§ Sir R. Rankinasked the Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the fact that owing to the damp a large number of names on the Menin Gate at Ypres are totally illegible; and what steps he is taking to renew them?
§ Mr. Hore-BelishaThere are 54,889 names commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial. Of these, 37,582 are carved on panels which are under cover and these names are clearly legible. 17,307 names are carved on panels on the stairs leading from the main hall to the ramparts. These stairs are open to the weather and trouble has been experienced in preserving the names in a legible condition. These panels have had to be rubbed down, the names re-cut, and the whole surface of the stone treated with preservative.
The panels in the North staircase were treated in this way in 1937 and those in the South staircase are now being dealt with. The work is nearing completion, but it is inevitable that, while the work is in progress, the names on the panels concerned must be difficult to read. When the work has been completed, however, all the names on the Memorial should be clearly legible.