Western Front Battlefield Tours

Our selected 2008 tour highlights will demonstrate many of the different facets of a Western Front Battlefield Tour and how we differ from the more commercially driven battlefield tour companies, in particular the flexibility we are able to adopt.

 

Our first tour of the year was our annual "Anoraks" battlefield walking tour. Customers from previous tours who have accompanied us on several tours are invited on our "no frills" tour. Our base for the week was Chavasse House a large self catering property on the Somme. From here we organised our week of battlefield walks; each walk featuring ideas assembled by the group with the ultimate idea of formulising new walks across battlefields well off the beaten track. Lunch was generally taken on the battlefield with evening meals and a good supply of beverage awaiting us in the "Rum Ration" each night. The ability to "muck in" is a prerequisite for this tour; any of our customers who have been on several tours and would like more details, please contact us direct or through the enquiry page.

The two images show the group looking lost in the morning mist of Trones Wood and unexploded shells. One of the real benefits of battlefield walking out of season is that there are plenty of ploughed fields; this find was left well alone!

 

 

 

Spring is a busy period for battlefield tours; crops are being planted, but battlefield vistas remain unobstructed. We returned to Arras in early April for a 4 day 3 night tour, commemorating the 91st anniversary of the Battle of Arras. Our customers, the Hopkins from Derby and the Gagens from Bexhill had accompanied us last year, and were keen to return in 2008, but wanted to extend the tour by an extra day to include a visit to Ypres. The geography for the pick ups entailed picking the Hopkins up from Derby the day previous to the tour and overnighting in Hastings. The itinerary was developed from ideas supplied by the customers. Having been to the battlefields before, they had followed this initial interest with further reading; both families lost relatives during the Battle of Arras in 1917.

The images show Jo Gagen signing the visitors register at Roclincourt Valley Cemetery, where relative L/Cpl. George Bland, 24th Battalion (1st Tyneside Irish) Northumberland Fusiliers , is buried. He was killed in action on the 9th April 1917. Nick Hopkins surveys the ground over which the Germans advanced against battalions of the 2nd Division during their counter attack at the Battle of Cambrai, 30th November 1917. His mothers uncle, Sergeant Reginald Harrison, 99th Machine Gun Company, was later awarded the Military Medal. Like many customers Nick's initial interest centred on a Great Uncle who had died of wounds. Further family research had uncovered several other distant relatives who had fought in the Great war. The majority of our Tailor-Made tours encompass research in to these soldiers and visits to the battlefields where they fought.  

 

 

 

At the beginning of May we accompanied a group of 15 Orangemen from three County Antrim Lodges to the Western Front. It was a short 3 day 2 night tour covering the Somme and Ypres battlefields. Detailed arrangements included a visit to Northern Ireland to meet the tour organiser, John Rennie. Final details included picking and dropping off the group at Charles de Gaulle airport, from where we had organised the hire of two vehicles, which allowed us to keep the cost down.

The images show the Orangemen at the Ulster Tower, Somme and at the grave of one of the groups relatives at Spanbroekmolen Cemetery, Messines Ridge, Ypres. Since the Northern Ireland based Somme Association purchased Thiepval Wood several years ago, groups have been welcomed by tower curator Teddy Noyles. With prior booking he will accompany parties in to Thiepval Wood, where significant digs are taking place to re establish the old trenches.

 

 

 

Our June tour had a north eastern flavour with father and daughter from Blyth and husband and wife, Steve and Lorraine Lister from Sunderland. Lorraine was on her third tour with us and is a very passionate about tracing ancestors that fought in the Great War. With the help of Ancestry.com Lorraine does most of the preliminary research herself. Our job is to place the soldiers on to the right battlefields and include them within the tour. Susan, accompanied her father from Blyth. He had requested a visit to see the grave of his uncle, Private William Gladstone Graham, 1st battalion North Staffordshire Regiment. Like so many potentional customers who contact us, he is buried in a cemetery well off the beaten track. The fifth memeber of the group was Roger, from Wrexham, who I knew from our local Western Front Association. His interest is in the service of his Grandfather who served in the Machine Gun Corp and was fortunate to survive. The group was completed by Ian Robertson from Australia, who we had agreed to meet at Ashford International. This was Ian's second battlefield tour with us and was looking forward to another tour with us in July!

Occasionally the geographical locations of our customers gives us a challenge. Because we had four customers from the north east, I wanted to offer door to door service and because Roger lived only an hour away from where we live, we agreed to travel to the north east the night before and pick up our north east customers in the early hours to effect a late morning Euro Tunnel crossing.

The images show the group relaxing at Talbot House and Bob at the grave of his uncle, at St. Aubert British Cemetery. Private Graham had enlisted in September 1916 and remained with the Army Reserve until April 1918 when he was drafted in to the South Staffordshire Regiment. He was killed  27 days before the end of the war. He was just 20 years old.

 

 

Our 4 day 3 night tour in August had a similar mix of customer requirements and logistical challenges. A father and son from Leeds researching their Great Uncle; a retired chap from Sheffield on a pilgrimage to visit family members who had died in the Great War; another father and son from Devon and Glen from Toronto, Canada.

Where it's not possible to offer door to door service we will liase with customers for the best options available. Shamus and his son Guy, from Devon were staying at their sisters house in London and so I advised that the best alternative would be Ashford International. It has excellent rail links in to London. We agreed to meet Glen in Arras; our base for the tour. I had spent the prevoius night in Leeds for an early morning pick up, which would allow me to offer door to door service for those customers from Yorkshire.

The group pose for the obligatory photograph. This was only the second all male tour of the year! And an evening shot of the Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge. Glen had been to the battlefields on several occasions, but as a keen photographer wanted the opportunity to photograph the memorial at night. The stunning new lighting was installed as part of the work completed in 2007.(Glen's photographs were much better!)

 

In October I met a mother and daughter from Canada for a Tailor-Made tour. Theresa and her daughter Kyla were picked up at the T.G.V station at Frethun, close to Calais; they had arrived in France a few days earlier and had already spent some time in Paris. The reason for the tour was to enable them to follow in the footsteps of  Private Joseph Winchester. He was part of a Lewis gun team in the 85th Battalion and died of wounds during August 1917 during the Canadian capture of Hill 70.Theresa had been able to supply me with Private Winchester's service records from which I developed the itinerary around. The key elements included visits to Vimy Ridge (where he had been wounded), Hill 70, Loos and the surrounding battlefields of Lens. The tour concluded with a visit to Barlin Communal Cemetery.

The first image shows Theresa and Kyla at the grave of Joseph Winchester. Theresa had already passed comment that it was unlikely that his grave had not been visited for a very long time. Incredibily on signing the cemetery register, Theresa found that his grave had been visited by relatives from Canada earlier in the year! The second image shows the remains of Batter Trench, on the rising ground of Hill 145 (Vimy Ridge). Private Winchester was wounded here on the opening day of the Battle of Arras. The 85th Nova Scottia battalion was only to play a supporting roll, supplying ration parties. However at 3.15pm with a dangerous salient forming, two companies were ordered to capture Batter Trench. The attack (without any barrage) was a success and ultimately led to the capture of Hill 145.