Walk in the footsteps of Heroes
Coach tours to the Battlefields of WWI with Leger Holidays. These specialist coach tours 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 coach tours are accompanied by a specialist guide.
WWI a brief synopsis
The explosive that was World War One had been long in the making. The spark was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Ferdinand’s death at the hands of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist secret society, set in train a mindlessly mechanical series of events that culminated in the world’s first global war.
Arguing that the Serbian government was implicated in the heir’s death the Austro-Hungarians decided to take the opportunity to stamp its authority upon the Serbians, crushing the nationalist movement there and cementing Austria-Hungary’s influence in the Balkans.
It did so by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia demanding that the assassins be brought to justice. Austria-Hungary’s expectation was that Serbia would reject the remarkably severe terms of the ultimatum, thereby giving her a pretext for launching a limited war against Serbia.
However, Serbia had long had Slavic ties with Russia, an altogether different proposition for Austria-Hungary. Whilst not really expecting that Russia would be drawn into the dispute to any great extent other than through words of diplomatic protest, the Austro-Hungarian government sought assurances from her ally, Germany, that she would come to her aid should the unthinkable happen and Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary, Germany readily agreed.
There is now a remarkable sequence of events that led inexorably to the ‘Great War’.
Austria-Hungary, unsatisfied with Serbia’s response to her ultimatum declared war on Serbia on 28 July 1914.
Russia, bound by treaty to Serbia, announced mobilisation of its vast army in her defence.
Germany, allied to Austria-Hungary by treaty, viewed the Russian mobilisation as an act of war against Austria-Hungary, and after scant warning declared war on Russia on 1 August.
France, bound by treaty to Russia, found itself at war against Germany and, by extension, on Austria-Hungary following a German declaration on 3 August. Germany was swift in invading neutral Belgium so as to reach Paris by the shortest possible route.
Britain, allied to France by a more loosely worded treaty which placed a “moral obligation” upon her to defend France, declared war against Germany on 4 August. Britain was also obliged to defend neutral Belgium by the terms of a 75-year old treaty. With Germany’s invasion of Belgium on 4 August, and the Belgian King’s appeal to Britain for assistance, Britain committed herself to Belgium’s defence later that day. Like France, she was by extension also at war with Austria-Hungary.
With Britain’s entry into the war, her colonies and dominions abroad variously offered military and financial assistance, and included Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
United States President Woodrow Wilson declared a U.S. policy of absolute neutrality, that would last until 1917 when Germany’s policy of unrestricted submarine warfare – which seriously threatened America’s commercial shipping (which was in any event almost entirely directed towards the Allies led by Britain and France) – forced the U.S. to finally enter the war on 6 April 1917.
Japan, honouring a military agreement with Britain, declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914. Two days later Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Japan.
Italy, although allied to both Germany and Austria-Hungary, was able to avoid entering the fray by citing a clause enabling it to evade its obligations to both. In short, Italy was committed to defend Germany and Austria-Hungary only in the event of a ‘defensive’ war; arguing that their actions were ‘offensive’ she declared instead a policy of neutrality. The following year, in May 1915, she finally joined the conflict by siding with the Allies against her two former allies.
And so began a war that at its culmination had seen in the region of an estimated total number of military and civilian casualties of 37 million. There were over 16 million deaths and 20 million wounded ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.
All Quiet On The Western Front
Discover the stories, tragedy and bravery of the First World War Battlefields of the Somme and Flanders.
Look at the battlefields around Ypres; this was the main British battlefront in World War I where more than 250,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers died. See the preserved trenches at Sanctuary Wood also the museum before moving on to Tyne Cot Cemetery. Messines Ridge sector and the nearby Irish Peace Tower, which commemorates the role of Irish troops from both North and South. End the day at the ‘Last Post Ceremony’ in Ypres. Each night, at 8pm, the Last Post is played at the Menin Gate, which commemorates approximately 55,000 men who were never found.
The Somme, Death of a Generation. Begin at the Historial Museum at Péronne and then to the largest British Mine Crater on the Western Front at La Boisselle. At Thiepval we visit the Memorial and the visitors’ centre then the Ulster Tower, which commemorates those from Ulster who fell on the Somme, before seeing Newfoundland Park with its preserved trenches. We end the day at Serre and see the area where war poet Wilfred Owen fought.
Walking the Somme
Comprising the main Allied attack on the Western Front during 1916, the Battle of the Somme is famous chiefly on account of the loss of 58,000 British troops (one third of them killed) on the first day of the battle, 1 July 1916, which to this day remains a one-day record. The attack was launched upon a 30 kilometre front, from north of the Somme river between Arras and Albert, and ran from 1 July until 18 November, at which point it was called off. All Leger Holidays’ walks have been planned by their expert battlefield guide, Paul Reed. Walks take a leisurely two to four hours with plenty of stops to view the battlefields, discuss the history and visit cemeteries and memorials on the way. Should the weather be particulary inclement, then excursions will operate by coach instead.
Walking the Ypres Salient
A leisurely tour walking over the infamous Battlefields of western Belgium. Step back in history to walk the ground and experience the true scale of the sacrifices made on the killing fields of Europe. Ypres and the Ypres Salient played a key role on the Western Front in World War One. The continued Allied hold of the Ypres Salient throughout the war meant that the Allies maintained a gap between the German Army as it marched west. The importance of the area is best seen in the number of key battles that were fought there – and the huge loss of life that resulted from these battles. All walks have been planned by our expert battlefield guide Paul Reid. Walks take a leisurely two to four hours with plenty of stops to view and discuss the battlefileds and visit cemeteries and memorials on the way. Should the weather be particularly inclement, then excursions will operate by coach instead.
Miracle of the Marne and the Battle of Verdun
The Battle of the Marne was a turning point in 1914 – the seemingly unstoppable advance of the German Army was halted on the very gates of Paris by the Miracle of the Marne, when French taxis ferried troops out onto the battlefield. The outcome of the Marne resulted in stalemate and four years of trench warfare, so what better place than Meaux – in the heart of that 1914 battle – to have the Western Front’s newest museum: the Museum of the Great War.
Gallipoli Battlefields
The haunting Gallipoli battlefields, located in the Dardanelles, are the grave of more than 30,000 British and Commonwealth troops. In early 1915 the Russians found themselves threatened by the Turks in the Caucasus and appealed for some relief. The British decided to mount a naval expedition to bombard and take the Gallipoli Peninsula on the western shore of the Dardanelles, with Constantinople as its objective. By capturing Constantinople, the British hoped to link up with the Russians, knock Turkey out of the war and possibly persuade the Balkan states to join the Allies.
Victoria Cross Heroes of WW1
Join us on this fascinating tour as we follow the stories of some of the 627 men who were awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry and bravery in the Great War. Our tour starts in Flanders Fields where we visit the grave of Noel Chavasse V.C. & Bar, the only man during the war to be awarded the V.C. twice and arguably the most famous V.C. hero of the war. Nearby we also see the grave of Jock Skinner V.C., a man who was carried to his grave by several V.C. winners. We then travel out to the battlefields near Ypres where Chavasse and Skinner were awarded their decorations and look at the ground where the actions took place. After lunch we go into Ypres and visit the moving St. George’s Memorial Church containing many WW1 memorials and see the remnants of the old British Community, seeing Ypres British school and its memorial to Old Etonians, including V.C. winners, who fell at Ypres during WW1. We then travel to Hill 60 where four V.C.s were won in a single day during the defence of this ground in 1915. We see the remains of bunkers and mine craters, and a shattered battlefield left as it was in 1918. In the evening, we attend the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate.B