Canadian National Vimy Memorial and provide general supervision of the foundation work. Faber had recently designed the substructure for the Menin Gate at Ypres, and he selected a design that employed cast-in-place reinforced concrete to which the facing stone would be bonded. Major Unwin Simson served as the principal Canadian engineer during the construction of the memorial and oversaw much of the daily operations at the site. Allward moved to Paris in 1925 to supervise construction and the carving of the sculptures. Construction commenced in 1925 and took eleven years to complete. The Imperial War Graves Commission concurrently employed French and British veterans to
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