After the Menin Gate Memorial opened in 1927, the citizens of Ypres wanted to express their gratitude towards those who had given their lives for Belgium's freedom. Every evening at 8 p.m., buglers from the local fire brigade close the road which passes under the Memorial and sound the Last Post. Except for the German occupation in World War II this ceremony has been carried on, in all weathers, every day since 1928. On the evening that Polish forces liberated Ypres in the Second World War, the ceremony was again resumed at the Menin Gate despite the fact that heavy fighting was still taking place in other parts of the town.