Walk in the footsteps of Heroes
Coach tours to the Battlefields of WWII with Leger Holidays. These specialist tours by coach and air act as a poignant reminder to us all of the sacrifices made by the men and women who fought and died for our freedom. All Battlefield tours are accompanied by a specialist guide.
WWII a brief synopsis
World War Two began in September 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany following Germany’s invasion of Poland. Although the outbreak of war was triggered by Germany’s invasion of Poland, the causes of the war are more complex.
Treaty of Versailles
In 1919, Lloyd George of England, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France and Woodrow Wilson from the US met to discuss how Germany was to be made to pay for the damage world war one had caused.
Woodrow Wilson wanted a treaty based on his 14-point plan which he believed would bring peace to Europe. Georges Clemenceau wanted revenge. He wanted to be sure that Germany could never start another war again. Lloyd George personally agreed with Wilson but knew that the British public agreed with Clemenceau. He tried to find a compromise between Wilson and Clemenceau.
Germany had been expecting a treaty based on Wilson’s 14 points and were not happy with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. However, they had no choice but to sign the document.
The main terms of the Treaty of Versailles were:
War Guilt Clause – Germany should accept the blame for starting World War One
Reparations – Germany had to pay £6,600 million for the damage caused by the war
Disarmament – Germany was only allowed to have a small army and six naval ships. No tanks, no airforce and no submarines were allowed. The Rhineland area was to be de-militarised.
Territorial Clauses – Land was taken away from Germany and given to other countries. Anschluss (union with Austria) was forbidden.
The German people were very unhappy about the treaty and thought that it was too harsh. Germany could not afford to pay the money and during the 1920s the people in Germany were very poor. There were not many jobs and the price of food and basic goods was high. People were dissatisfied with the government and voted to power a man who promised to rip up the Treaty of Versailles. His name was Adolf Hitler.
Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. Almost immediately he began secretly building up Germany’s army and weapons. In 1934 he increased the size of the army, began building warships and created a German airforce. Compulsory military service was also introduced.
Although Britain and France were aware of Hitler’s actions, they were also concerned about the rise of Communism and believed that a stronger Germany might help to prevent the spread of Communism to the West.
In 1936 Hitler ordered German troops to enter the Rhineland. At this point the German army was not very strong and could have been easily defeated. Yet neither France nor Britain was prepared to start another war.
Hitler also made two important alliances during 1936. The first was called the Rome-Berlin Axis Pact and allied Hitler’s Germany with Mussolini’s Italy. The second was called the Anti-Comitern Pact and allied Germany with Japan.
Hitler’s next step was to begin taking back the land that had been taken away from Germany. In March 1938, German troops marched into Austria. The Austrian leader was forced to hold a vote asking the people whether they wanted to be part of Germany.
The results of the vote were fixed and showed that 99% of Austrian people wanted Anschluss (union with Germany). The Austrian leader asked Britain, France and Italy for aid. Hitler promised that Anschluss was the end of his expansionist aims and not wanting to risk war, the other countries did nothing.
Hitler did not keep his word and six months later demanded that the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia be handed over to Germany.
Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Britain, met with Hitler three times during September 1938 to try to reach an agreement that would prevent war. The Munich Agreement stated that Hitler could have the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia provided that he promised not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Hitler was not a man of his word and in March 1939 invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. Despite calls for help from the Czechoslovak government, neither Britain nor France was prepared to take military action against Hitler. However, some action was now necessary and believing that Poland would be Hitler’s next target, both Britain and France promised that they would take military action against Hitler if he invaded Poland. Chamberlain believed that, faced with the prospect of war against Britain and France, Hitler would stop his aggression. Chamberlain was wrong.
On 1 September 1939, 62 German divisions supported by 1,300 aircraft began the invasion of Poland. At 8pm on the same day, Poland requested military assistance from Britain and France. Two days later, in fulfilment of their April 1939 pledge to support the country in the event of an attack, Britain and France now declared war on Germany. World War II had begun.
“There were no crowds shouting Heil Hitler . . . people were scared of the future ” Albert Speer in Berlin after the attack on Poland.
The Maginot Line
With the exception of the Great Wall of China, the Maginot Line was the greatest system of permanent fortifications ever built. This elaborate defensive barrier in northeastern France built in the 1930s was named after its principal creator, Andre Maginot, it was an ultramodern defensive fortification along the French-German frontier. Made of thick concrete and supplied with heavy guns, it had living quarters, supply storehouses, and underground rail lines. However, it ended at the French-Belgian frontier, which German forces crossed in May 1940. They invaded Belgium (May 10), crossed the Somme River, struck at the northern end of the line (May 12), and continued around to its rear, making it useless.
