Women on the Western Front

• Day 1: Coach pick up at school. Ferry or Eurotunnel crossing to Calais. Depart for Amiens – Talk ‘Women in Amiens.’ Depart for Albert (3 nights)
• Day 2: Morning visit to Royaumont Abbey, Scottish Women’s Hospital.  Afternoon Dorothy Lawrence in Albert.

Depart for Calais OR

• Day 3: Depart for Belgium. Godewaersvelde Cemetery (Elise Kemp), Lijssenthoek Cemetery (Nellie Spindler) before visiting Poperinge. Visit ‘Passchendaele Museum’ Zonnebeke or ‘Hooge Crater’ Museum in Ypres. Last Post Ceremony. Return to Albert.
• Day 4: Etaples Cemetery and site of British hospitals (Vera Brittain), Le Touquet (Duchess of Westminster’s Hospital). Wimereux (hospital buildings, sites, and Cemetery. Return to school.

For more information about Battlefield tours in Ypres or any other destination, please email us. What’s Included

• Chosen pick-up and drop-off point
• Executive touring coach
• Return travel on Eurotunnel or P&O Ferries (Hull to Zeebrugge optional)
• Entrance to all museums throughout the tour
• Full board accommodation for tours lasting two days or more
• UK guides throughout your tour or Museum / Tourist Board guides.
• Exclusive Teachers’ Information Booklet and Pupil Worksheets
• Personal Battlefields Tours Executive to assist with tour planning

Accommodation

‍We work closely with the owners of a purpose-built school hotel in Ypres and Albert (The Somme).  Have a look at www.thepoppies.be  or  www.poppiesalbert.com to check out floorplans and availability.We can also offer 3* hotel accommodation in the centre of Ypres or Arras to suit groups with a larger budget.

‍Battlefield and History Tours recommends the following

‍The ‘In Flanders’ Fields Museum occupies the second floor of the Cloth Hall on the market square in Ypres city center. It is dedicated to the study of the First World War, displaying weapons, letters, medals, and other memorabilia alongside models, documentary films, and other interactive audio-visual media.In Poperinge, there is an opportunity to visit the Town Hall where several British soldiers were executed, many for desertion. The execution post in the middle of the courtyard was used for the last executions, and two cells in the basement have been restored.

Bellewaerde Park is a theme park close to Ypres, offering a mix of attractions for all ages, including wild roller coasters, pirate boats, children’s rides, as well as animals and nature. It is open between April and November, making it a wonderful way to end a battlefield tour.

Wellington Quarry, or la Carrière Wellington in Arras, is an underground museum created in a section of tunnels dug by the British Army during the 1914-1918 war. It 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.

Bayernwald Trenches tell the story of German soldiers during the First World War. Located 40 meters above sea level, these trenches were of strategic and military importance. Today, only 10% of the original defenses are left, but the current trenches have been rebuilt based on thorough archaeological studies.

The Cloth Hall is one of Ypres’ biggest buildings and houses the ‘In Flanders’ Fields Museum. Originally built in 1304 and destroyed during World War I, the Cloth Hall was the commercial heart of the city in medieval times. The hall and belfry were rebuilt between 1918 and 1967.

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.

Vimy Ridge centers on the Canadian Corps' superbly planned capture of Vimy Ridge in April 1917, which was 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.

Delville Wood, sometimes known as Devil's Wood, witnessed particularly ferocious fighting. Most 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.

The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing is 45 meters high and 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.

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 a remarkably interesting Visitor 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.

Musee Somme 1916, located in Albert, is situated 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.

St. George's Memorial Church was built to commemorate over 500,000 British and Commonwealth troops who died in the three battles fought for the Ypres Salient during World War I.

The Passchendaele Museum, situated in the Zonnebeke Chateau, serves as an ideal starting point for a tour of the Salient battlefields. The museum displays chronicle the story of World War I, featuring a recreated bunker and trenches for students to experience without having to go out in the mud.

The Hooge Crater Museum is a privately owned museum in a small church across from the Hooge Crater Cemetery. The museum houses life-like scenes ranging from German bunkers to British trenches, with real-life cavalry horses, an original Model Ford T ambulance, and a replica of a Fokker DR1 (triplane).

Langemark German Cemetery is the only German cemetery in Ypres. It has an eerie, dark atmosphere in complete contrast to Tyne Cot Cemetery. Over 25,000 remains are buried in mass graves, and their names are recorded on metal slabs.

Tyne Cot Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world, situated at the top of the Passchendaele ridge. It is now the resting place of more than 11,900 servicemembers of the British Empire from the First World War. The Menin Gate is a memorial to the British and Commonwealth service members who lost their lives in Ypres and have no known grave. There are over 54,000 names on the memorial on the eastern side of Ypres. Every evening at 8 pm, local buglers sound the Last Post known as the Last Post Ceremony.

Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery was the result of a Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) opened just before the First Battle of Ypres. An integral part of the Visitor Centre is the search for information about the casualties buried in this cemetery.

Talbot House – ‘Toc H’ in Poperinge was opened by Army chaplains Philip ‘Tubby’ Clayton and Neville Talbot as an ‘Every Man’s Club’, in December 1915. It became a rare place where soldiers could meet and relax regardless of rank.

Essex Farm Cemetery is on the site of a dressing station where John McCrae operated as a surgeon and authored his world-famous poem “In Flanders Fields” at the beginning of May 1915. The youngest soldier to die in the Ypres Salient, Joe Strudwick, from Dorking, Surrey is buried here.

Hill 62 and Sanctuary Wood Museum and Trenches, so named because it is 62 meters above sea level, is one of the few sites on the Ypres Salient where an original trench layout can still be seen with original trees riddled with bullet holes.

'In Flanders’ Fields Museum occupies the second floor of the Cloth Hall on the market square in Ypres city centre, dedicated to the study of the First World War. Weapons, letters, medals, and other memorabilia are displayed alongside models, documentary films, and other interactive audio-visual media.

Poperinge: There is also an opportunity to visit the Town Hall in Poperinge, where several British soldiers were executed, many for desertion. The execution post in the middle of the courtyard was used for the last executions, and two cells in the basement have been restored.

‍Other Visits and Excursions

• St Martin’s Cathedral: Interesting architectural buildings destroyed during World War I and rebuilt in the gothic style.
• Ledoux Chocolaterie: Fantastic traditional Belgian Chocolate experience with a range of activities, workshops, taster sessions and demonstrations.  The helpful, friendly staff are happy to cater for any group's requirements and budget.  A great additional activity which is fun and relaxing, and you can make your own chocolates.
• Ypres Christmas market: The Ice Rink will once again be in the traditional Market Square, open from 23rd November to 2nd January 2019.  (Closed Mondays & Tuesdays).  Typical Belgian Food, chocolate and market products will be available.

Other variations on numbers and duration available plus day trips available on Request.