| 23 - 26 August 2008 | ||
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In this third battlefield tour of the WW1 Somme Walks series we walk some of the last battles of the 1916 Somme campaign as well as the summer of 1918.
After the dreadful events of the 1st July on the Somme there were some hard fought successes for the British and Empire divisions during the summer months but no breakthrough. The fighting continued through August, September and October, into the freezing mud of November. In that month there was some long awaited success in the north with the taking of Beaumont Hamel by the 51st Highland Division, but south of the Albert-Bapaume road the attacks floundered to a halt before the Butte de Warlencourt. | ||
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Our Somme walks this year cover these two areas and we then move on to explore the ground fought over two years later - sometimes the same ground - but with different results. One of the first successes of 1918 was the successful taking of Le Hamel by the Australians in July, followed by Ludendorff's ‘black day of the German Army’ on 8th August, when the troops began to advance over open country. Tanks, aircraft and great advances in artillery made this fighting very different from the actions of 1916. Many famous divisions returned to this area but this time the outcome was different - they were crossing this ground for the last time and we will follow in their footsteps, walking the Somme.
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| Day 1 | (Saturday): Depart Victoria Coach Station London 0845. Dover-Calais ferry 1215. Walk from Martinpuich - Butte de Warlencourt (November 1916). Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Assevillers(3 nights). | |
| Day 2 | Today we study two of the last attacks of 1916 - The capture of Beaumont Hamel by the 51st Highland division and the final attack on Redan Ridge by 2nd and 3rd Divisions as far as Frankfurt Trench and Ten Tree Alley. Lunch in Auchonvillers. | |
| Day 3 | Retaking the ground lost in the Kaiser's Spring Offensive of 1918. The Australians at Hamel (July 1918). Picnic lunch ‘in the field’. The Canadian advance towards Le Quesnel (Aug 1918). | |
| Day 4 | Re-taking the old Somme battlefield. The 18th Division at the Battle of Albert (Aug. 1918), fighting over much the same ground as in the summer of 1916. Lunch break in Arras. Calais - Dover ferry. Arrive approx 1845 Dover and 2030 London. |
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