Tours visiting both the Salient and the Somme are based in Ypres (Ieper). The 13th Century Cloth Hall remained a symbol of the town’s struggle against unrelenting shellfire during the war. The rebuilding of the town continued for many years with the Cloth Hall finally restored in the 1960s.

Yorkshire Trench. Two pupils using original trench periscopes look over the parapet and through a loophole.

 

At this location we discover the nomenclature of trench warfare: traverses, fire bay, parapet & parados, firestep, loophole, sniper’s plates, duckboards, revetting, sump, latrine, ‘A’ frames, dugout and funk hole and the odd Liven’s Projector or two!

On one evening we will return to Ypres (tours including Belgium only) for the Last Post Ceremony under the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing, perhaps the most memorable and emotional experience of the whole tour.

Passchendaele Ridge and Tyne Cot Military Cemetery (below right)

The largest British and Commonwealth military cemetery in the world with 11,953 individual graves and a further 34,872 names of the missing on the panels forming the rear wall of the cemetery. On this particular day three inches of snow had fallen and as we were the first to visit the cemetery, no-one in the group wanted to enter and disturb the beauty of the snow between the headstones.

Transport Farm, Larch Wood, Hill 60 (below)

A battlefield walk illustrating the relationship between the transport lines, support lines and front line.

Hill 60 remains preserved with its craters, shell holes and concrete blockhouses.

A selection of sites used to build the tour content on the Ypres Salient

Boesinghe. The excavated and reconstructed front line trench of 1917 provides an excellent introduction to the technology of trench building and defence on the battlefield. Further enhanced at a new museum in Zonnebeke with a reconstruction of an underground dugout complex similar to the original dugout at Yorkshire trench at Boesinghe.

Bayernwald. (left)

The archaeologically excavated and restored/reconstructed German trench system vividly demonstrates the sense of isolation and disorientation within the confines of a trench. It also forms an ideal location to realise the ranges of rifles and machine guns over the landscape.

Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing. An introduction to understanding the concept of ‘the missing’ on a battlefield. Listed here are 11,477 names of men with no known grave.

British cavalryman in

Hooge Crater Museum.

We will participate in the ceremony with four members of the group placing a wreath of poppies under the arch. This is always pre-booked for you, and if ceremonial protocol allows, one additional person from the group will have unique experience of reading the exhortation under the gate during the ceremony.

The Menin Gate exit from Ypres in 1918 (below)

The Memorial to the Missing with 54,338 names (right)

Advanced Dressing Station at Essex Farm

Bayernwald near Wijtschate. An archaeologically excavated and reconstructed complex of German front line trenches with original preserved  blockhouses and mine entrances. A vital site for gaining an understanding of battlefield topography, ranges of personal weapons and the reading of trench maps.

 

Boesinghe. The excavated and reconstructed front line trench of 1917 provides an excellent introduction to the technicalities and nomenclature of trench building and defence on the battlefield. Further enhanced at a new museum in Zonnebeke with a reconstruction of an underground dugout complex similar to the original dugout at Yorkshire trench at Boesinghe.

 

Essex Farm Dressing Station A suitable location to examine the evacuation of the wounded. A detailed explanation will unfold with other sites to illustrate the important role of the medical services and the evacuation schemes.

 

Hell Fire Corner. Often described by soldiers as the ‘hottest’ place on the Salient. Here we can gain the true picture of a battlefield landscape by using original photographs to orientate ourselves to the past.

 

Hooge Crater and Museum. One of three museums offered on the tour and located at one of the many ‘hot spots’ on the Salient, a scene of bitter fighting on several occasions from 1914-17.

 

Hussar Farm. An excellent site for both demonstrating and explaining the need for battlefield observation.

 

Kemmel Military Cemetery. The story of a soldier executed by firing squad for desertion in 1917 and the story of a student‘s visit in 1996. Her Great Grandfather was a member of the firing squad. With the full trial transcript in their booklet, the group will discuss and analyse the events of  this soldier’s execution.

 

Langemark German Military Cemetery. The contrast of cemetery design and the purpose of remembrance.

 

Messines Ridge and Uhlan Trench. A section of German front line trench with its original concrete blockhouses provides a location to discuss the elements of attack and defence.

 

Passchendaele Ridge and Tyne Cot Military Cemetery The largest British and Commonwealth military cemetery in the world with 11,953 individual graves and a further 34,872 names of the missing on the panels forming the rear wall of the cemetery . Here we follow the story of Captain Jefferies V.C.

 

Ploegsteert Memorial To The Missing. Situated adjacent to ‘Plugstreet’ Wood, an area of front line trenches regarded as a ‘quiet sector’, the memorial to 11,447 men with no known grave is a thought provoking introduction to memorials for the missing. The site also forms an introduction to the design and context of Military Cemeteries.

 

Ramparts Museum. Professional displays creating an ideal introduction to the fighting around Ypres.

 

Spanbroekmolen. A walk to introduce a battlefield. Here the emphasis will be using original trench maps to discovering evidence of the trench lines and topography of the ground. An excellent method to answer those first questions on the development of trench warfare.

 

Transport Farm, Larch Wood and Hill 60 via Shrapnel Corner. These sites explain and illustrate the relationship of the transport lines, support line and front line in context to the overall battlefield. At Larch Wood the subtle changes in landscape explain the importance of either attacking or defending a small parcel of land. We also follow the incredible events which sometimes punctuated the daily routines of trench life; following a group of men from the Dorsetshire Regiment, we uncover the events of one particular day on the front line.

 

‘Toc H’ (Talbot House) A rest place for soldiers in the town of Poperinge and fully preserved as it was during the war. A guided tour of this remarkable house illustrates life in a rest area.

 

Vancouver Corner. April 1915 and the first recorded use of poison gas. The Canadian memorial provides an impressive backdrop to the events here and story of the development of gas warfare.

The following locations form the core sites for the Ypres Salient