In July 1928, the haunting notes of the Last Post were sounded under the Menin Gate Memorial for the first time. This was the opening ceremony in a long and proud tradition of daily commemoration. To mark the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Last Post Association, a special Last Post will take place on 5 July 2018 at 8.00 pm.

90 years and more than 31,000 ceremonies later, the Last Post Association still organizes the ceremony with the same objective in mind. It is a solemn yet moving tribute to the soldiers who died for our freedom and the restoration of peace after the First World War. The daily ceremony has become a unique ceremony, known throughout the world and attended each evening by hundreds or even thousands of people.

After the inauguration of the Menin Gate on 24 July 1927, local police commissioner Pierre Vandenbraambussche took the initiative to gather around him a group of like-minded friends to explore the possibility of organizing a daily Last Post ceremony. The buglers were recruited from the members of the Ypres Fire Brigade, a tradition that continues to this day. The first Last Post took place on Monday, 2 July 1928 at half past eight, with the city council in full attendance, along with 70 or so other spectators. After a break during the winter of 1928-1929, the ceremony resumed on 1 May 1929 and has been performed each day ever since, with the exception of the German occupation during the Second World War. The Last Post is still what it has always been: a spontaneous tribute to the fallen organized by the people of Ieper.

To mark the occasion of the 90th anniversary, a special Last Post is taking place at the Menin Gate Memorial on Thursday, 5 July 2018 at 8.00 pm. This ceremony will be accompanied by the Australian Army Band and the Chorus choir from Ieper.  The ceremony will be attended by Mr Darren Chester (Minister of Veterans’ Affairs, Australia) and Mayor Andrew King from Hamilton, New Zealand (of which the Last Post Association holds the freedom of the city). Also by members of the Last Post Association from Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries.