to surmount the cromlech. This will need a further £60,000. Many events are planned to raise this amount, but further public donations will be vital. The campaign hopes to achieve all its aims by August 2014. Anyone wishing to contribute towards the project can pay direct into a Lloyds/TSB Account: 37974560 under Sort Code 30-93-53 and make cheques out to ‘Welsh memorial in Flanders campaign’.

IN FLANDERS FIELD...

The Welsh Memorial in Flanders Campaign aims to build a cromlech in Flanders to commemorate all Welsh soldiers who served during the First World War. The plan is to have the monument completed by the centenary of the war's outbreak in 2014. Local residents in Flanders have already donated land for the memorial. The Passchendaele Society suggested there should be a memorial to the Welsh soldiers who fought in the area. The Society and the Langemark Commune joined forces to purchase a piece of ground near Iron Cross on the Pilckem Ridge and planning permission was granted.

In 1917 there was significant Welsh involvement in the Salient with the 38th (Welsh) Division, the 29th Division with the 2nd South Wales Borderers and the 2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment and the Welsh Guards in the Guards Division all serving at the front. The memorial will honour all Welshmen serving in many other Welsh units throughout the Salient from 1914 onwards and also in the multitude of non-Welsh units, not to forget the artillery, medical, supply and Tunnelling Companies, amongst other units.

Wales lost more men per capita than any other nation involved in the conflict. The appeal has raised around £11,000 pounds and the stones for the cromlech have been donated, but another £60,000 pound is needed to complete the memorial. Anyone wishing to contribute towards the project can pay direct into a Lloyds/TSB account under Sort Code 30-93-53 and make cheques out to ‘Welsh memorial in Flanders campaign’.

PASSCHENDAELE MEMORIAL APPEAL LAUNCHED

The mud of Passchendaele

An appeal is being launched to commemorate the hundreds of soldiers from Wales who were killed in the Battle of Passchendaele in Ypres, Belgium. The Passchendaele Society in Belgium wants to raise 60,000 euros (£52,000) for a Welsh memorial. Society organisers hope it will become a memorial to all Welsh soldiers who died in the Great War. The appeal is being launched at an event close to where many of the Welsh soldiers came to grief in Langemark, near Ypres. The grim battle of attrition lasted from the 31st July to the 6th November 1917. it was fought in the heaviest rain for 30 years which made the mud so deep that men and horses drowned. The battle ground to a halt when British and Canadian forces captured Passchendaele, this village was barely five miles beyond the starting point of the offensive. There were approximately 325,000 Allied casualties and some 260,000 German casualties by the battles end, amongst the many Welsh casualties was the poet Hedd Wyn.