BATTLEFIELD TOUR PROGRAMME

THE SECOND WORLD WAR

The Battle of Normandy

Piercing the Atlantic Wall

The opening of the Battle of Normandy in the early summer of 1944 was one of the most remarkable military operations ever and saw the bold use of amphibious and airborne operations in an attempt to make a lodgement in occupied France - but questions are still being asked about its conduct and how and why the Germans reacted in the way that they did. This tour will provide the a wonderful overview of the fighting in Normandy, from the initial British and American airborne landings and beach assaults, through the attempts to establish the force in Normandy as well as the operations to break out of the beach head and the ultimate failure of the numerous German counter attacks.

Picture - Lougues Battery - Normandy

Full weight will be given to all of the combatant nations involved in the Normandy fighting: the British, American, Canadian, French, Polish and German forces. The terrain of the battlefield will be assessed in detail as will the fighting methods of the armies involved, the conduct of many of the major operations and the impact of various personalities on the course and progress of the battle. Highlights will include:

Picture - Pegasus Bridge

Programme to Include

* Visits to the British and American airborne battlefields including Pegasus Bridge, Merville Battery and the areas made famous by the 101st US Airborne Division's "Band of Brothers"

* A full assessment of the success and failure of the Allies and Germans on UTAH, OMAHA, GOLD and SWORD beaches.

* A visit to some of the important German coastal batteries

* A chance to examine some of the critical, yet less visited, break out battlefields.

THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Ypres -The Bloody Salient

There are few British regiments that did not march through Ypres at some time during the First World War. From October 1914 through to the last months of the war, the fighting at Ypres was intense and often horrendous. In and around the salient, tens of thousands of British soldiers lost their lives on a battlefield that saw the Napoleonic style fighting methods of 1914 give way to the style of fighting which influenced "blitzkrieg" a generation later. This battlefield tour of the Salient does not just cover the most famous Third Battle of Ypres, but follows the story from the initial engagements in 1914 through to the final battle in April 1918. This is, therefore, a wonderful opportunity not only to examine the British and German armies in action on the Western Front, but also to learn about their development over a protracted period, to analyse the experiences of those soldiers fighting in the trenches as well as those generals fighting in their headquarters. Highlights of the tour will include:

Picture - Canadian Memorial at Ypres

Programme to Include

* A visit to the places where the first encounter battles occurred in October 1914

* An assessment of the fighting methods used in the Second Battle of Ypres

* The advent of new weapons - Gas at St. Julien and flamethrowers at Hooge

* The Battle of Messines in June 1917 - A remarkable success

* Third Ypres - Triumph and tragedy

* The Battle for Passchendaele Ridge

The Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme in 1916 provides examples of the British Army at its best and its worst during the First World War. The bloody first day, 1st July, is best remembered as a gallant failure lending credence to the idea that the army was hampered by "lions led by donkeys". But what really did happen on the opening day of the offensive and why were the The Turning Point.

Proposed Programme

* Beaumont Hamel - The slaughter of 29th Division on 1st July

* The Attack on Fricourt and Mametz - Success during the opening days of the battle

* The Lochnagar Crater - Military Mining on the Somme

* Thiepval - The banks of the Ancre and a soldier poet

* Delville Wood - The South African Brigade surrounded

* Flers - The first use of tanks in battle