Canadians marched to the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, on Saturday, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele and to remember the sacrifices made by soldiers in the First World War.

The Menin Gate was built in honour of Canadian and other allied soldiers who fought in defence of the Ypres Salient during the First World War, and has the names of 55,000 soldiers who died without trace.

On Saturday, a special Remembrance Day ceremony was held with Princess Anne in attendance.

CTV’s Paul Workman reports that poppies were spilled from the rooftop as a “silent eulogy” to the dead.

Another ceremony was held at Hill 62. The nearby battles at St. Eloi and Mount Sorrel caused more than 10,000 Canadian casualties, including dead and injured.

The Battle of Passchendale the following summer caused even greater losses for Canada, with more than 15,600 casualties, including about 4,000 killed.

First Nations Veteran Elder Steven Ross spoke at the ceremony at Hill 62, noting the “teens who left their farms to give us freedom.”

“It takes a lot of courage,” he said. “They are the real warriors.”