David Cameron's tribute to Ypres dead on no man's land trip

 
19 December 2013

David Cameron read out the Ode of Remembrance today at the memorial in Ypres to the thousands who died on the First World War battlefield.

Earlier he toured the site of the famous Christmas Day truce when British and German soldiers played football in no man’s land.

The Prime Minister, whose great-great-uncle, Captain John Geddes, died in the second battle of Ypres in 1915, was there to plan ceremonies for the centenary of the war next year.

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them,” read Mr Cameron, from the poem by Laurence Binyon that has become part of remembrance ceremonies.

Mr Cameron spoke at the Menin Gate, which commemorates 55,000 Commonwealth soldiers whose graves remain unknown, including Captain Geddes.

“Like many across Britain, I feel a strong connection with all the members of my family who gave their lives in the war,” wrote Mr Cameron ahead of the visit.

“This means a great deal to me and I want my children to feel the same way.”

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