When the famous Menin Gate war memorial holds its 30,000th Last Post ceremony next month, it will follow a lesson learned from the Australian War Memorial.
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The organisers at Menin Gate in Ypres have been impressed with the memorial's practice of reading the story of one dead service man or woman, at its daily Last Post ceremony in Canberra.
War Memorial director Dr Brendan Nelson began the practice to personalise the roll of honour, which contains the names of more than 102,000 Australians killed in war and other operations.
The event now draws hundreds every evening, where wreaths are laid beside the Pool of Reflection and the crowd stands solemnly to hear the poignant story of one individual.
When Dr Nelson was Australian ambassador to the European Union and Belgium, he frequently attended the Last Post ceremony at Menin Gate.
The monument was built to honour the memory of British and Commonwealth soldiers killed in World War One whose bodies were never found.
On his appointment as director of the War Memorial, Dr Nelson established a Last Post ceremony, to include the reading of the story of one individual on the roll of honour.
As the event has gained in popularity, particularly with the ceremony being webcast, the memorial is inundated with requests from families keen to have their relative's story told in public.
In recognition of how the memorial stages the Last Post, Dr Nelson has been invited to speak at Ypres on July 9 at Menin Gate for its 30,000th Last Post.
In addition, the organisers have decided to tell the story of one individual whose name is on the monument.
"The Last Post Association, who run the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, have been here and have seen what we now do at the war memorial and they have introduced the reading of the story," Dr Nelson said.
"What they are going to do for that particular ceremony is to do what we do. Tthey're going to read the story behind a name: in this case, one of the British names on the Menin Gate."
"Instead of having the ode recited by a person physically under the Menin Gate there on that night, it's going to be recited by [Victoria Cross winner] Ben Roberts-Smith from the First World War cloister here at the War Memorial and broadcast live into the ceremony," Dr Nelson said.
