Atlantic Wall & V Weapons
About this tour
Concrete, Steel and Labour – the ingredients of Adolf Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, built to defend Europe’s occupied coastline from invasion by the Allies. Thousands of Bunkers, Defence positions, Gun sites and other brooding remains of Hitler’s plan for ‘The Thousand Year Reich.’ A Wall that was breached and instantly made redundant on 6th June 1944 with the D Day invasion of Normandy.
We also look at the monolithic remains of the V Weapon programme. Science with a dark evil purpose. There were huge bunkers and secret tunnels to prepare and launch the V1 Flying Bomb and the V2 Rocket and to fire the V3 Superguns.
We visit some of these anthills of construction taken control of by forced labour and overseen by the German Military and Albert Speer’s sinister Todt Organisation. A tour of concrete and technology on a vast scale.
Sample Itinerary
Day 1
Drive to Folkestone or Dover for the Tunnel or Ferry to Calais.
Visit the Moulin Rouge Battery (Battery Oldenburg). Lunch break. The VIP terrace. The Canadian CWGC cemetery. Ruined site of Grosser Kurfurst guns. V3 Supergun site in tunnels at Mimoyecques. Hostel in Boulogne, 2 nights.
Day 2
Drive east to the St Omer area. The huge dome at La Coupole (V site and museum). Lunch break. Renescure V1 storage site. The V1 launch site at Des Huit Rues. The great bunker in the woods at Eperlecques.
Day 3
Boulogne East CWGC cemetery. The Battery Todt Casemates and museum. Lunch break. Cap Blanc Nez. Fort Lapin and the beach bunkers. The Royal Green Jackets memorial and beach in Calais. Depart back across the Channel.
NB. Guided Tour throughou
Accommodation
We work closely with the owners of four School hotels in Ypres and a purpose-built school hotel in Albert (The Somme) which has three separate floors, all designed to accommodate youth groups. Have a look at www.thepoppies.be and www.poppiesalbert.com to check out floorplans and availability. We can also offer 3* hotel accommodation in the centre of Ypres or in Arras to suit groups with a larger budget. The ‘Peace Village’ in Messines is not just a hostel which offers a lot of outdoor and indoor activities in a secure location, they have their own restaurant, bar area, terrace, sports facilities and conference room / disco. www.peacevillage.be
Battlefield and History Tours recommends the following
Wellington Quarry, or la Carrière Wellington in Arras, is an underground museum created in tunnels dug by the British Army during the 1914-1918 war. The museum commemorates the thousands of men from the British Army and Dominion Forces, particularly the tunnelers of the New Zealand Division, who lived under the city during the Great War.
Musee Somme 1916 in Albert is in the center of the Somme Battlefields, below the basilica of Notre Dame de Brebières. The museum highlights soldiers' lives in the trenches during the offensive of 1 July 1916. It is housed in a 250-meter-long underground passage with alcoves, display cases, sound effects, images, and lights, bringing the experience to life.
The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing is a 45-meter-high structure that stands out from the surrounding countryside on what was the old German frontline. The memorial is dedicated to the 73,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who lost their lives in the Somme and have no known grave.
Lochnagar Crater is an impressive crater approximately 90 meters in diameter and 60 meters deep. It was created by a mine detonated on 1st July 1916, laid by the British Army's 179th Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers beneath a German strongpoint called "Schwaben Höhe." The crater is east of the village of La Boisselle.
Delville Wood, sometimes known as Devil's Wood, witnessed particularly ferocious fighting. The majority of the wood was eventually taken by South African soldiers on 15th July 1916. These soldiers held on grimly during numerous German counterattacks for six days until they were relieved. There is now a museum in Delville Wood, which is hexagonal in structure.
Vimy Ridge focuses on the Canadian Corps' superbly planned capture of Vimy Ridge in April 1917, a turning point for the Allies in the First World War. Guided tours of the tunnels are available between 1st May and 30th November and are free, but availability is on a first-come, first-served basis. There are also trenches above ground and a remarkably interesting Visitor Education Centre.
Historial de la Grande Guerre is located in the medieval chateau of Peronne and consists of four large rooms dealing with the multicultural aspect of the war. The museum presents the perspectives of the European nations at war (France, Germany, and Great Britain) through the memories of war experienced from the battlefront to behind the lines.
Newfoundland Park is a Canadian National Historic Site that commemorates the Newfoundland Regiment near Beaumont-Hamel. The Newfoundland Battalion suffered significant casualties during the most dramatic days of the 1916 campaign. The park retains the two opposing trench systems as they were in 1916 and has an interesting Visitor Centre.
Other variations on numbers and duration available plus day trips available on Request.
Experience information
Each group will have its own special interests and curricular needs. That is why every visit can be completely tailored to you. You will find some suggestions below, but you can always call us to discuss more options.
Other variations on numbers and duration available, plus day trips available on request.
