70 sandbags of soil from WWI battlefields has arrived in Britain.
The soil, collected by British and Belgian schoolchildren, arrived in London yesterday from just across the Channel aboard the Belgian Navy frigate Louisa Marie.
At the Menin Gate, which commemorates all those British and Empire soldiers killed in World War One, the sandbags were loaded onto a gun carriage to start their journey across the Channel.
On arrival in London, the Louisa Marie moored on the Thames alongside former Royal Navy WWII light cruiser HMS Belfast - which has been moored permanently on the Thames in central London as a museum ship since 1971 - and the soil was transferred to the British light cruiser where they were temporarily stored.
The bags were then loaded onto the gun carriage of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery along with a crucible of soil from all the battlefields.
It was then escorted with Great British pomp and ceremony past Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade, The Mall and Buckingham Palace to the Guards' Chapel at Wellington Barracks - near Buckingham Palace - where it was blessed.
It will be placed into the ground at the new Flanders Fields Memorial Garden at Wellington Barracks, which will open in November 2014.
WWI claimed almost a million British lives - almost 890,000 of them on the battlefield, with the total British force in the conflict being exceeded only by that of Russia and Germany. The conflict wiped out 2.19% of the British population.
Almost 230,000 military personnel from the rest of the British Empire also perished.
WWI 'sacred soil' ceremony takes place in London
Belgian sailors and British soldiers with the sacred soil
The "sacred soil" was transported across Tower Bridge in a procession
A ceremony has taken place in London to mark the arrival of "sacred soil" from 70 World War I battlefields in Belgium.
The soil is going to be laid at a memorial garden marking the 100th anniversary of WWI in 2014.
The soil, collected by British and Belgian schoolchildren and put into 70 sandbags, arrived on the Belgian Navy frigate Louisa Marie on Friday.
It went on a ceremonial procession through London before reaching its last resting place at Wellington Barracks.
On arrival in London, the Louisa Marie moored alongside HMS Belfast and the soil was transferred to the British light cruiser.
The bags were loaded onto the gun carriage of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery along with a crucible of soil from all the battlefields.
It was escorted by mounted members of the Household Cavalry from the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals, and mounted officers from the Metropolitan Police.
The soil was taken through Horse Guards Parade on the way to the ceremony
There was a ceremonial casket of the "sacred soil" transported to the ceremony
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of WW1, which claimed almost 1 million British lives, with another 230,000 soldiers from the rest of the Empire also persihing
British soldiers of No7 Company Coldstream Guards salute the soil onboard HMS Belfast on the Thames in central London, where it was stored until today's event
Belgian Navy frigate Louisa Marie arrived in London on Friday
The route of the procession passed Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade, The Mall and Buckingham Palace.
It was blessed in a ceremony at the Guards' Chapel at Wellington Barracks - near Buckingham Palace - and will be placed into the ground at the Flanders Fields Memorial Garden
The soil will be placed "at the heart" of the garden where the words of John McCrae's famous poem, In Flanders' Fields, will be inscribed.
With the sound of Jerusalem playing in the background, the youngest member of the Friends of the Guards Museum emptied a ceremonial casket of soil into the memorial garden - which will open to the public next year.
The sandbags of soil were placed at the entrance of the Guards' Chapel and will be added to the garden later on Saturday.
More than 1,000 British and Belgian schoolchildren were involved in collecting 70 bags of soil from the battlefields this summer.
The Guards Museum - which funded the project with help from public donations and corporate sponsors, including a contribution from the Government of Flanders - described the £700,000 project as "unprecedented" and "historic".
Museum curator Andrew Wallis said the garden would stand as a "tangible demonstration of the bond between Britain and Belgium".
The process of bringing the soil to the UK began on Armistice Day with a ceremony at the Menin Gate, attended by the Duke of Edinburgh.
FLANDERS FIELDS MEMORIAL GARDEN, opening 9th November 2014
‘The Memorial Garden should honour all those who fought and died for their countries and our freedom in the Great War and be a symbol of hope and a better future for all.’
The creation of a ‘Flanders Fields 1914-2014’ Memorial Garden is an initiative of The Guards Museum in conjunction with Flanders House in London, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain.
