The Somme: A Battlefield Tour

This tour of some of the most significant sites of the Somme is a fascinating and extremely moving introduction to the events surrounding the Battle of the Somme during the Great War. This battle of attrition between the British and German forces on the Western Front, which lasted for over four months during 1916, was the bloodiest of the whole conflict, resulting in over 1.5 million casualties, and the legacy of the terrible events that took place 95 years ago is ever present in the rolling landscape of the Somme today.

In the course of our journey we explore some of the most important sites associated with the battle. These include Gommecourt, Beaumont Hamel, the ‘Sunken Road’, the Lochnager Crater and Contalmaison, Devon’s Trench, Mametz Wood and Flatiron Copse, Longueval Ridge and High Wood, the old boves and tunnels in Arras and Vimy Ridge.

We also visit one of the region’s important museums, the Somme Trench Museum (Musée Somme 1916) in Albert, which recreates life in the trenches in astonishing detail. Last but not least we will see some of the haunting memorials to the fallen such as the Serre Memorial Park and Thiepval Memorial, and view poignant military cemeteries.

Throughout, there will be illuminating talks on every aspect of the conflict from Rhydian, who has long held a passionate interest in the subject and led tours to the Somme for many years.

Day 1: Thursday, 13th September

London / Calais / Arras / Albert

Morning departure from Victoria Station and travel by coach to Arras via Calais and the Eurotunnel. Breakfast will be available onboard the coach.

Lunch at a local restaurant in Arras. Visit Gommecourt which was the front line during almost all of the period of hostilities between 1914 and 1918 and was almost destroyed as a result. The neighbouring village of Foncquevillers to the west, in allied hands, was the base for an assault on Gommecourt on 1st July 1916 which provided the northernmost diversionary attack of what is known in Britain as the Battle of the Somme. British troops taking part in that attack came from the London and the North Midland Divisions, and many are buried in the several local CWGC Military Cemeteries. Continue to the Serre Memorial Park with its memorial to the 12th Yorks and Lancs ‘Pals’ Battalion. Transfer to Hotel Royal Picardie, a comfortable 3-star hotel located in the heart of historic Picardie, where two nights are spent. Welcome dinner at the hotel.

Day 2: Friday, 14th September

Albert & The Somme

Start today with a visit to the Albert 1916 Museum, which recreates life in the trenches before continuing on to the Sunken Road, which lay in ‘no man’s land’ on the morning of 1st July 1916, and the Newfoundland Memorial Park, still pock marked with shell holes and gouged by well-preserved trench lines. See the Ulster Tower, a Gothic memorial to Irish Troops, and the Thiepval Memorial to the 73,000 Allied men who fell on the Somme and have no known grave.

Lunch at a local restaurant or picnic lunch (weather dependent). Continue to Pozieres Ridge where Australian troops launched their first attack, and the first front to see the use of tanks. See the Lochnager Crater, created by a mine in the opening moments of the Battle of the Somme, and Contalmaison, an early objective in the conflict. Explore Devon’s Trench from where A Coy 9th Devons launched an assault only to be cut down, and the German Military Cemetery at Fricourt. Nearby is Mametz, fortified by the Germans but captured on the first day. See the memorial to the crippling 38th Welsh Division attack on Mametz Wood, and Flatiron Copse, resting place of 1568 British and Commonwealth troops. Visit Longueval Ridge and High Wood, scene of heavy fighting in September 1916. Return to the hotel before dinner at a local restaurant.

Day 3: Saturday, 15th September

Albert / Arras / Calais / London

Drive to Arras with a visit en-route to the village of Guillemont and Deville Wood, with its impressive South African Memorial to some 3,000 troops who perished here in just five days. On arrival in Arras, visit the Wellington Quarries, a whole system of underground tunnels and chambers used by the British Army during the battle of Arras in 1917, and dug for them by the New Zealand Tunnellers.

Lunch at a delightful restaurant in Arras. Continue on to Vimy Ridge with its impressive Canadian Memorial to the four Canadian divisions who captured this ridge on Easter Monday in 1917. Drive to Calais for the journey back to London, via Folkestone, arriving Victoria Station in the evening.