The price will include minibus travel to / from Somme, 3* hotel Royal Picardie (2 nights Half Board, 1 night B&B), 3 picnic lunches, 3 days guiding,
all entries to sites / museums and travel insurance
Smaug Abroad
Ltd., The Lodge, Bardwell Road, Oxford, OX2 6SS
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Tour itinerary
DAY 1:Depart a.m. and Arrive in Albert in the evening. Check in the 3* Royal Picardie. Dinner in hotel
DAY 2: After breakfast there is a briefing in the
hotel prior to departure to set the scene. We visit the front
line positions from which the British launched their attack
on July 1st 1916. Perhaps the most impressive site is the Lochnagar crater, where the British detonated
an enormous mine prior to “going over the top”
at 7.30 a.m. that morning. The preserved lines of trenches
in the Newfoundland Park and a number of
other sites visited show just how impossible a task they had
been set. The nearby battlefield cemeteries tell
their own story…
FREE EVENING. We can assist with restaurant booking and transport.
DAY 3: The First World War is famous
for the literature it produced, and one of the most famous
of the English war poets – Siegfried Sassoon – fought here. We visit the area and hear the
story of how he won his M.C. We also see some of the areas
fought over later in the battle (which went on for over 4
months) including the fortified woods. Sassoon made a particularly
daring night attack on Mametz Wood. After dinner in the hotel
you get the chance to do a night exercise and
discover what you are made of!
DAY 4: Check out. We visit the furthest point
the Allies eventually reached at the end of the battle in
November, and ponder on the enormity of the human suffering
and sacrifice. A visit to the Thiepval Memorial is
a suitable finale. This commemorates all those died but have
no known grave. We also visit the Tank Memorial.
We will return to the UK late afternoon and arrive in Oxford around 1900.
Tour Leader(s): Chris Scott and Bartle Frere
Useful Information
Probably the most dramatic day in British military history
was July 1st 1916, when the British infantry
went “over the top” on the first day of the battle
of the Somme. Following an artillery barrage on the German
lines that had lasted a week, they expected little opposition
as they walked across “No man’s land”. However
the barrage had not been successful and German artillery and
machine gun fire accounted for 56,000 British/Allied casualties
on that one day.
On this trip we get the opportunity to relive the events of
that first day. We see where the British troops left their
trenches, and the ground where many died. Their graves can
be seen in the battlefield cemeteries nearby and those with
patience will still find shell cases and bullets in the fields.
We read poems of the British poets and letters sent to the
soldiers’ families. We take time to contemplate the
impact these few months had on both the families and the early
years of the twentieth century in Britain.
Although this is an historical tour, there will also be time
to enjoy the excellent French cuisine. The free evening will allow you
to sample a local restaurant. Lunches will be
informal picnics provided by the hotel.
The generation that fought the First World War
are known as “The Lost Generation” and maybe a
member of your family was killed. If so, you can check out
his details by contacting the Commonwealth War Grave Commission
(www.cwgc.org)
Tour itinerary
