The pilgrimage by 10 members of the Wilkins family and extended family was especially significant to Mr Wilkins whose father survived the failed attack on October 12 which left 845 New Zealand soldiers lying dead or mortally wounded between the lines, and a further 1855 wounded.
Mr Wilkins father, also called Marcus, survived the war to return to his farm but never fully recovered from the combined effects of being gassed and the appalling conditions of trench warfare.
Before he died aged 68, he passed down stories to his son who in turn told his son, Tauranga lawyer Marcus Wilkins.
Mr Wilkins Snr said they planned to spend the day before the commemorations seeing the mayor before attending The Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate memorial to the missing. The Last Post played by buglers was the traditional salute to the fallen who died in the Ypres salient during World War I.
Good news to arrive while Mr Wilkins and wife Jan were doing a bit of sightseeing in Russia and Denmark before arriving in Belgium was that grandsons James and Ryan of Te Puke had won gold in one event and bronze in another at the World White Water Rafting Championships in Japan. They were members of the New Zealand under-23 crew.
Another family member Donna Wilkins joined them for the commemorations in Belgium after bike touring in Japan.
Of special significance to the family would be visiting the sites where the names of relatives were inscribed on panels. They were William Henry Dillon Bell, Charles Sciascia and Cyril Donald Beckett.
