Join us on what will be a memorable and perhaps moving tour of the WWI battlefields, memorials and evidence of the horror that was the western front.
Northern France is home to some of the most significant WWI battlefields, where history remains etched into the landscape. Major Brian Rogers will lead us on a fascinating tour of the battle sites and memorials of this part of the French/Belgian border.
We have 11 double rooms booked in three hotels for this trip, so be quick to sign up.
Friday 12th June
The tour will kick-off in Bruges, having made your own way there, on 12th June at the Dukes Palace and from there to a local restaurant for a welcoming dinner. Private parking has been arranged and is included in the package price.
Saturday 13th June
After a relaxed breakfast on Saturday 13th we will leave Bruges at 10.00am, arriving in Ypres at 11.15am for coffee.
Our packed itinerary, under the leadership of Major Brian Rogers, will start in Ypres (or “Wipers” as it was known to the Tommys). The tour starts with a walk around Ypres incorporating the Grosse Market, St George’s Church, Menin Gate, ramparts and Rampart Cemetery, followed by a late self-paid lunch.
Afternoon:
In Flanders Fields Museum
Check into the Ariane Hotel in Ypres
We will attend the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres, at 8.00pm where the Coachmakers will lay a wreath of remembrance. There may also be the possibility of one of our group to read the exhortation but this is always at the discretion of the Last Post representative on the evening, depending on the number of interested parties and their relative claims. Our participants are always free to make their wishes known to the Last Post association representative, who will do what he can to help in the circumstances.
Dinner is in the hotel on our first night but will be late at 9pm due to the ceremony.
Sunday 14th June
Morning, after breakfast:
Household Cavalry Memorial Zandvoorde
Hill 60 Memorial, Zwarteleen, Belgium
Aristocrats Cemetery Zillebeke Churchyard
Passchendaele Museum – features trench reconstructions and has a good restaurant where a self-paid lunch can be taken.
Afternoon:
Tyne Cot Cemetery – the largest Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in the world.
Langemark German Military Cemetery – Contrast between the German mass graves and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries.
St. Julien Memorial – Briefly stop at ‘The Brooding Soldier’ memorial, which commemorates Canadian troops who endured the first large-scale gas attack in 1915.
Essex Farm Cemetery, where John McCrae wrote ‘In Flanders Fields’.
Dinner: Restaurant in Ypres.
Monday 15th June
Travel south to the Somme region (about a 90-minute drive from Ypres) to focus on the 1916 battle.
Morning:
Hawthorn Ridge
Visit the preserved battlefield and trenches at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial Park.
Thiepval Memorial to the Missing which lists more than 72,000 names of soldiers with no known grave.
A self-paid lunch at Thiepval, either on arrival or departure dependent on timings.
Afternoon:
Ulster Tower, a memorial to the 36th Ulster Division.
Underground Somme 1916 Museum in Albert to gain context on the lives of soldiers on the front line.
Check in to the Hotal Mercure Arras Centre Gare.
Dinner in a local restaurant.
Tuesday 16th June
Leave hotel after breakfast.
Participants can either hot-foot it home or we can conclude the tour by visiting Vimy Ridge and Quarry Cemetery on the way back north to the Channel ports – the choice is yours.
Vimy Ridge Canadian Memorial. A striking monument, preserved trenches, and visitor centre commemorating the Canadian Corps’ significant battle in April 1917.
Quarry Cemetery – visit the grave of Captain The Hon. Fergus Bowes-Lyon, the brother of HM the late Queen Mother. Has links to the story of the Unknown Warrior and Remembrance Sunday.
Route time of 2 hrs 7 mins, but stoppage time at Quarry Cemetery (30 mins) and Vimy Ridge (60-90 mins) would need to be included if you wish. https://maps.app.goo.gl/Q6yq4bZ25Wn7MTaH6
The cost for this wonderful tour is:
£2,100 per couple or £1,500 for a single, inclusive of hotels, breakfasts, dinners, museum entry and a copy of the book ‘World War I Battlefields’ for your background reading.
A 25% deposit is required to secure your place, as deposits have already been made to all the hotels, payable to Liveryman Simon Gurney (our Honorary Treasurer) with bank details:
Barclays Bank
Sort code 20-26-23
A/c 73079120
S Gurney.
We only have 11 rooms, so be quick to join up. This is going to be a tour to remember.
If you have any queries, please contact Assistant Nick Lyford at epsom_lyfords@yahoo.co.uk.