The fourth day of our tour saw us travelling around France to delve into the profound impact of the 1916 campaign and the vital roles played by different nations. We started the morning standing in the haunting Sunken Lane near Beaumont-Hamel, walking the exact ground where the Lancashire Fusiliers waited to go over the top on the fateful morning of the 1st July 1916. We then walked through the preserved trenches in the Newfoundland Memorial Park.
In the afternoon, we focused on exploring the scale of the conflict by standing at the edge of the enormous Lochnagar Crater, before going to the memorial at Delville Wood to discuss the huge sacrifice of South African servicemen. To conclude these discussions, we visited the Thiepval Memorial. As the largest Commonwealth memorial to the missing, it was another staggering reminder of the immense scale of the campaign and the sheer devastation caused during the Battle of the Somme.
As we move into the final part of our journey, we’ll be exploring the remaining sites to complete our understanding of the events that took place on the Western Front.
The second day of our tour took us deeper into the fighting that took place in Belgium for an incredibly moving day of exploration.
We visited the Canadian memorial, The Brooding Soldier, before moving on to Tyne Cot, the largest Commonwealth military cemetery in the world. We then had the incredible and humbling experience of witnessing the burial of two recently discovered soldiers found in Zonnebeke- a powerful and poignant reminder that the Western Front isn't just history and the work still continues today.
No trip to Ypres is complete without a visit to the Menin Gate. Seeing thousands of names of the missing and hearing the Last Post gave us all a chance to reflect on the experiences of those we had been discussing throughout the day.
We finished the day off with a nice dinner together and a few drinks paired with some great conversations!
Our Not So Quiet Battlefield Tour got off to a fantastic start yesterday, with an international group joining us from across Europe, the United States and Australia.
The day included visits to Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery and the historic town of Poperinge, where we explored some of the key locations connected to the First World War and the experiences of soldiers behind the front lines.
We rounded off the day in the centre of Ypres, enjoying great conversations, sharing stories and getting to know each other ahead of the week’s battlefield explorations.
A wonderful start to the tour, and we're looking forward to what promises to be an excellent week!
