Manx choir's 'great honour' to sing at Menin Gate

Singing under the Menin Gate memorial in Belgium was a "great honour" for a Manx choir from Peel, the musical director has said.

Thirteen children and six adult choristers from Cathedral Isle of Man travelled to Ypres to perform at the daily memorial service at the Menin Gate.

The Menin Gate is dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who lost their lives during World War One and whose graves are unknown. There has been a remembrance service there each evening almost continuously since 1928.

Peter Litman said the trip was "a great opportunity to take young people to show them their significant past".

The choir sang two pieces at the ceremony, one of which was The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended, which was written by a pupil of King William's College.

The group also sang at Tyne Cot Cemetery, one of more than 150 cemeteries around Ypres, where almost 12,000 soldiers who fought in World War One are buried.

In front of the headstones, the choir sang Ellan Vannin, which Dr Litman said was "quite an emotional experience".

He said: "One of the adult singers couldn't sing they were so overcome with emotion... it was really meaningful for them."

"We sang from the memorial at the back," he continued. It is where the name of Pte Robert Vick is engraved, a soldier from Peel who died in 1917.

Dr Litman said while the morning "started oddly" by singing in a cemetery, after a day of visiting battlegrounds, graves, and museums, the choir's perception "had completely changed and suddenly there was a strong emotion".

The trip culminated in the ceremony, which was "extraordinary" and "a great honour for us to be invited to be part of that," he added.

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