Belgium lights up WWI Western Front | euronews, world news (http://www.euronews.com/2014/10/18/belgium-lights-up-wwi-western-front/)
QuoteCatherine Wheels and a fireworks waterfall have marked the beginning of a World War I torchlight remembrance in Belgium.
Some 8,400 torchbearers took part in the ceremony on Friday night, which lit up 85 kilometres of countryside.
The Western Front – as it was known a hundred years ago – was recreated with torches lit every 10 metres.
The block of land in the westernmost part of Flanders was the frontline of fighting against Germany.
Belgium's King Philip and Queen Mathilde lit candles at the Ploegsteert Memorial for the missing.
:goodpost: Thank you for the link Limabeany. It was a beautiful nighttime ceremony.
:welcome: :hug:
I agree
@TLLK, the ceremony looked beautiful. Princess Elisabeth performed a speech she had written herself in Flemish/Dutch, French and German - the four languages of Belgium - which I thought was very impressive given her young age. At her age, I would never have been able to do what she did, I would've probably dropped out. In fact, I still probably wouldn't be able to perform a speech like that, I'm the worst public speaker. Her speech was:
"A hundred years ago the Great War began. Thousands of soldiers deserted their families for the front. Violence, fear and hunger, are their daily lot. Men, women and children are forced to flee. Their home, their school, their village are destroyed. We will all those victims in our country never forget. Even today, war shatters lives. Fathers, mothers, children are suffering, or are separated from each other. But their misfortune also gives us a lesson in courage and dignity. The willpower in their eyes invites us to stand for a better world of justice and peace. It comes to us, youth, to keep our torch high and, like today, to form a light front".
And a video of her speech from HLN.be:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=nl&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hln.be%2Fhln%2Fnl%2F957%2FBinnenland%2Farticle%2Fdetail%2F2093284%2F2014%2F10%2F17%2FLichtfront-prinses-Elisabeth-leest-eigen-tekst-voor.dhtml&edit-text=&act=url
:vday4: :thanks: HP!
I think the ceremonies are wonderful. The Belgian people suffered so much in both World Wars. The trench system all over Northern Belgium, ruined towns and villages. It was just awful.
Quote from: Limabeany on October 19, 2014, 02:47:25 AM
:vday4: :thanks: HP!
You're welcome. :flower: I enjoyed watching Princess Elisabeth's speech - I have a feeling she's going to be a great asset to Belgium in the future, and I like how Philippe and Mathilde are preparing her for her role now by bringing her along to these sort of events.
That is very impressive that she was so poised and her speech was tri-lingual.