Visiting The Somme Ypres Battlefields Made Easy

This splendid and timely book will be invaluable to those visiting the battlefields, sites, museums, memorials and cemeteries of France and Belgium. It is intended for those planning and leading school groups and similar parties but is also ideal for individual/family visitors.??Rather than list every site etc it provides realistic itineraries to the best places in the two major areas of the Somme and Ypres. Even these are flexible to allow party leaders suitable discretion.??The author provides helpful information for each site such as its context in the War, visitor orientation, the 'spiel' (the essential facts to engage, inform and entertain), suggested activity and relevant photos and maps.??This combines to make every visit of maximum benefit and interest and yet reduce the workload of the party leaders.??There are also valuable tips for lunch breaks, free time ideas and other helpful pointers.

Thoroughly updated for this new third edition, Bradt’s World War I Battlefields remains the only compact practical travel guide to cover both French and Belgian battlefield sites involved in one of the deadliest conflicts in human history, which changed the face of foreign policy and European geography forever. The 2014-18 centenary of the First World War was a huge catalyst for battlefield tourism, leading to a proliferation of innovative new museums, memorials, commemorative trails, statues and more – which are comprehensively covered in this update. Co-authored by two award-winning travel writers, this lightweight and pocket-friendly guidebook is perfect for visitors. It covers all the main sites, memorials and museums of the entire Western Front alongside practical information such as travelling there and getting around, and how to book the best guided tours. In the Belgian section of the book, chapters cover Ypres and the Ypres Salient; Poperinge, Heuvelland and Messines (Mesen); Diksmuide, Veurne and Nieuwpoort; and Mons. In the French section, as well as the Somme, battlefields in Le Nord and Lille are featured, as are those in Pas-de-Calais; Aisne; and Marne, Champagne and Verdun. Visiting well-known Somme sights – such as Thiepval, the Somme 1916 Museum, Longueval, Le Hamel and Villers-Bretonneux – is a must for many visitors. But so, too, are Arras and the information centre dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Battle of Fromelles Museum, the Cambrai Tank 1917 museum, the Marne 14-18 Interpretation Centre, and the Sir John Monash Centre, which tells the story of Australian soldiers’ Western Front experiences in both countries. This updated and expanded edition features new information on the valuable contribution made by Black, Indian and Caribbean soldiers. There is also refreshed, detailed advice on how to find the resting place of family members lost in battle. For history buffs, those on battlefield tours, relatives of those who fought, school groups and students, there is no finer guidebook to visiting Great War sites in both countries than Bradt’s World War I Battlefields.

This informative and easy to use WWII travel guide features everything you need to know while exploring the historic sites of D-Day. Whether planning a school tour or a family holiday, this guide provides everything you need to get the most out of your visit. It includes essential historical context to help everyone appreciate the importance of D-Day beaches and battlefields, as well as important information on WWII museums, monuments, and cemeteries. Author and expert tour guide Gareth Hughes provides handy itineraries covering the best places in the Normandy area. A comprehensive overview of each site includes essential facts, visitor orientation, suggested activities, relevant photos and maps. There are also valuable tips for lunch breaks, free time ideas and other helpful pointers.

A guide to these historic Belgian landmarks of the First World War, with maps and photos. Covering the Battles of Ypres, including the notorious Passchendaele, this guidebook takes readers on a historic trip through some of the best-known and most important sites of the area in Belgium. Part of a series of guides, it serves as an introduction to the historic battlefields, whether on the ground or from an armchair. Included are selections from the Holts' more detailed guides of the most popular and accessible sites, many full color maps and photographs, and detailed instructions on what to see and where to visit.

