Francis Ledwidge's Anniversary, 31st July 2004
On 31st July 2004, the bright sunshine glistened on the rows of white Portland stone gravestones in Artillery Wood Cemetery, Boezinge, near the town of Ieper, Belgium. The scene was peaceful. Grave number 5, row B, the stone bears the inscription: 16138 Lance Cpl F.E. Ledwidge, Royal Inniskilling Fus. 31st July 1917 age 29.

Today, he was not alone in a foreign land; visitors from his native Slane, Co. Meath came to remember him on the 87th anniversary of his death. Pearl Baxter, who has been actively involved in promoting Ledwidge and his poetry for over forty years, and is a founder member of the Francis Ledwidge Museum committee, had travelled from Slane with her daughter Rosemary Yore, PRO Francis Ledwidge Museum committee, and son in-law Colm to the Flanders Cemetery. She laid a bouquet of fresh flowers on the grave and said a silent prayer. This was a very poignant occasion for Pearl as it was her first visit to Flanders and to Francis Ledwidge's final resting place. The group had stopped earlier, at the Ledwidge Monument which is just about 200 meters from the cemetery. This monument is situated on the exact spot where the poet was killed by a stray shell whilst repairing a road on the first day of the third battle of Ypres 1917. Today the scene is tranquil. The ghost like image of Ledwidge emerging from the yellow Ieper brick amidst a field of potatoes in full bloom and the Irish Tricolour blowing proudly in the soft breeze.

The Menin Gate in Ieper bears 54,896 names of soldiers from World War 1 who have no known graves. The Last Post has been played each evening, since 1928 under the imposing memorial arches of this Gate as a mark of respect and gratitude towards those who had given their lives for the freedom and independence of Belgium. At the ceremony on 31 July this year, Francis Ledwidge was given a special mention and Rosemary Yore was invited by The Last Post Association to read a poem, she choose "A Soldier's Grave". A minute's silence followed and then 'The exhortation' -'We will remember them' and finally the buglers sounded Reveille. It was a very evocative occasion.

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