The garden is located at Wellington Barracks alongside the Guards Chapel which is adjacent to Buckingham Palace. The new garden is a unique opportunity not only to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War but also to thank the British people for their sacrifice in liberating our country.
One of the most special parts of the project involved collecting soil from the Flanders Fields battlefield cemeteries in ceremonies of remembrance. The Remembrance Ceremony on 11 November 2013 in Ypres was attended by the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Laurent of Belgium who oversaw the handover of 70 sandbags of soil. British soldiers of the Household Division and schoolchildren from over 63 Belgian and British schools carried the bags which were then put onto a King’s Troop Gun Carriage.
The soil was taken to London by the Belgian Navy Frigate ‘Louisa Marie’ on 29 November where, alongside the HMS Belfast, it was handed over to the British Army.
On 30 November, the 70 sandbags were taken through London on the same King’s Troop Gun Carriage to the garden where it was laid into the circular bed in the newly constructed garden.
The ‘Flanders Fields 1914-2014’ Memorial Garden has been designed by internationally acclaimed landscape architect Piet Blanckaert from Bruges, Belgium. Every aspect has been carefully considered so that it becomes a very special memorial to all those who lost their lives or were injured in the battlefields of Flanders.
Your support for the ‘Flanders Fields 1914-2014’ Memorial Garden will help strengthen the historical ties between our countries as this important project seeks to bring home the British war heroes to their regiments after 100 years.
Your help will allow British people, especially school children and people who are unable to travel to the continent, to pay their respects to their war heroes in London. The project has already become the catalyst for similar garden projects in France, Germany and Belgium.
The project is supported wholeheartedly by The Flemish Government, The House of Lords, The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, The Last Post Association, The City of Westminster, the British Army, English Heritage, the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain and many individual and corporate supporters.
The Garden will be opened on Sunday 9th November 2014 during a very special ceremony which will be attended by members of both countries’ Royal Families.
BBC News - WWI 'sacred soil' ceremony takes place in London
The Memorial Garden - The Memorial Garden
The soil, collected by British and Belgian schoolchildren, arrived in London yesterday from just across the Channel aboard the Belgian Navy frigate Louisa Marie.
At the Menin Gate, which commemorates all those British and Empire soldiers killed in World War One, the sandbags were loaded onto a gun carriage to start their journey across the Channel.
On arrival in London, the Louisa Marie moored on the Thames alongside former Royal Navy WWII light cruiser HMS Belfast - which has been moored permanently on the Thames in central London as a museum ship since 1971 - and the soil was transferred to the British light cruiser where they were temporarily stored.
The bags were then loaded onto the gun carriage of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery along with a crucible of soil from all the battlefields.
It was then escorted with Great British pomp and ceremony past Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade, The Mall and Buckingham Palace to the Guards' Chapel at Wellington Barracks - near Buckingham Palace - where it was blessed.
It will be placed into the ground at the new Flanders Fields Memorial Garden at Wellington Barracks, which will open in November 2014.
WWI claimed almost a million British lives - almost 890,000 of them on the battlefield, with the total British force in the conflict being exceeded only by that of Russia and Germany. The conflict wiped out 2.19% of the British population.
Almost 230,000 military personnel from the rest of the British Empire also perished.
WWI 'sacred soil' ceremony takes place in London
Belgian sailors and British soldiers with the sacred soil
The "sacred soil" was transported across Tower Bridge in a procession
A ceremony has taken place in London to mark the arrival of "sacred soil" from 70 World War I battlefields in Belgium.
The soil is going to be laid at a memorial garden marking the 100th anniversary of WWI in 2014.
The soil, collected by British and Belgian schoolchildren and put into 70 sandbags, arrived on the Belgian Navy frigate Louisa Marie on Friday.
It went on a ceremonial procession through London before reaching its last resting place at Wellington Barracks.
On arrival in London, the Louisa Marie moored alongside HMS Belfast and the soil was transferred to the British light cruiser.
The bags were loaded onto the gun carriage of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery along with a crucible of soil from all the battlefields.
