Tours to the Somme

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Guided battlefield tour

Three Days World War One trip - The Somme

The three day guided battlefield tours are usually out on a Friday morning and back on a Sunday evening.

You will be accompanied by an experienced and knowledgeable guide with a wealth of stories about the people's heroic deeds and devastating blunders.

The Battle of the Somme started in June 1916 with a week long artillery bombardment designed to kill everything below it. The Infantry attack started at 7.30am on the 1st July 1916.

On that day there were nearly 55,000 British casualties of whom nearly 20,000 were killed. It was the worst disaster in British military history. The supposed one day battle lasted several months until it stopped in the November mud.

Most of the regiments involved on the first day were part of Kitchener's New Army, many called Pal's battalions, formed in 1914. It is said they were two years in the making and ten minutes in the destruction.

By November Allied troops from around the British Empire were involved and now their memorials and cemeteries are in place around the beautiful French countryside.

" Just before 7.00am came the order to fix bayonets. Men swallowed nervously and thought of home. Many were dead by 7.45am "

A typical itinerary :

Day 1 - We drive to Dover to catch our ferry at approx midday local time. We arrive Calais early afternoon and drive towards Vimy Ridge and look at the preserved trench systems there. Depending on time and weather it may be possible to have a guided tour of the underground tunnels. Leaving Vimy we continue to our hotel arriving early evening.
Day 2 - After a continental breakfast we journey onto the Somme battlefield. The tour is deliberately kept flexible to make the most of road and weather conditions however a list of some of the places we visit is below *
Day 3 - Leaving our hotel we continue our sight seeing trip of the battlefield and then late afternoon of a 3 day trip we turn northward towards Calais and a ferry at approx 6pm local time.

*The itinerary is deliberately left as flexible as possible to try to accommodate any specific requests and to make the most of weather and road conditions. A list of some main places of interest that maybe visited is given here:

THIEPVAL-Huge memorial containing approx 74000 names of missing with no known grave from the Somme area. Designed by Lutyens

LA BOISELLE- A vast mine crater,90 feet deep and approx.350 feet in diameter.300 Germans died when the explosion shot debris up to 4000 feet into the air.

MANSELL COPSE-The scene of fierce fighting and a memorial cemetery to the Devonshire Regt."The Devonshires held this trench,the Devonshires hold it still"

NEWFOUNDLAND PARK-One of the best maintained and preserved memorial parks on the Somme with fine examples of trenches and No Mans Land.

DELVILLE WOOD- Otherwise known as "Devil's Wood".Has a museum to the South African soldiers who fought and died here.Also has an original Hornbeam tree from the first World War.

HAWTHORN RIDGE- Huge mine crater.Famous for being filmed in original battle of the Somme.

FLAT IRON COPSE- A memorial to the Welsh Division and the area where Sigfried Sassoon earned the nickname "Mad Jack"

POZIERES- Remembering the Australian fallen.A core sample was taken from the ground here and placed in the War memorial in Canberra.

ULSTER TOWER- A memorial to the bravery of the Irish Divisions.

FRICOURT AND NEVILLE ST.VAAST- Two enormous German Cemeteries with acres of stark black metallic crosses marking the last resting place of over 50,000 soldiers. The German flying Ace " The Red Baron " was buried at Fricourt for sometime.

SHEFFIELD MEMORIAL PARK- Remembering the Pals battalions at the village of Serre.

VIMY RIDGE- Amazing memorial to Canada's fallen.Preserved trench systems

NOTRE-DAME DE LORETTE-
22000 French graves.

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