The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is a war memorial in Ypres, Belgium dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of World War I and whose graves are unknown. After looking through the printed register and then at the walls themselves I was surprised at how many Allens there were. It felt odd to see several "ALLEN T" and "ALLEN W" on the wall, in fact there were dozens of William Allens listed; my son William is 15 and some of those who died weren't much older than him. Makes you think…