Mayor of Worcester to unveil Belgian memorial to Worcestershire regiment
Councillor Adrian Gregson to Travel to Belgium for the Unveiling of Memorial to Actions in the Battle of Gheluvelt in World War I
Last updated 17th Mar 2023
Mayor of Worcester, Councillor Adrian Gregson, will travel to Belgium next week to attend the re-dedication of the memorial to the actions of The Worcestershire Regiment in the Battle of Gheluvelt during World War I.
The ceremony, which will take place at Geluveld, Zonnebeke at 2pm on Friday, March 24th, will be attended by representatives from Worcestershire Ambassadors, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regimental Association, and the 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment.
The memorial, which has been renovated and extended, features the names of the 34 men of the 2nd Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment killed at Gheluvelt. It will be unveiled and re-dedicated at the event.
Later that evening, the mayor will lay a wreath at the Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony, which is held every evening.
The Battle of Gheluvelt, after which Worcester's Gheluvelt Park is named, took place in October 1914. Around 400 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment fought at Gheluvelt. Their counterattack saved Ypres from capture and the British Army from defeat.
The success of the 2nd Battalion's counterattack turned the course of the War, helping Allied forces to organise a more substantial defence against the Germans.
The memorial in Geluveld was privately funded and has been renovated with funding from Worcestershire Ambassadors, the Mercian Regiment, Worcester City Council and the Worcestershire World War 100 project.
Mayor of Worcester, Cllr Gregson, expressed his honour at the opportunity to unveil the renovated memorial commemorating the Battle of Gheluvelt and the brave soldiers from the Worcestershire Regiment who died there. He praised the soldiers who helped turn the tide of the First World War during one of the British Army's darkest hours.