Dunkirk and Fortress Europe
Discover on this tour the ‘miracle’ of the withdrawal and the story of the ‘V’ weapons.
Dunkirk, and the evacuation associated with the troops trapped on Dunkirk, was called a “miracle” by Winston Churchill. As the Wehrmacht swept through western Europe in the spring of 1940, using Blitzkrieg, both the French and British armies could not stop the onslaught. For the people in western Europe, World War Two was about to start for real. The “Phoney War” was now over.
The advancing German Army trapped the British and French armies on the beaches around Dunkirk. 330,000 men were trapped here and they were a sitting target for the Germans. Admiral Ramsey, based in Dover, formulated Operation Dynamo to get off of the beaches as many men as was possible. The British troops, led by Lord John Gort, were professional soldiers from the British Expeditionary Force; trained men that we could not afford to lose. From May 26th 1940, small ships transferred soldiers to larger ones which then brought them back to a port in southern Britain.
Operation Market Garden
Follow on this tour the ill fated operation devised by General Montgomery to shorten the war.
On 17 September 1944 thousands of paratroopers descended from the sky by parachute or glider up to 150 km behind enemy lines. Their goal: to secure to bridges across the rivers in Holland so that the Allied army could advance rapidly northwards and turn right into the lowlands of Germany, hereby skirting around the Siegfried line, the German defence line. If all carried out as planned it should have ended the war by Christmas 1944.
Unfortunately this daring plan, named Operation Market Garden, didn’t have the expected outcome. The bridge at Arnhem proved to be ‘a bridge too far’. After 10 days of bitter fighting the operation ended with the evacuation of the remainder of the 1st British Airborne Division from the Arnhem area.
Market-Garden exhibited tactical audacity and outstanding feats of courage; the outcome, however, can only be called a failure.
D-Day Landings in Normandy
See the D-Day landing beaches and battlegrounds, military cemeteries and museums of the single biggest invasion force ever assembled. The landings were conducted in two phases: an airborne assault landing of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France starting at 6:30 am. Surprise was achieved thanks to inclement weather and a comprehensive deception plan implemented in the months before the landings.
Walking the D-Day Beaches of Normandy
This Leger Battlefield Tour is based around some of the walks in our head guide, Paul Reed’s book ‘Walking D-Day. See the landing beaches and battlegrounds, military cemeteries and museums of the single biggest invasion force ever assembled.
Colditz, Dambusters and the Great Escape
Honouring the commitment and spirit of the RAF during WWII, this poignant Leger Battlefield tour is a reminder of the RAF’s contribution and visits Colditz. Visit the Möhne Dam, in the Ruhr Valley, which was heroically breached by the Lancasters of 617 Squadron in 1943.
The Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, a major German offensive launched through the forested Ardennes mountain region in Belgium
The Battle of the Bulge started on December 16th 1944. Hitler had convinced himself that the alliance between Britain, France and America in the western sector of Europe was not strong and that a major attack and defeat would break up the alliance. Therefore, he ordered a massive attack against what were primarily American forces. The attack is strictly known as the Ardennes Offensive but because the initial attack by the Germans created a bulge in the Allied front line, it has become more commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge.
Hitler’s plan was to launch a massive attack using three armies on the Allies which would, in his mind, destabilise their accord and also take the huge port of Antwerp through which a great deal of supplies was reaching the Allies.
The Italian Campaign
Italy was considered the ‘soft under-belly’ of the Third Reich, but saw some of the toughest fighting in WW2.
After the defeat of the Axis forces in North Africa, the stage is set for the Allies to re-enter the occupied European mainland. American and British forces agree that an invasion should take place in Italy, hoping that a defeat would lead to the fall of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Commando Operations of WWII
Follow the actions of British Commandos in their heroic raids in Operation Jubilee and Chariot, and their American Ranger counterparts in northern and western France.
Hitler’s Capitals – the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Discover on this Leger Battlefield Tour the haunting story of the rise and fall of the Third Reich from 1923 to 1945 through the historic sites and places of Hitler’s capitals, Munich, Nuremberg and Berlin.
The Story of Anne Frank and Oscar Schindler
A moving and thought-provoking journey of remembrance. Follow the story of the Frank Family with a visit to Anne Frank’s House. The Frank family went into hiding in the ‘secret annexe’ of their home on 6th July 1942 and stayed for 25 months until their betrayal on 4th August 1944. Visit some of the sites used by Oscar Schindler in his remarkable attempt to save the lives of his Jewish workers.