YPRES & SOMME – WW1 BATTLEFIELDS LOCATION GUIDE

Exceptional Tours Expertly Delivered

Our location guide offers you information on the range of visits available in Ypres and the Somme. All visits are selected with your subject and the curriculum in mind, along with the most popular choices for sightseeing, culture and leisure in the area.

The information in your location guide has been provided by our partners in Ypres and the Somme who have expert on the ground knowledge of the area, combined with advice from education professionals so that the visits and information recommended are the most relevant to meet your learning objectives.

Making Life Easier for You

This location guide is not a catalogue of opening times. Our Tour Experts will design your itinerary with opening times and location in mind so that you can really maximise your time on tour.

Our location guides are designed to give you the information that you really need, including what are the highlights of the visit, location, suitability and educational resources. We’ll give you top tips like when is the best time to go, dress code and extra local knowledge.

Peace of Mind

So that you don’t need to carry additional money around with you we will state in your initial quote letter, which visits are included within your inclusive tour price and if there is anything that can’t be pre-paid we will advise you of the entrance fees so that you know how much money to take along.

You also have the added reassurance that, WST is a member of the STF and our featured visits are all covered as part of our externally verified Safety Management System.

WST's Expert WWI Guides Accompanying your students on arrival to departure from the region, our hugely knowledgeable WWI experts will truly enhance learning and deliver fascinating information relevant to students studies at each site you visit. All our guides are members of the International Guild of Battlefields Guides and cost as little as £6pp per day. Benefits include; + Pre trip contact with you to ensure your objectives and itinerary are perfect for you. + A personalised experience following thorough research into your group/school/town’s WW1 soldier links. + A wealth of information delivery allowing you more time to focus on your students and enjoy the sites. + Evening talks/discussion sessions with your guide are possible in hotel meeting spaces to enhance the educational aspect further. +Free pre trip resources encouraging students to research local soldiers who fought, which the guides will then address on your trip

YPRES SALIENT VISITS

Croonaert Wood (Bayernwald) Taken by German troops in 1914 a system of trenches was constructed. A group of volunteers and military archaeologists later re-dug the trench system as it had been in 1915. You can now visit these preserved German trenches and follow the information panels describing life on the front

Website: http://battlefields1418.50megs.com/croonaert_wood.htm

Essex Farm Cemetery & Dressing Station The area that was once used as an advanced dressing station is now the final resting place for 1200 men who lost their lives in the First World War. Whilst stationed at Essex Farm in May 1915 John McCrae wrote the famous poem ‘In Flanders Fields’.

Top Tip: Rifleman Valentine Joe Strudwick, one of the youngest British casualties who died age 15 in January 1916 is buried here.

Website: www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/essexfarm.html

Hill 60 & the Caterpillar Crater Hill 60 suffered an extremely turbulent history throughout the war, changing hands several times. Today you can see the preserved battlefield and the remains of two of the mines blown at the beginning of the Battle of Messines. This is also the final

resting place for countless soldiers buried somewhere beneath its grassy foundations.

Website: www.ypres-1917.com/hill%2060.html

Hooge Crater Museum The museum houses full scale reconstructions of war scenes, collection of weapons, war equipment & photographs.

Website: http://www.hoogecrater.com

In Flanders Fields Museum Located in the centre of Ypres this interactive museum allows visitors to follow the story of the war through personal testimony, exhibitions/workshops, videos & imagery. Highlights include:

 Complimentary interactive poppy wristbands to keep.

 Wristbands are pre-programmed to tell the story of individual soldiers as students walk around the museum.

 The wristbands can track the soldiers’ story from your region. Let us know in advance and we can arrange this for you. We can also give you information in advance so students can do classroom research beforehand to delve deep into the subject.

In Flanders Fields Museum main aim is for students to know and understand their past but also their present-day world. Because remembering the war, even though it happened 100 years ago, is still relevant today... With this in mind they have developed some workshops for school children aged between 13 & 15 which we highly recommend for History study groups. These workshops include:

Home by Christmas…

How ‘the big picnic’ evolved into the world’s First industrial war. Using posters, photographs, original artefacts and personal testimonies, the students will get a clear picture of what war is really about, both then and now. Workshops last around an hour.

Coming World Remember Me

This unique and emotive workshop allows students to create a statue for one of the soldiers who died in The First World War. Approximately 600,000 soldiers and civilians died or were fatally wounded in and around Ieper between 1914 and 1918. Each will be given its own small statue as part of the land art installation ComingWorldRememberMe. Each student who makes a statue, receives a personalized certificate and a stamped CWRM dog tag. Workshops last around 1.5 hours.

Website:http://www.inflandersfields.be/en/educational-new/13--15-years/13-15- workshops-2

Top Tip: Visit In Flanders Fields website prior to your visit and ask your students to plant a virtual poppy and leave a message. This gives them a great opportunity to start thinking about their visit and what it means to them.

