World War 1 Battlefield Tours – 2013 (page 5)

The tour list gives the full index of all of our battlefield tours, pilgrimage tours and war graves tours for the First World War. Expanded details of all tours is also available in our brochure, contact us for a copy.

WORLD WAR 1: United States Forces in the Great War

The American success in the South – Marne, Chateau Thierry, Belleau Wood, St. Mihel, Verdun, Argonne and the Hindenburg Line.

22nd – 28th May
7 Days, 6 Nights

£790.00

Superb organisation and all carried out with thoughfulness and kindness.

Elizabeth & Anthony Chaston, Enfield

Can't make a trip?
Want photographs of a Grave, Memorial or Battlefield site?
Contact Ian at the War Research Society.

Great War US forces gun

Lt. Quentin Roosevelt Memorial.
US forces Lost Battalion memorial

The entry of the United States into the Great War in 1917 saw an influx of inexperienced troops making a tremendous impact but also sustaining enormous casualties. On this tour we follow in their footsteps through various battles, seeing their progress as they gained experience. This tour will be of great interest to both First World War enthusiasts and newcomers.

Starting off in Marne area we cover the battles around Chateau Thierry, follow the Marines through the battle for Belleau Wood, then travel through to St. Mihel, the Argonne, visit the scenes of action of the ‘Lost Battalion’, cover the actions of ‘Sgt. York’ and finally travel up to the Hindenburg Line to cover the attacks of 1918.

Day 1 – Travel from the UK to our accommodation in Chateau Thierry.

Day 2 – We visit Bealleau Wood covering the first actions of the Marines as they fought their way through the wood in June 1918, eventually routing the German army. We visit memorials and the large American cemetery in the village of Belleau. Then on to the area of Buzancy to cover the actions of the 'Big Red One', before returning to Chateau Thierry, where the stand of the American 3rd Division earned them the name,'The Rock of The Marine', to view the magnificent memorial that dominates the town.

Day 3 – We set off for the Verdun area, where we stay for 3 nights. Our first visit is to Fere-En-Tardenois, where we will see where General John (Black Jack) Pershing billeted and worked during the battles, the large American American cemetery, and the crash site of Lt. Quentin Roosevelt the young son of President Roosevelt (shot down in 1918 and who now lies alongside his brother, Theodore, in the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach). We then continue our journey through to Souilly to see where the American Headquarters were during the offensive around the St. Mihel Salient.

Day 4 – We visit the St. Mihel Salient, visiting the trench systems, and following the American 1st and 26th Divisions through the battle ending up at Vigneulles, where they eventually closed the pincer movement around the German army. We'll visit excellent panoramic views of the battlefield at Mont Sec, see the Poilu-Doughboy Memorial at Thiaucourt and also get a opportunity to walk through the Tranchee du Soif and experience the feeling of being in the trenches of the day.

Day 5 – Today sees us north of Verdun on the Argonne Forest Battlefields, covering actions, trench systems, dug outs, fortifications and the Crown Prince's Bunker. We follow the route of the 'Lost Battalion', and visit the village of Chatel Chehery to see the memorial to Sgt. York. We also visit the scenes of actions around Varennes seeing where George S. Paton and Harry Trueman, who were later to rise to greater heights, fought as young officers. We will also visit the magnificent Pennsylvania State Memorial, the impressive American Memorial at Mont Fauucon and the Meuse Argonne American Cemetery.

Day 6 – Departing from Verdun we travel north and visit the area around the Hindenburg Line defenses to the west of St. Quentin, cover the action at 'The Knoll', the American Cemetery at Bony and the American Memorial erected on the Hindenburg Line. We will overnight at Cambrai.

Day 7 – We set off for Belgium, where we pay a visit to Veirstraat to view the American Memorial to the 27th and 30th Divisions, before taking a break in the beautiful town of Ypres and then return to Calais for our ferry back to the UK.

WORLD WAR 1: Italian Front – 1st World War Italian Campaign

Asiago Plateau, Crossing the Piave, Isonzo and Caporetto.
Led by Mr Dale Hjort, our expert guide on these Historical Battlefields.

27th Sept – 3rd Oct
7 Days, 6 Nights

£1300.00

(Single supplement: £100.00)

A rewarding and thought provoking experience. The War Research Society 'does exactly what it says on the tin'.

Ged Shields

On this tour we fly to Venice where we are met by our coach and taken across Northern Italy to the Asiago Plateau, where we book into our hotel.

This mountainous plateau was a key to control of the disputed Trentino province, and we will visit the spectacular Fortresses of Belvedere and Busa Verle, built to defend the Austro-Hungarian frontier. We will cross this at 'Osteria All' Antico Termine' where in November 1918 the Warwickshire Territorial Brigade were the first British forces to enter Central Powers home ground.

When they first climbed up to the Asiago earlier that year, they encountered unfamiliar limestone trenches in pine forests, still there for us to explore, with concrete shelters, caves and fox holes.

The battlefield cemeteries include Granezza where Vera Brittain found the grave of her brother Edward, the unique International cemetery at Magnaboschi, and the monumental Ossuary with its panoramic outlook.

We will follow individual soldiers – Norman Gladden, Hugh Dalton, Graham Greenwell and the Sapper V. F. Eberle who explains the mule tracks which we will see. We will assess the 48th Division's defence of the Cesuna pocket, and the subsequent dismissal of their much loved G.O.C.

From the Asiago we descend through breathtaking scenery to the Venetian plain, passing the Montello where British infantry first went into the line, and where we will find the only Victoria Cross winner burial in this theatre, at Giavera Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing. Then we decipher some Italian graffiti, cross the Piave River to Papadopoliu Island at the site of the vital pontoon bridge, visit Tezze Cemetery with its Royal Flying Corps and Royal Airforce burials, and then follow 7th and 23rd Divisions in their advance to the Tagliamento River.

Across the Isonzo River, Monte San Michele is a preserved battlefield and memorial to the first six battles of the Isonzo. We walk through the remarkable artillery galleries cut into the hillside, and the trenches where gas was first used on this front. Nearby we locate the position of the first British battery in Italy and then look across the frontier town of Gorizia to the formidable mountain gorge of the Isonzo. Winding our way up the riverside road, we identify a site where Hemmingway apparently set a scene in A Farewell to Arms, and we cross Rommel's line of attack on our way to Caporetto with its excellent museum.

All of our flying tours are organised through Carrick Travel Ltd, which is a bonded company, and the tours provided will meet the requirements of ABTA (ABTA number 18343) and the CAA (ATOL number 1159).