Menin Gate exit simply cut through the remains of the ramparts and crossed a moat. The gateway was by this time known as the Menenpoort, or Menin Gate in English, because the road leading through the gateway led to the small town of Menen. Ypres occupied a strategic position during the First World War because it stood in the path of Germany's planned sweep across the rest of Belgium, as had been called for in the Schlieffen Plan. By October 1914, the much battered Belgian Army broke the dykes on the Yser River to the north of the City to keep the
Lancaster Gate Memorial Cross The memorial was originally sited on the footpath outside Christ Church and was unveiled on 27 March 1921 by John Maud, the Bishop of Kensington. It was seriously damaged in the Great Storm of 1987 but restored and moved to Lancaster Gate in 2002 as part of the Lancaster Gate street improvement scheme. The restored memorial was unveiled on 11 November (Armistice Day) 2002. In 2016, the first memorial service since then was held at the cross. Lancaster Gate Memorial Cross The Lancaster Gate Memorial Cross is a grade II listed war memorial in Lancaster Gate, London, commemorating residents of