Example tours
One day UK tour - Introduction to the RAF Pathfinder Force (PFF)
An exciting full day's guided tour around Cambridgeshire to learn about the RAF's only officially recognised elite bomber force, the Pathfinders. The RAF Pathfinder Force’s motto made its purpose clear: ‘We Guide To Strike’. It was a highly specialised force, dedicated to target-marking for the rest of Bomber Command, which was known as Main Force. Our tour starts in the Pathfinder Museum at the RAF Wyton Heritage Centre, Huntingdon, where we will be introduced to the PFF's history and key figures, the squadrons and aircraft, operational missions and the complexities of long distance, night time bombing over enemy territory. We will view the magnificent memorial window in the camp church. After lunch a local pub we move on to pause and remember the fallen at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission sections in the Cambridge City Cemetery, before taking a well earned refreshment in The Eagle, a 16th century pub in Cambridge, where we can investigate the WWII graffiti and photographs in the RAF Bar. |
Introduction to the WWI Western Front at Ypres
Three nights 3* B&B with full guided tours around some of the main battlefields and memorials of the Ypres Salient in Flanders, where you will be introduced to some of the people, units and tactics employed during some of the fiercest battles of The Great War. Day One - Outbound travel and Last Post Ceremony We travel to Ieper (Ypres) in Belgium in the morning and enjoy a short walking tour of this iconic medieval city in the afternoon, visiting St George's Memorial Church which is packed with regimental tributes, and memories. We take in the sights of St Martin's Cathedral and the magnificent Cloth Hall, walk on the city's ramparts and wonder at the Menin Gate Memorial, which is dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers who were killed in the Ypres Salient of WWI and whose graves are unknown. After dinner, we witness the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial. Day Two - The Ypres Salient - the Front Lines A fully packed day; we pass Hellfire Corner, once dubbed 'the most dangerous corner on earth’ and visit some of the key battlefields and memorials of the four battles of Ypres, including Plug Street (Ploegsteert) and the fabled Christmas truce. We walk in the preserved trenches at the Sanctuary Wood museum and at Passchendaele, we learn about the dreadful battle and visit the outstanding Memorial Museum 1917, where we experience the recreated full battle trenches and explore the troops' bunker, 30 feet below ground! We move on to the humbling Tyne Cot, the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, and we pause at Vancouver Corner to view the impressive Canadian 'brooding soldier' memorial and find out about the first use of poison gas and the development of gas masks. Our final stop of the day is at the Langemark German cemetery. The evening is spent enjoying Ypres' cafes and restaurants. Day Three - The Ypres Salient - Behind the Lines Today we look behind the front lines and we start at the Essex Farm Advanced Dressing Station, where we find out about the complex medical arrangements and the extended casualty chain of evacuation for the hundreds of thousands of wounded soldiers. We learn about life in the field hospitals, and of some of the experimental patient treatments. Essex Farm is also where Major John McCrae wrote his famous poem In Flanders Fields. We move onto Brandhoek New Military Cemetery, where we can pay our respects to the fallen including double Victoria Cross winner, Captain Dr Noel Chavasse MC RAMC. Our next stop is the town of Poperinge. Known as "Pop", this strategically important town was a major staging area for soldiers and their equipment, and also a place for rest and recuperation and entertainment. We check out the living museum at the Talbot House (Toc H) 'everyman', or all ranks, rest house before a short walk brings us into the town's market square. We pause at the famous 'La Poupee' estaminet (cafe) that was open only to officers - it seems that many of these fell for the charms of the beautiful owner's daughter, 'Ginger'. A grim reminder of that time remains within the town hall, where two death cells are preserved, and outside in the courtyard there is a public execution post used by firing squads! Our tour concludes back in Ypres, where the afternoon is at your leisure, so don't miss out on stocking up on the famous Belgium beers and chocolates. The evening is spent enjoying Ypres' cafes and restaurants. Day Four – Return travel In the words of the old song we'll, "pack up our troubles in our old kit bag" and make our way back to 'Blighty' after an unforgettable few days. |
Research and family visit
You commission research into a great grandfather's Service history and have two nights B&B family visit to France, with a guided tour of the battlefield and his final resting place. Day One - Outbound travel We travel out and drive to Bethune in France, arriving late afternoon at our hotel. A chance to sample the local cafes and restaurants in the evening. Day Two - Battlefield and memorial visit You will be be guided around the battlefield of Aubers Ridge and learn about the battle that took place on 9 May 1915. You hear about grandad's 23rd battalion that was defending and supporting the Divisional Headquarters and Medical Collecting Station during the ill-fated battle. After lunch, we visit Le Touret Memorial that commemorates over 13,400 British soldiers who were killed in this sector of the Western Front from the beginning of October 1914 to the eve of the Battle of Loos in late September 1915, and who have no known grave. You are shown to the panel with grandad's name inscribed upon it and you have the afternoon to pay your respects and reflect on the sacrifice of grandad, and his comrades in arms. Day Three - Return travel After breakfast we stop again at grandad's memorial before our return home. |