Arras has been a frontier city for most of its history. It was not securely part of France until the seventeenth century when it was fortified by Vauban. From 1914 to 1918 Arras was once again a frontier city; the frontier being marked by the trenches of the Western Front. German troops passed through Arras in August 1914, but when they returned in October their way was barred by the Alpine troops of General Barbot’s Division and Arras was saved. However north of the city the Germans did occupy the dominating ridges of Notre Dame de Lorette and Vimy. Repeated and costly attacks during the winter of 1914 and spring of 1915 secured the Lorette Spur for the French but Vimy Ridge remained beyond their grasp during the bitter Battles of Artois through the summer of 1915. By 1916 the British Army had taken over the Arras sector and they were surprised by a German attack off Vimy Ridge in May. For nearly a year afterwards, Arras was a “quiet “ sector while attention focussed on the Somme.

April and May 1917 saw some of the hardest fighting of the war around Arras as the British tried to divert German attention from General Nivelle’s offensive on the Chemin des Dames. After the initial success there was limited advance despite many determined attacks and great casualties. In March 1918 Arras was a key objective for General Ludendorff’s Operation Mars but his attempt to capture the city was smashed on 28th March. Then in August Arras was the base from which the Canadian Corps began their final advance.

Your guide Michael Orr, know this counrtyside well and the walks of this tour will cross the crucial ground of these battles. There is some good, varied walking country, ranging from the wooded hills of Notre Dame de Lorette and Vimy to the valley of the River Scarpe and the broad uplands and long views of Monchy and Bullecourt, but the area is now criss-crossed with motorways so some of the walks my need to be taken in two parts.

ITINERARY
Day 1 (Friday): Depart Victoria Coach station London 08:45. Dover – Calais ferry. We walk the ridge of Notre Dame de Lorette, visit the military cemetery and chapel, walk down to the war-ruined chapel of Ablain St Nazaire, and follow the French advance to Souchez. We stay for 3 nights in the central Hotel Mercure. Group dinner in La Rapiere restaurant in the Grand Place.
Day 2: Souchez to Vimy Ridge. We walk along Zouave Valley, then up onto Vimy Ridge and consider the French attacks of 1915, the limited German offensive of 1916 and the Canadian Corps’s famous victory at Vimy in April 1917. Group lunch. PM - Gavrelle - Oppy. Gavrelle was captured and held by the Royal Naval Division in April 1917 but the British were never able to overcome the German defenders of neighbouring Oppy. Walking between these two villages we can follow their fluctuating fortunes. As we return to Arras we will visit an artillery battery position in Farbus Wood, built by the Germans in 1917 and used by the British in 1918. Own dinner arrangements.
Day 3: AM Tilloy to Roeux. The walk will begin with the French defence of Arras in October 1914 and will then cross Observatory Ridge, looking down Battery Valley and across to Monchy le Preux; along the valley of the Scarpe and up towards Hyderabad Redoubt with views down to Roeux and across to Greenland Hill. The walk will finish near the site of the Chemical Factory in Roeux where divisions such as 51st Highland suffered so much in April 1917. Group Lunch. PM - Monchy-le-Preux. From the British cemeteries east of the village we will follow the capture of Monchy by British infantry and cavalry on 11th April 1917; then trace the Newfoundland and Essex Regiments’ disastrous attack on Infantry Hill on 13th April and consider the 3rd Canadian Division’s capture of this defensive strongpoint in August 1918. The afternoon will finish with a tour of the newly-opened Wellington Quarry in Arras. Dinner in La Rapiere restaurant.
Day 4: Croisilles, Bullecourt, Norieul This walk covers the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, the assaults on the village of Bullecourt in April and May 1917 and the events of March and August 1918. Lunch break in Arras. Calais – Dover ferry arrive approx. 18:45 Dover and 20:30 London.