World War II 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 World War I, World War II 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 2 – D-Day to Berlin

The Northwest Europe Campaign – the fall of Nazi Germany

8th – 18th July
11 Days, 10 Nights
£950.00

Once again we are running this very popular tour of the North Western Europe Campaign, all the way from the Beaches of Normandy to the streets of Berlin, and describing the fall of Nazi Germany.

Day 1 – We depart from the UK and make our way to Rouen, for our first nights stay.

Day 2 – Sees us covering the American Sector around Ste. Mere Eglise – with its famous Church on which US paratrooper John Steele landed, Utah Beach, Ste. Marie Du Mont and the area around (attacked by the 101st Airborne 'The Screaming Eagles' and featured in the blockbuster series 'Band of Brothers'). From here we visit Pont Du Hoc – where Col. Jim Rudder led his force of Rangers up the sheer cliffs, Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery.

Day 3 – We cover the British and Canadian beaches and landing and dropping zones, with visits to the Merville Battery, Pegasus Bridge, Cafe Gondree, Ranville Airborne Cemetery, Sword, Juno and Gold Beaches, Arromanches and Bayeux.

Day 4 – We travel south to Falaise, along the 'Corridor of Death' to Mont Ormel and onto Vernon, where 30 Corps crossed the Seine, and through the Somme region to Cambrai.

Day 5 – We travel through Belgium into Holland along the Corridor at Eindhoven, to Nijmegen to cover the story of the ground forces and their actions en route to relieve the troops during 'Operation Market Garden'. We overnight in the Arnhem area.

Day 6 – Today we visit the dropping and landing zones, used in 'Operation Market Garden', visit the Oosterbeek Airborne Cemetery, Hartenstein Hotel and follow the John Frost route into the 'Bridge Too Far' in Arnhem.

Day 7 – We cross over into Germany and make towards Luneberg Heath and visit Belsen Concentration Camp. Overnight in Helmstedt.

Day 8 – We travel to Berlin, where we stay for two nights, with a guided tour of the sites, starting on the banks of the river Oder we visit the site of the Russian Army crossing and follow the battle of the eights before following the Russian route into the heart of Berlin and the fall of the Reichstag.

Day 9 – Sees us at Olympic Stadium, the Plotzensee Memorial Victory Memorial, Unter den Linden, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the site of Hitler’s Bunker, Alexander Platz, Old East Berlin, the remains of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and Museum; ending the day at the Berlin War Cemetery.

Day 10 – We make our way back through Germany to Holland, where we spend the last night in Arnhem.

Day 11 – On our final day we make our way back to Calais and our ferry home.

World War 2 – Great Escapes Tour

Holland, Germany and Poland – Arnhem, Belsen, Berlin, Zagan (Great Escape Camp), Auschwitz, Dresden, Colditz Castle and the Mohne Dam

13th – 24th August

12 Days, 11 Nights

£1050.00

This tour starts by travelling through France and Belgium, following the route of 30 Corps on their way to relieve the troops at Arnhem in September 1944. The first night is spent in the Eindhoven area.

The following day we follow the corridor up to Nijmegen and on to Arnhem, and visit the escape route taken across the Neder Rijn to the safety of the Island. We also visit Oosterbeek Airborne cemetery, before spending our second night in Arnhem.

We then travel through Germany to visit Belsen Concentration Camp (and the British and Commonwealth cemetery at Becklinghem Soltau, if requested), before heading for our hotel in the old border town of Helmstedt.

The following day we travel into Berlin for a guided tour of the city, visiting the Berlin War Cemetery, and the grave of Lt. Mike Sinclair, (Red Fox) the prolific escaper who was shot in an attempt to escape from Colditz Castle. We visit the Olympic Stadium, Plotensee, the Reichstag Building, Brandenburg Gate, the site of Hitler's Bunker, the sites of old East Berlin, remains of the Wall, Checkpoint Charlie Escape Museum and many other places of interest.

We then cross the Polish border and visit the site of Stalag Luft 3 from where the 'Great Escape' was made on the night of the 24th March 1944. We also visit the memorial to those shot as an example following the escape.

Our next two nights are spent in the beautiful old capital of Poland, Krakow, where he have some free time for sightseeing and a visit to the remains of the Ghetto to see Oscar Schindler's factory. The following day we visit the Auschwitz and Auschwitz Birkenau Camps with our local guide.

On leaving Poland we travel to Dresden where we spend the next two nights, with a day sightseeing. From here we make our way to the infamous Colditz Castle set above the quaint market square for our tour of the castle and it's artefacts, and cover the escape stories and routes.

We have an overnight stay in Jena, before setting off for our final night in the Kamen area of Germany visiting the immense Mohne Dam, breached by Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his 617 Squadron armed with the Barnes Wallis bouncing bomb.

Special Visits to Reichswald and Rheinberg Cemeteries are possible.