DAY ONE - Monday / Overnight Ypres or Kemel

Early Departure from a central London meeting point and we’ll then travel over by mini-coach and Channel ferry. We are able to meet participants who wish to join from Lille. Lille participants will be collected at approximately 12.00.

Today, we explore the Ypres Salient and Messines Ridge in Belgium. We'll travel up the line via 'Plug Street' to the Messines Ridge. This is an important site for both New Zealand and Australian troops who distinguished themselves in the 1917 battle for the ridge. The main Kiwi memorial is here, as are original bunkers and gun emplacements. You'll also see where Adolf Hitler lived when he served as a corporal and runner in this sector. Our ANZAC battlefield experience continues with a walk around the incredible pock-marked, moonscape of Hill 60 where we'll see the memorial to the Australian tunnelers. You'll also be visiting Polygon Wood and Poelcappelle where ANZACs played such an important role in the 1917 Passchendaele battle, the Tyne Cot bunker and memorial where a VC was won, and where the first Australian casualty was sustained.

DAY TWO - Tuesday / Overnight Albert or Amiens

Our first stop is at Frommels. Here we find one of the most inspiring of the Australian memorials - the Digger carrying his mate to safety.  This was Australia’s first (and disastrous) experience on the Western Front.  Recently, in mid 2007, mass graves containing over 400 unidentified Anzac and Imperial troops have been found and excavated. We will see what progress has been made in remembering the dead by the time of our tours here.

Nearby is a bunker and billet used by the young Hitler. We’ll visit both as well as seeing a few other memorable locations form the earlier part of the conflit.

Our second and main visit of the day will be to the battlefield of Poziers. This was a turning point in the 1916 battle of the Somme. It was the first major engagement for the Aussie troops, and the first ever use of tanks in a battlefield. You'll see amazing recreated trenches, Moquet Farm, Courcelette, the 'silent city' of Australian graves, and hear the story of the battle standing on the 'Gibralter' redoubt. So significant and historic was this engagement that it was a handful of soil from Poziers that was thrown onto the grave of the Unknown Soldier at Canberra in 1993.

DAY THREE - Wednesday / Overnight Albert or Amiens

Today, you'll tour the main Somme front line as it was on July 1st, 1916. Known as the 'first day of the Somme', nearly 60,000 British and Imperial forces we're killed on this disastrous day. You'll see the La Boiselle mine crater, the Thiepval Memorial to the missing and tour the incredible preserved battlefield of Beaumont Hamel. Kiwis will find the New Zealand memorial at Flers poignant and all will find the South African memorial and museum at Longueval heart-rending. You'll also visit the Underground Albert museum.

DAY FOUR - Thursday / Overnight Albert or Amiens

Today, we spend a day exploring sites connected with the 1917 battle of Arras. Perhaps one of the most remarkable sites on the Western Front in this region are the tunnels of Vimy Ridge. We’ll also visit the underground city that grew up in Arras.

We follow the Aussies through the 1917 battle at Bullecourt (known as 'the blood tub'), where well take a short battlefield walk over virtually unchanged terrain. There are memorials at many sites near here, including the evocative 'digger' memorial.

Finally, we’ll take our opportunity of visiting a range of other sites of a wider, but connected interest, such as the French national Monument and the Loos battlefield.

We travel south to Peronne and Mont St. Quentin, where the Australian troops distinguished themselves in September 1918 in overcoming one of the last strong points of the Hindenburg defences. Three VCs were awarded for actions during this battle.

We'll also visit the Chateau Historial de Peronne Museum and later Cambrai.

Today, we visit Villers Bretonneux Le Hamel. It was here that the great German push of 1918 - one that very nearly bought it final victory - was finally countered and broken. The AIF played a crucial role in defending the line and village here. Here we'll find the huge and inspiring Australian National Memorial, honouring all those who died during the war. The view from the bell-tower covers the entire battlefield. Perhaps even more impressive, in its own way, is the Franco-Australian Museum at the local 'Victoria' school.

Next, you'll visit Le Hamel park, established by the Australian government, with its marble wall memorial and traces of trenches. Don't be surprised when you pick up old shell casings in the fields here!

We make our way back to London, retuning early evening. Those returning to Paris/ Lille can be dropped at a convenient rail stations for TGV connections.

April 25^th only: Today, an early start as we attend the Anzac Day Memorial Service at the Australian War Memorial in Villiers Bretonneux.

ANZAC DAY TOUR DEPARTING 20APR09 ONLY: Our itinerary will be subject to change to accommodate attending various ANZAC memorial services and events as relevant.

2008 Battlefields Tours