It was escorted by mounted members of the Household Cavalry from the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals, and mounted officers from the Metropolitan Police.
The soil was taken through Horse Guards Parade on the way to the ceremony
There was a ceremonial casket of the "sacred soil" transported to the ceremony
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of WW1, which claimed almost 1 million British lives, with another 230,000 soldiers from the rest of the Empire also persihing
British soldiers of No7 Company Coldstream Guards salute the soil onboard HMS Belfast on the Thames in central London, where it was stored until today's event
Belgian Navy frigate Louisa Marie arrived in London on Friday
The route of the procession passed Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade, The Mall and Buckingham Palace.
It was blessed in a ceremony at the Guards' Chapel at Wellington Barracks - near Buckingham Palace - and will be placed into the ground at the Flanders Fields Memorial Garden
The soil will be placed "at the heart" of the garden where the words of John McCrae's famous poem, In Flanders' Fields, will be inscribed.
With the sound of Jerusalem playing in the background, the youngest member of the Friends of the Guards Museum emptied a ceremonial casket of soil into the memorial garden - which will open to the public next year.
The sandbags of soil were placed at the entrance of the Guards' Chapel and will be added to the garden later on Saturday.
More than 1,000 British and Belgian schoolchildren were involved in collecting 70 bags of soil from the battlefields this summer.
The Guards Museum - which funded the project with help from public donations and corporate sponsors, including a contribution from the Government of Flanders - described the £700,000 project as "unprecedented" and "historic".
Museum curator Andrew Wallis said the garden would stand as a "tangible demonstration of the bond between Britain and Belgium".
The process of bringing the soil to the UK began on Armistice Day with a ceremony at the Menin Gate, attended by the Duke of Edinburgh.
FLANDERS FIELDS MEMORIAL GARDEN, opening 9th November 2014
‘The Memorial Garden should honour all those who fought and died for their countries and our freedom in the Great War and be a symbol of hope and a better future for all.’
The creation of a ‘Flanders Fields 1914-2014’ Memorial Garden is an initiative of The Guards Museum in conjunction with Flanders House in London, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain.
The garden is located at Wellington Barracks alongside the Guards Chapel which is adjacent to Buckingham Palace. The new garden is a unique opportunity not only to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War but also to thank the British people for their sacrifice in liberating our country.
One of the most special parts of the project involved collecting soil from the Flanders Fields battlefield cemeteries in ceremonies of remembrance. The Remembrance Ceremony on 11 November 2013 in Ypres was attended by the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Laurent of Belgium who oversaw the handover of 70 sandbags of soil. British soldiers of the Household Division and schoolchildren from over 63 Belgian and British schools carried the bags which were then put onto a King’s Troop Gun Carriage.
The soil was taken to London by the Belgian Navy Frigate ‘Louisa Marie’ on 29 November where, alongside the HMS Belfast, it was handed over to the British Army.
On 30 November, the 70 sandbags were taken through London on the same King’s Troop Gun Carriage to the garden where it was laid into the circular bed in the newly constructed garden.
The ‘Flanders Fields 1914-2014’ Memorial Garden has been designed by internationally acclaimed landscape architect Piet Blanckaert from Bruges, Belgium. Every aspect has been carefully considered so that it becomes a very special memorial to all those who lost their lives or were injured in the battlefields of Flanders.
Your support for the ‘Flanders Fields 1914-2014’ Memorial Garden will help strengthen the historical ties between our countries as this important project seeks to bring home the British war heroes to their regiments after 100 years.
Your help will allow British people, especially school children and people who are unable to travel to the continent, to pay their respects to their war heroes in London. The project has already become the catalyst for similar garden projects in France, Germany and Belgium.
The project is supported wholeheartedly by The Flemish Government, The House of Lords, The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, The Last Post Association, The City of Westminster, the British Army, English Heritage, the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain and many individual and corporate supporters.
The Garden will be opened on Sunday 9th November 2014 during a very special ceremony which will be attended by members of both countries’ Royal Families.
BBC News - WWI 'sacred soil' ceremony takes place in London
The Memorial Garden - The Memorial Garden
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