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A century after the outbreak of World War 1 a memorial has been unveiled in Flanders to commemorate Welsh soldiers killed or injured during the four year conflict.

More than 1,000 people gathered to see the unveiling of a red bronze dragon mounted on top of a stone cromlech at Langemark.

The ceremony, attended by politicians, civic dignitaries, military personnel and hundreds of others, was held close to the spot where poet Ellis Humphrey Evans, or Hedd Wyn, was mortally wounded on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele. Just days after he was killed was honoured with a posthumous chair at the 1917 National Eisteddfod.

Saturday’s ceremony followed years of campaigning by those who wanted a permanent dedication to the fallen and was a poignant and often emotional event.

The dragon, designed by artist Lee Odishow and cast at Castle Foundary, Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, had been delivered to Flanders last month and mounted on four large blocks of stone from a Pontypridd quarry.

It had then been covered with a large tarpaulin before being covered with a huge Welsh flag in readiness for the unveiling ceremony.

After speeches by the civic dignitaries the flag was removed to loud cheers and applause by the audience.

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Many had travelled to Flanders on specially organised coach trips while others made their own way.

The ceremony was an emotional occasion for former Trawsfynydd councillor Isgoed Williams.

He has visited the Langemark area for many years to pay his respects to Hedd Wyn and in 1992 led a 150-strong group that unveiled a plaque on the wall of the cafe near where the memorial now stands.

Now 88 during Saturday’s ceremony he read Rhyfel (War), one of Hedd Wyn’s poems written during his brief and tragic spell in the trenches.

“We felt, back in the 1990s, we had to do something and unveiling the plaque was more than nothing. I am so pleased that we have been able to get something as magnificent as this to commemorate Hedd Wyn and all the other soldiers,” he said.

First Minister Carwyn Jones, who helped unveil the dragon, said: “This memorial is the result of many years of hard work by dedicated individuals both in Flanders and of course in Wales.

“Indeed the appeal has caught the imagination of people around the world and this impressive sculpture demonstrates the importance with which we, in Wales together with our partners in Flanders hold the memory of those who sacrificed their lives a century ago.”

Soil gathered from the summits of Snowdon and Pen y Fan and from the home of the poet Hedd Wyn, Yr Ysgwrn, was placed at the foot of the memorial. A garden of remembrance will now be built around the memorial by the local council.

Keith O’Brien, chair of Cyfeillion Yr Ysgwrn (Friends of Yr Ysgwrn) where Hedd Wyn lived, said: “Hedd Wyn, through his fame, has raised the profile of Wales and the Welsh in another country.

“This is a fitting monument to his sacrifice and all the other young men who were killed or injured in this region during that terrible war.”

(Image: Eryl Crump)

Meirionnydd Nant Conwy MP Elfyn Llwyd, who was at the ceremony with Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood and Plaid MEP Jill Evans, added: “This is a momentous day in the history of Wales. It reminds us that lessons need to be learned and passed onto the next generation.

“Hedd Wyn was just one of thousands of men killed on these very fields. It is difficult among these green fields such dreadful events occurred.”

Minister president of the Flemish government, Geert Bourgeois, said he is proud local people played a part in making the memorial a reality.

(Image: Eryl Crump)

He added: “Although we have escaped war for 70 years now, we must never forget how fast things can change.”

Welsh Memorial in Flanders Campaign Group chairman Erwin Ureel said: “The idea of a dragon memorial is easy, the hatching of that dragon takes much longer.

“The dragon you see before you is a fitting memorial to the battles fought here.”

He said the idea came to him after realising there was no lasting memorial to the Welsh soldiers in the region.

Mr Ureel, a battlefield guide, said he was aware of a monthly commemoration being held and suggested the memorial be built.

Cafe owner Marc Decaestecker, who hosts the monthly ceremony, said: “It means a lot to me because the Welsh in 1917, they liberated us.

“They fought very bravely so we could be free and that’s why we want to do this.”

Peter Carter Jones, Welsh group co-ordinator, added: “People not born yet will come here to remember the dreadful history this memorial represents. We will not forget them.”

The cromlech is made of four Welsh blue pennant stones and mounted by a red bronze dragon, .

(Image: Eryl Crump)

Falklands veteran Simon Weston said it was “very humbling” before the Welsh flag was raised by army cadets commanded by Capt Dylan Williams, from Penygroes, of the 3rd Battalion Royal Welsh.

After the ceremony a concert was staged at St Paul’s Church in Langemark. Flattened during the war it was rebuilt within four years of the Armistice being signed.

A near sell-out audience of more than 800 heard tenor Rhys Meirion, harpist Dylan Cernyw and Cor Rygbi Gogledd Cymru.