| 11-14 April 2008, 19-22 September 2008 | ||
| This tour is now fully booked. Please call us on 0845 375 0430 if you would like to go on the waiting list or click here to e-mail us. | ||
| The battles on the Western Front - Ypres, Vimy Ridge and the Somme - fought by the men of Britain and the Commonwealth in the Great War 1914 - 1918, have an important place in our heritage. By the standards of the 21st century, the events of ninety years ago are often hard to comprehend. So much suffering and sacrifice, such bravery and endurance in horrific conditions. The citizen armies learned new skills, supported each other in their difficult and dangerous tasks and through their sense of duty and comradeship have left us a legacy of which we can be proud. Many mistakes were made, many bitter lessons learned as the hundreds of thousands of graves and names on memorials bear witness to the scale of the war in human lives. In this introductory tour, we take you to some of the key areas of the Western Front. In the Ypres Salient we visit the Flanders Fields Museum, Essex Farm (John McCrae´s dressing station), Sanctuary Wood and attend the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate. On the Somme battlefield we visit the Lochnagar Crater and the Monument to the Missing at Thiepval. At Vimy Ridge we visit the tunnels used by the Canadians to bring their troops to the front line. Our guides take you to many places on the battlefields, explaining the actions, strategy and tactics, so you get a feeling for ground and history that will add immeasurably to what you have read. You will hear about the politics, the home front, the men who fought, from generals to privates. The use of audio and visual aids help to bring the period to life. |
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| Nearly every family in Britain and the Commonwealth can trace a relative who served in the Great War. If you have a special grave or memorial that you would like to visit and maybe lay a wreath or poppy cross, these are always available on our tours. For more information please visit our How to Visit a War Grave page (the page will open in a new window). | ||
| Day 1 | (Friday): Depart Victoria Coach Station, London 0845. Dover-Calais ferry. Drive east to the Ypres Salient. Behind the Lines - we visit Poperinghe and Talbot House Museum,then Brandhoek CWGC cemetery where Captain Noel Chevasse, a medical officer who twice won the VC,is buried. To the Ariane Hotel in Ypres. The Last Post at the Menin Gate. Dinner at the hotel. | |
| Day 2 | The Ypres Salient, including: 1914 - the Menin Road and Sanctuary Wood; 1915 - Essex Farm (John McCrae’s dressing station); the Pilkem Ridge, area of the first gas attack, and Vancouver Corner. We visit the German Cemetery at Langemarck and then drive up the Passchendaele Ridge to the great Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery and Memorial at Tyne Cot. We have a lunch break in Ypres with time to visit the Flanders Fields Museum and St.Georges Memorial Church. Dinner at our hotel. | |
| Day 3 | This morning we drive south, along the Messines Ridge to New Zealand Park where we discuss the successful attack of June 1917. Then on to Vimy Ridge, where we see the great Canadian Memorial, the trench lines and cratered ground. Group lunch in Auchonvillers. Battle areas of 1st July 1916; the Pals Battalions at Serre, Newfoundland Park and the Lochnagar Crater at La Boiselle. Dinner and overnight, Assevillers. | |
| Day 4 | Battle areas including 1st July - Maricourt and Montauban; the later attacks on High Wood, Delville Wood, Pozieres and the Ancre valley and heights. Finally, we visit the Anglo-French Memorial to the missing of the Somme, high on the ridge at Thiepval, where we have a simple wreath laying ceremony, remembering the men who fought and died in the Great War. Lunch break in Arras. Calais - Dover ferry. Arrive approx 1845 Dover and 2030 London. |
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