Following in their best-selling series of Battlefield Guides this is a companion volume to the Holts Western Front South Guide. Between the two, they cover the main WW1 Western Front battlefields. This book covers 15 of the most significant battles of the northern area from Nieuwport to just north of The Somme.Whether travelling on the ground or in the mind, the reader is carefully guided through the battlefields with a mixture of succinct military history, cameo memories and stories of VCs and other personalities, interspersed with references to the literature and poetry of the war.This guidebook is based on Tonie and Valmai Holt's 30 years experience of researching, guiding tours and writing about the area, with their unique blend of male and female points of view. It is written to the high standards that have come to be expected of these highly respected authors who are credited with pioneering the modern battlefield tour and whose guide books are referred to as 'The Bibles' . This new edition contains: Brief Historical Background and Summary of each battle, Opening Moves and What Happened, with appropriate quotations Sketch Map for each battle showing battle lines, routes etc and all points of interest described on each timed itinerary Large Sketch Map putting the battlefields (north and south) into perspective Memorials, Museums, Sites of Interest (bunkers, craters etc) War Grave Cemeteries Allied and German GPS Location for every recommended stop War Graves and Commemorative Associations Cameos about individual personalities Useful Tourist Information Where to stay and eat

Of the many hard-fought battles on the Western Front, Ypres stands out as an example of almost inhuman endeavour. For four long years it was the focal point of desperate fighting. Officially there were four main battles in 1914, 1915, 1917 and 1918; these were more accurately peaks in a continuing struggle, for Ypres symbolised Belgian defiance, and the British continued to expend disproportionate resources on defending it. It never fell, although the Germans came close to its gates, and indeed its loss would have been a severe blow to morale.The Battle Book of Ypres, originally published in 1927 and now presented again as a special Centenary Edition, comprises a chronological account of the fighting in the Ypres Salient during the First World War, followed by a useful and unique alphabetical reference to the events in and around each hamlet, village or wood names familiar to those who fought or followed the course of war all those years ago, names now once again lost in insignificance. The names given to each stage of the struggle by the Battle Nomenclature Committee are listed in the appendix. Also included is an index of formations and units, an annotated bibliography and a new Foreword by military historian Nigel Cave.

This is the most complete guide to the First World War Battlefield of Ypres that has ever been published. Tonie and Valmai Holt, have condensed the knowledge gained from almost a quarter of a century of researching, writing about, visiting and conducting groups around Ypres into this remarkable book. Here are concise descriptions of the military elements of the battles woven into a kaleidoscope of human, literary and travel information. There are recommended, timed itineraries, in each itinerary representing one day's travelling. Every stop on the routes has an accompanying description and often a tale of heroic or tragic action.Memorials large and small, private and official, sites of memorable conflict, the resting places of personalities of note - they are all here and joined together by a sympathetic and understanding commentary that gives the reader a sensitivity toward the events of 1914-1918 that can only be matched by visiting the battlefield itself. This is a guide book written by people who, because they have been directly involved in taking tours themselves, know the form and type of information that best serves the visitor to the battlefield. NEW, FULLY UPDATED EDITION PACKAGED WITH A FREE, FULL COLOUR FOLD-OUT MAP WORTH '3.99

With a few notable exceptions, the French efforts on the Somme have been largely missing or minimized in British accounts of the Battle of the Somme. And yet they held this sector of the Front from the outbreak of the war until well into 1915 and, indeed, in parts into 1916. It does not hurt to be reminded that the French army suffered some 200,000 casualties in the 1916 offensive.David OMaras book provides an outline narrative describing the arrival of the war on the Somme and some of the notable and quite fierce actions that took place that autumn and, indeed, into December of 1914. Extensive mine warfare was a feature of 1915 and beyond on the Somme; for example under Redan Ridge and before Dompierre and Fay. The French limited offensive at Serre in June 1915 is reasonably well known, but there was fighting elsewhere for example the Germans launched a short, sharp, limited attack at Frise in January 1916, part of the diversionary action before the Germans launched their ill-fated offensive at Verdun.The book covers the Somme front from Gommecourt, north of the Somme, to Chaulnes, at the southern end of the battle zone of 1916. The reader is taken around key points in various tours. For many British visitors the battlefields south of the Somme will be a revelation; there is much to see, both of cemeteries and memorials, but also substantial traces of the fighting remain on the ground, some of which is accessible to the public.It has always been something of a disgrace that there is so little available, even in French, to educate the public in an accessible written form about the substantial effort made by Frances army on the Somme; this book and subsequent, more detailed volumes to be published in the coming years will go some way to rectify this. British visitors should be fascinated by the story of these forgotten men of France and the largely unknown part of the Somme battlefield.