LIEUTENANT Nigel Cooper from Crediton, representing the Crediton branch of the Royal British Legion and Cadet Staff Sergeant Turner from Devon Army Cadet Force, laid wreaths at The Menim Gate, Ypres, Belgium, on behalf of Crediton Branch Royal British Legion and Devon Army Cadet Force on Friday, August 28.

The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is a war memorial in Ypres, dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War One and who graves are unknown.

The names of 55,000 people are engraved in stone at the memorial.

Since it was built in 1928, every evening at 8pm, the Last Post ceremony has been held, organised by the Last Post Association.

The daily act of homage includes prayers, a minute’s silence, the laying of wreaths, choirs and music and the playing of The Last Post by four buglers. It also includes, on occasion, a speech, the reading of the Exhortation (from For the Fallen by L. Binyon), the Lament, the Reveille and the National anthem or anthems.

Two cadets from the Crediton detachment of the Devon Army Cadet Force, Lance Corporals Marcus Stubbs and Jordan Bridgeman, also attended the ceremony as part of a four-day visit.

Lt Cooper said that it was a “moving ceremony” and “very emotional”.