Ypres was the main British battlefield in WW1 and these one and two-day tours are an ideal way for students to discover and study trench warfare in Flanders.
Trench warfare was one of the most important aspects of WW1, where both sides were often very close together. The trenches provided troops with cover, a place to rest and a front line to fight in. This two-day tour around the battlefields of Ypres in Flanders gives students an insight into life in trenches as well as visiting and learning about key battles and battlefields from WW1.
KS3 National Curriculum – The First World War and the Peace Settlement
OCR GCSE Syllabus – War and British Society 1790-2010
OCR GCSE Syllabus – Depth Study – Britain in Peace and War 1900-1918
EdExcel GCSE Syllabus – Thematic Study and Historic Environment – Medicine in Britain and the British Sector of the Western Front 1914-1918: Injuries, Treatment and the Trenches
AQA GCSE Syllabus – Period Studies – Germany, 1890-1945:Democracy and Dictatorship
AQA GCSE Syllabus – Wider World Depth Studies – Conflict and Tension, 1894-1918
Specialist Battlefield Guide. For larger groups we have two guides per booking.
Tour pack of information and resources to use in the classroom.
1 breakfast, 2 lunch and 2 dinners (2-day tour only).
Travel by coach from your school.
Channel crossings.
This is a tour that can be completed in a day trip from any location in the South-East of England within 2-3 hours of the Channel Tunnel.
After an early morning departure from the school, we proceed to the Channel Tunnel and travel to France where we will continue our journey into Belgium and towards the Flanders region.
We begin our tour at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, where we look at the subject of medicine and warfare. This was the site of a main Casualty Clearing Station for the reception of wounded. We look at how medicine advanced during the war and the British adapted to dealing with the high level of casualties. We will also look at the role of the Women in WW1 who served as Nurses and see the grave of Staff Nurse Nellie Spindler, the only woman killed by enemy action in Belgium during WW1.
From here we travel to Hooge, a small hamlet on the battlefield east of the city of Ypres and the most important British battlefield of the war, where fighting was constant for four years.
At Hooge we look at the subject of Trench Warfare on the Western Front. We visit a set of full-size replica trenches where students can walk in the trench, see how it is designed and contrast the German approach to that of the British. Students will have the opportunity to safely handle helmets, water bottles, entrenching tools and other items under the supervision of one of our Specialist Battlefield Guides. We also spend time in the Hooge Crater Museum and will have lunch in the on-site café.
In the afternoon we have a short battlefield walk up onto the Bellewaarde Ridge where there was extensive mine warfare activity from 1915. Here, we visit mine craters and look at the ‘war underground’. We also get an amazing view into Ypres and use this to discuss the meaning of landscape, memory and Remembrance.
We end our tour in Ypres for a visit to the Menin Gate Memorial and some free time in the city before we return home via the Channel Tunnel with arrival back at the school expected in the late evening.
Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres
WW1 Hooge Museum
WW1 Trenches Hooge
Mine Craters, Bellewaarde Ridge
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery
This is a tour available from any location within 4 hours of the Channel Tunnel.
After an early morning departure from the school, we proceed to the Channel Tunnel and travel to France.
We continue our journey into Belgium, and on to Flanders where we will begin our tour at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery. We look at the subject of medicine and warfare: this was the site of a main Casualty Clearing Station for the reception of wounded, and we look at how medicine advanced during the war and the British adapted to dealing with the high level of casualties. We also look at the role of the Women in WW1 who served as Nurses and see the grave of Staff Nurse Nellie Spindler, the only woman killed by enemy action in Belgium during WW1.
From here we travel to Hooge. A small hamlet on the battlefield east of the city of Ypres, the most important British battlefield of the war where fighting was constant for four years.
At Hooge we look at the subject of Trench Warfare on the Western Front. We visit a set of full-size replica trenches where students can walk in the trench, see how it is designed and contrast the German approach to that of the British. Whilst here, students can safely handle helmets, water bottles, entrenching tools and other items under the supervision of one of our Specialist Battlefield Guides.
We also spend time in the Hooge Crater Museum and have lunch in the on-site café. In the afternoon we have a short battlefield walk up onto the Bellewaarde Ridge where there was extensive mine warfare activity from 1915. Here we visit mine craters and look at the ‘war underground’. We also get an amazing view into Ypres and use this to discuss the meaning of landscape, memory and Remembrance.
In the evening, we will check into our accommodation and sit down for our evening meal. We will then attend the moving Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate at Ypres, which takes place at 8 pm every evening.
Included meals: Lunch, Dinner
Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres
WW1 Hooge Museum
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery
We start our second day at Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest British and Commonwealth Cemetery in the world where almost 12,000 men are buried. Here, we begin to understand the scale of the First World War. We look at the story of missing soldiers commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, and then contrast the British approach to commemoration with that of the Germans.
We then visit Langemarck German Cemetery, where more than 44,000 German soldiers are buried, half of them in a mass grave.
Later we visit the trenches at Bayernwald, on the Messines Ridge, where we see a reconstructed German trench system with original bunkers. Here, we will look at trench warfare, trench design, and the importance of the Messines Ridge.
We finish the tour at Essex Farm, where we return to the subject of Medicine in War, seeing some original Advanced Dressing Station dugouts, looking at Casualty Evacuation. We also examine war poetry as Canadian medic, John McCrae, wrote the now immortal ‘In Flanders Fields’ poem here in 1915.
Finally, we look at the story of ‘Teenage Tommies’ and see the grave of Valentine Joe Strudwick, who fell near Ypres aged only 15.
We begin our return home via the Channel Tunnel with arrival back at the school expected in the late evening
Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Tyne Cot Cemetery in Ypres
Essex Farm Dugouts
Langemarck German Cemetery
Bayernwald German Trenches, Messines Ridge
If you would like more information or would like to customise this tour to suit your needs, get in touch today.
Each of our tours are tailor made to suit your school’s specific requirements.
Our team of experienced specialist guides are both passionate and knowledgeable.
Our tours are carefully designed to meet the aims of the National Curriculum.
You can rest assured that your school trips are safe and financially secured.
