Selection of sites used to build the tour content on the Somme Front Line

Lochnager Crater. Overlooking Sausage Valley and reading a poem by Alan Seeger. Behind us on the side of the valley are the distinctive marks of German trenches in the chalk as compared to an original photograph above

Serre. (right) The British front line trench on the edge of John Copse. Difficult to see on a two dimensional photograph, but easily traceable in the wood, Using their Battalion Diary extracts, these three pupils are standing in the position where troops waiting to go into the attack on July 1st 1916 had to endure our own shells falling short on their parapet.

La Boisselle. Sitting on top of the German front line trench and understanding the power of enfilade machine gun fire.

 

Extract from War Diary of 11th Battalion, Suffolk Regt. July 1st 1916 ‘...our advance from the moment it left our assembly trenches was subjected to a very heavy fire from machine guns from LA BOISELLE. In spite of the fact that wave after wave were mown down by machine gun fire, all pushed on without hesitation though very few reached the German lines’.

 

Serre and Sheffield Memorial Park. A walk lasting at least 2 hours to study a battlefield in detail. Here the emphasis will be on using original trench maps, battalion diaries and battle reports to discover the evidence of the trench lines and topography of the ground. The village was attacked on the 1st July and again on the 13th November 1916; both attacks failed with many casualties. This part of the line is best remembered for the ’Pals’ Battalions and a thorough investigation here answers so many popular questions on the tactics of trench warfare. As part of this walk we follow the fortunes of Sergeant John William Streets, a coal miner and war poet, the reading of two poems on location greatly enhances the emotional empathy of this battlefield. Occasionally we will continue from here, walking  over the Redan Ridge to...

 

Beaumont Hamel. A battlefield walk continuing the high expectations of the morning attack on July 1st. Leaving ‘White City’ we move up ’Jacob’s Ladder’ to the ‘Sunken Lane’ and follow the fortunes of the Lancashire Fusiliers.

 

Hawthorn Redoubt. Linked to the walk in Beaumont Hamel, this site illustrates the methods of mining under the enemy’s trenches to detonate huge quantities of explosive.

 

Mesnil and Auchonvillers. A view of the local reserve areas, close to the front line but providing the sense of security away from the constant shelling and sniping on the front line.

 

Newfoundland Park. Linking again with Beaumont Hamel, this large area of preserved trench lines illustrates the wider battlefield; however, excessive constraints ordered on visitors by the Canadian Authorities is now destroying the very reason for our being there.

 

Thiepval Memorial to the Missing

Edwin Lutyen’s impressive memorial with 16 columns displaying the names of the missing from June 1915 to 20th March 1918. Over the years some of the missing have been found and identified and the memorial now commemorates 72,085 men.

 

Albert. Mussee des Abris. Many trench scenes are represented in the form of full sized dioramas. The museum is only used for tours centred on the Somme.

 

La Boisselle and Lochnager Crater. A battlefield walk commencing in the rear area of the British front line and moving towards the German lines. In particular, the walk follows the fortunes of the 10th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment and the 11th Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment.

 

Fricourt, Mametz and Devonshire Trench. A walk covering several events in the general day to day activity of trench life. Two poets: William Hodgson and Siegfried Sassoon served on the ridge facing the villages of Fricourt and Mametz. We will follow the attack of the 8th and 9th Devons on the 1st July

 

Longueval, Delville Wood and High Wood Recently rediscovered maps illustrating the density of bodies located after the war provides a shocking reality of the human cost. Standing adjacent to an ‘uncleared’ part of the battlefield the group can only speculate on the number of men still missing on the blank 500 yd square of a map.

 

Gibraltar Redoubt, Pozieres and the Windmill A village forming the second line of defence behind La Boisselle and beyond the expectation of the initial day’s advance on 1st July. On tours centred on the Somme this forms our introduction to the wider battlefield

 

Contay  The site of 49 Casualty Clearing Station, so much time is often devoted to the fighting area that it is easy to forget the support services, here we examine one soldier’s story using the letters from a nurse to his mother.

The following locations form the core sites on the Somme Front Line

Reconstructed trenches in Auchonvillers (‘Oceanvillas’ to the british troops