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
Menin Gate at Midnight record crowds paid to view the work. Longstaff oversaw the making of 2,000 prints and 400 of these were given to the nascent Australian War Memorial to sell to raise funds. The success of this work lead Longstaff to paint three later companion pieces with a similar ghostly, spiritualist theme: Menin Gate at Midnight Menin Gate at Midnight (also known as Ghosts of Menin Gate) is a 1927 painting by Australian artist Will Longstaff. The painting depicts a host of ghostly soldiers marching across a field in front of the Menin Gate war memorial. The painting is part of the