Northern France – History, Remembrance and Much More – NEW TOUR

Depart the UK

Travel to Dover and take the ferry across to Calais or Dunkerque.  Upon disembarkation continue to Lille or Arras for the next 3 nights.  Dinner will be at the hotel this evening.

WW1 and Memorial Sites

Make a tour of Wellington Tunnels in Arras, a network of underground barracks that housed up to 24,000 soldiers and located only a few meters from the front line from where they rushed onto the battlefield on 09 April 1917 launching a surprise attack on the Germans.   The tunnels were created by New Zealander soldiers to connect the city’s medieval chalk quarries.

After some free time to explore Arras and have some lunch, meet up with a local specialised guide and make the short journey to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Visitor Centre to gain an insight into how some of the world’s most recognisable war memorials are maintained.  Watch headstones being engraved and get an overview of the metal and carpentry workshops and visit the exhibition centre.  From here, continue to the UNESCO site of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, dominated by the statue of Mother Canada, which honours soldiers who lost their lives in WW1 at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.  In the visitor centre, the exhibition highlights the daily life during the Great War through personal items, written accounts and sound immersions.

On the return, make a stop at the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette ‘Ring of Remembrance’ – the national cemetery where the names of 600,000 fallen soldiers from all nationalities are engraved on the circular wall.  The History Centre gives an understanding of the scale of the conflict with historical object, films and maps and over 300 photographs (many taken by the soldiers themselves).

Return to the hotel for an evening at leisure.

Dunkerque and Operation Dynamo

With a knowledgeable guide we will head to the Dunkerque 1940 Museum which was the headquarters for the French and Allied forces during the Battle of Dunkerque and Operation Dynamo and tells the story of the largest evacuation effort in military history. The Museum is located in the curtain walls of BASTION 32 which was the Headquarters for the defence of the fortified sector of Dunkerque and it is from here that orders for land defence were issued, but also for the coordination of evacuations by sea.  See the displays of period objects, weapons, vehicles, uniforms, photos and maps.

After the visit take lunch on board the Princess Elizabeth, a little ship that was used to evacuate over a 1000 soldiers in 1940 and which is now a restaurant and cocktail bar with a terrace.  This is a unique dining experience – an emblem of Operation Dynamo in June 1940 and also seen in the film “Dunkirk”.

Before heading back to the hotel continue with your specialist guide for a tour of some more key historical places associated with Operation Dynamo.

Evening at leisure.

Return to the UK

Depart after breakfast and drive to Calais or Dunkerque and take the ferry across to Dover, and home.