War Poets' Tours
| Tours can be arranged in both the Somme and Ypres Salient area to cover the main War Poets. These tours can be tailor made to suit your requirements and can be from one to three days.
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| Typical one day war poets tour in the Somme After an early start, arrive in the Somme area at Serre No 2 Cemetery near where Wilfred Owen's platoon held a dug-out in No Mans Land as described in his poem 'The Sentry'. From here travel the short distance to Newfoundland Park. Wilfred Owen was in the front line here in January 1917. Carry on to Thiepval, the memorial to the missing, a very emotional place. From here drive to the Fricourt area, where Robert Graves wrote several poems including 'Two Fusiliers' and 'David & Goliath'. Siegfried Sassoon was also serving in this area during the spring of 1916 prior to the Battle of the Somme. Drive to Delville Wood, where the savage fighting inspired Sassoon's poem 'The Road' and Graves' poem 'The Dead Boche'. En-route back to Calais, stop south of Arras at Agny to visit Edward Thomas' grave and travel into Arras to the Arras Memorial.
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An extended tour would take in the area round Saint Quentin, where both Wilfred Owen and Sassoon fought. Owen also wrote 'The Show' and 'Spring Offensive' here. Then on to the Joncourt area where Owen saw action in the last months of the war. Also to Cambrin to visit the sites of Robert Graves' war experience and the Lavantie area, where Sassoon, Graves and Blunden all saw action.
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Edmund Blunden saw action in the Ypres Salient from November 1916 until January 1918 and was involved in the Third Battle of Ypres at Passchendaele. Blunden wrote many pieces whilst in the Ypres area including 'The Zonnebeke Road', 'Les Halles d'Ypres', 'Trench Raid near Hooge' and 'Vlamertinghe, passing the chateau'. The latter three are on plaques at the Cloth Hall, Hooge military museum and outside the chateau gates at Vlamertinghe. There are plenty of reminders of Blunden's war experiences here and a whole tour could be constructed around these.
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Siegfried Sassoon also spent time in the Ypres Salient and there is reference to his time here in 'Sick Leave' written at Craiglockhart. John Macrae, the Canadian surgeon wrote 'In Flanders Fields' whilst stationed at Essex Farm dressing station.
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Teacher’s guides for WWI
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Holts Tours has produced a comprehensive full-colour guide to aid teachers in effective preparation for their tours to Ypres and the Somme. These packs are exclusive to Holts Tours and are available to you, the teacher, when you book your tour with us. They have been designed in conjunction with a Chief Examiner in GCSE History and we feel that they are one of several features that make our Battlefield Tours the most comprehensive available.
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If you have any questions or would like to get a quote, click here to go to the contact page where you can download a fax-back form or click here for the on-line enquiry form. |
