Memorial tablets to the British Empire dead of the First World War days before the unveiling of the Menin Gate in Ypres, one of the Commission's main memorials to the missing. The Menin Gate was unveiled by Lord Plumer, while Earl Haig was asked to unveil the Brussels tablet to the Empire's dead. Those present at the Brussels ceremony included the Belgian Prime Minister Henri Jaspar, the Belgian Minister of Justice Paul Hymans, the Minister of National Defence Charles de Broqueville (Belgian Prime Minister during the war), and the heir to the Belgian throne and future Leopold III, the Prince of Brabant. The British dignitaries accompanying Earl Haig included the British ambassador
Thiepval Memorial February 1917, and Bapaume was occupied by the British on 17 March 1917 (see Operations on the Ancre, January–March 1917). Seven Victoria Cross recipients are listed on the memorial, under their respective regiments. All British unless otherwise noted: Also commemorated are: The Thiepval Memorial also serves as an Anglo-French battle memorial to commemorate the joint nature of the 1916 offensive. In further recognition of this, a cemetery, Thiepval Anglo-French Cemetery, containing 300 British Commonwealth and 300 French graves lies at the foot of the memorial. Most of the soldiers buried here – 239 of the British Commonwealth and 253 of