This masonry fragment, with foliate carving, from St Martin's Cathedral, Ypres, was a souvenir of King George V's first visit to the Western Front between 29 November and 5 December 1914. After visiting Ypres for the first time, the King wrote in his journal:

Ypres is quite destroyed & I could see the Cathedral and celebrated Hall in ruins

King George V, Journal, 3 December 1914

When he returned after the war on 8 December 1918 he recorded:

At Clapham Junction [the British troops' nickname for the high ground overlooking Ypres] we saw several derelict tanks which had been knocked out. At last I went into Ypres having seen it since 1914 it is practically flat, the walls of the Cathedral & the famous Cloth Hall are alone standing out of a heap of stone

King George V, Journal, 8 December 1918