World War 1 Battlefield Tours – 2010 (cont.)

The tour list gives the full index of all of our battlefield tours, pilgrimage tours and war graves tours for both WW1, WW2 and other notable battles and conflicts. Expanded details of all battlefield tours are also available in our brochure, contact us for a copy.

World War 1 – Early Battles

Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, 1st Ypres and Loos

20th – 24th May

5 Days, 4 nights

£499.00

On the first day there is an opportunity to make Special Visits on our way to our overnight hotel.

Over the next three days we cover the early battles around Neuve Chapelle, Port Arthur, Pont de Logis, The Moated Grange, Bois du Biez, Festubert, Aubers Ridge, with its impressive collection of Blockhouses, the Ypres Salient, Loos, the Hohenzolleren Redoubt, and Double Crassiers.

We will include War Walks through the battlefields and woods that featured in the battles of 1915, looking at the ground gained and lost. The battles will be brought alive by the in-depth knowledge of our guides. We also attend the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate on one of the evenings. There will be opportunity to make Special Visits to any of the cemeteries in this area.

World War 1 – Ypres Salient War Walk

Plugstreet, Polygon, Paschendaele and Pilkem

11th – 15th June

5 Days, 4 Nights

£499.00

This tour visits the Abeele Airdrome site en-route to our hotel. The next day we visit Plugstreet Memorial to the Missing. From there we will go to Le Gheer where we start our walk, passing the Birdcage, the mine craters, the site of Bairnsfather's Cottage and the Christmas Truce site. We will make our way to La Petit Douve Farm, Messines Ridge, New Zealand Memorial and 'The Pool of Peace' at Spanbrookmolen. From here via Peckham Farm to Croonaert Wood and St. Eloi, ending the day at The Bluff. (A mix of walking and coach travel.)

The next day sees us at Hill 60 where we make for Stirling Castle, Clapham Junction, Nonne Boschen, Black Watch Corner, Polygon Wood, the site of Celtic Wood, Tyne Cot and end the day at Gravenstafel. After our evening meal we pay a visit to the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate.

On day four, we start at Gravenstafel and go via Vancouver Corner, Poelcapelle, Langemark, finishing at Pilkem. Returning to the hotel for our evening meal and farewell party.

On our final day we will visit Talbot House at Poperinghe, the home of Toc H, and the town Hall (and execution post), before making for the ferry home.

During this walk we will have regular stops and presentations about the battles at their actual sites. The walk will be done at an easy pace and back-up vehicles will be with us at all times, following the route, so you only need walk as much as you are able.

World War 1 – Verdun and Somme

8th – 12th July

5 Days, 4 Nights

£499.00

This tour visits Vimy Ridge en route to our overnight hotel. The following day we will visit the Somme Battlefields, seeing Delville Wood, Thiepval, Lochnagar Memorial Crater and Albert, before making our way south to Verdun.

We visit the, now beautiful and quiet, countryside surrounding this ancient Citadel of France, now the World Peace Capital and see for ourselves the terrible pounding that the French troops took throughout the First World War and in particular in 1916. We visit the site of the huge German gun that fired the first shells on Verdun and see the German concrete village where engineers were experimenting with concrete to build blockhouses.

We will visit Fort Vaux and see the Pidgeon Memorial, Fort Douamont, the destroyed villages, Bayonet Trench, The Ossuary, Verdun Memorial Museum, Colonel Driant’s Headquarters, The Maginot Memorial, Mort Homme’s Skeletal Memorial, Hill 304, the Butte De Vauquois and the Underground Citadel. We will see where the French Unknown Soldier was chosen and where his comrades in death lie in the Cemetery. Visit the Meuse-argonne, American Cemetery and Montfaucon Memorial and many other places of interest. Special Visits will be made during our stay.

World War 1 – Australians on the Western Front

And Fromelles Ceremony

16th – 20th July

5 days, 4 nights

£499.00

The Australians made their mark wherever they went on the Western Front and on this tour we follow their routes through the various battlefields of France and Belgium, from their blooding at Fromelles through to their attack at Le Hamel, their successes in Belgium and the advance to victory through France.

Day 1 – Travel from the UK to our hotel in France with Special Visits en route to the Hotel.

Day 2 – We cover and walk the ground around the Fromelles/Aubers Ridge area, relating the story of the fateful attack on the 19th July 1916. We look at the various scenes of
action ending the day in the Ypres Salient, at Hill 60, Polygon Wood and Paschendaele; with a visit to the Menin Gate for the Last Post ceremony at 8.00pm.

Day 3 – Today we cover the scenes of action in the Somme region at Pozieres, visiting Le
Hamel, Villers Brettoneux and Sailly le Sec. We cover the line of advance through to Peronne, Mont St. Quentin and through to Bellenglise, where they broke through the
German front line in September 1918 leading to the breaking of the Hindenburg Line.

Day 4 – On the fourth day we re-visit Fromelles, where the newly constructed British and
Commonwealth Cemetery is to be consecrated, and the remains of numerous recently discovered First War soldiers are being re-interred from their Pheasant Wood burial ground.

Day 5 – On our final day we visit the Bullecourt Battlefield covering the actions here and making a visit to the Digger Memorial, before taking the afternoon ferry back to the UK.

World War 1 – Mons, the First and Last Shots

The Marne, Aisne, Nery, Armistice Clearing, Compiegne – 92nd Anniversary of the last shots
26th – 31st August

6 Days, 5 Nights

£575.00

This tour visits Vimy Ridge en route to the Hotel. The next day will be spent in and around Mons, where the First World War started and finished as far as the British and Commonwealth were concerned. We follow the cavalry charge at Elouges, the saving of the Guns and see where Corporal Thomas fired the first shot of the War to end all Wars, and where his Officer, Captain Hornby, drew his sword and charged, putting the Germans to flight.

We will visit Nimy and see where the two first Victoria Crosses of the War were won. Visit the graves of the first and last soldiers killed, and the grave of Lieutenant Dease VC in St. Symphorien Cemetery. Finally, we will follow the route of the retreat from Mons down through Le Cateau.

On day three, having visited the site of the signing of the Armistice in the Forest of Compiegne, we will spend a day in the Marine area to see where the German army were halted. We will visit to the site of the famous affair at Nery, where Captain Bradbury, his colleagues and L Battery Royal Horse Artillery turned the tide of the German advance, and where he was awarded a posthumous VC. We also visit La Ferte sous Jouarre and see the magnificent Memorial to the Missing.

On the fourth day we will cover the Guards at Villers Cotterets, and the British and French armies actions in the autumn of 1918, through Buzancy and on to Fere En Tardenois with the American forces, through the Ardre Valley and Marfaux.

The next day we will cover Soisson, and the Chemin de Dames, visiting the Dragon Cave. And the final day will be spent travelling home. Two nights will be spent in Cambrai and three in Chateau Thierry.