Website: www.inflandersfields.be

Langemark Cemetery The final resting place of over 40,000 German soldiers. Website: www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/cemetery-langemark.htm

Lettenberg Bunkers These restored British dugouts near Kemmel give a fascinating insight into the scale of the war underground. Website: http://www.2014-18.be/en/agenda/e/bunkers-lettenberg-hill/a4547374- e4d6-4286-80ea-9a250ad35729

Menin Gate Ceremony The largest memorial to the British and Commonwealth soldiers, whose graves are unknown. Every day at 8pm, the Last Post Ceremony takes place at the Menin Gate. This is an incredibly moving experience.

Top Tip: If you are not staying in Ypres we can arrange an evening meal in a restaurant in the market square, which is only minutes away from the Menin Gate.

Website: www.lastpost.be/

Passchendaele Memorial Museum The memory of this battle is kept alive through interactive exhibitions, images and movies, which allow you to follow the story of a soldier in the 40th Australian Battalion.

Website: http://www.passchendaele.be/eng/homeEN.html

Poperinge Death Cells and Execution Pole Some British soldiers were mentally unstable because of harsh life in the trenches and refused to go back or simply deserted. Once caught and trialled before court martial they spent their last night in the jail of the town hall before being shot at dawn. You can still visit the restored cell block with audiotape and the execution pole as a symbol of the insanity of war. Website: www.toerismepoperinge.be/en

Sanctuary Wood & Hill 62 One of the few places on the Ypres Salient Battlefields where an original trench layout can be seen in some semblance of what it might have originally looked like. Original equipment from the battlefield site and photographs can be viewed in the museum.

Website: www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/museum-sanctuary-wood.htm

Spanbroekmolen Mine Crater The Spanbroekmolen Mine Crater, also known as Lone Tree Crater, is the site of the largest of 19 mines blown by the British Army in the early hours of the morning of 7th June 1917. This signaled the launch of the Battle of Messines.

Website:www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/memorial-spanbroekmolen-pool-of- peace.htm

St Georges Church This memorial church houses commemorations to many fallen soldiers in the form of plaques adorning the furnishings and commemorative stained glass windows.

Website: http://www.stgeorgesmemorialchurchypres.com/

Talbot House Talbot House, located in Poperinge, provided rest and recreation to soldiers of all rank from 1915 onwards. The museum visit includes the barn converted into a concert hall, a permanent exhibition on life in military camps and how the men kept their morale high.

Website: www.talbothouse.be/en/museum/home

Tyne Cot Cemetery The largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world with 11,956 soldiers buried here, many unnamed. There are also panels naming 34,888 missing soldiers. The Visitors Centre is open from February to November.

Website: www.toerisme-ieper.be/en/page/334-349-358/tyne-cot-military- cemetery-and-visitors-centre.html

Yorkshire Trench This recently renovated series of trenches and dug-outs is located near the village of Boezinghe.

Website: http://battlefields1418.50megs.com/yorkshire_trench.htm

SOMME VISITS

1916 Somme Museum This museum follows the soldiers into the trenches of the 1916 offensive. Visitors can experience the harsh daily life of the troops via a series of tunnels.

Website: http://www.musee-somme-1916.eu/index.php?lang=en

Accrington Pals Memorial, Serre A memorial commemorating the soldiers of the 11th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment who lost their lives in 1916. The memorial, erected in 1980 is made of Accrington brink & symbolises the ruined village of Serre.

Delville Wood Commemorating the 1st South African Infantry Brigade’s feat in the 1916 battle of the Delville Wood, where over 700 men lost their lives. The visit comprises of the Delville Wood, memorial, museum and cemetery.

Website: http://www.delvillewood.com/

Lochnagar Crater Created after a mine explosion on 1st July 1916, this is the largest surviving crater on the Western Front.

Website: www.lochnagarcrater.org/

Newfoundland Memorial/ Beaumont Hamel Located near Beaumont Hamel, this is one of only a few sites on the Western Front where the ground remains largely untouched since the end of the First World War. The site is also a memorial to all the Newfoundlanders who fought in the First World War, most particularly those who have no known grave.

Website: www.greatwar.co.uk/somme/memorial-newfoundland-park.htm

Thiepval Memorial & Visitor Centre The largest and one of the most emotive memorials to the missing from any war in which British soldiers died. There are over 72,000 names on the stone piers. The visitor centre has an excellent exhibition charting all the key events of WW1.

Website: http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/somme/thiepval.html

Ulster Tower The Ulster Tower is a memorial to the men of the 36th Ulster Division and is close to the site they attacked on 1st July 1916.

Website: www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/somme/ulstertower.html

Vimy Ridge This Canadian National Memorial site gives daily guided tours through the network of tunnels and trenches that were the scene of fighting in 1917.

Website: www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/others/vimy.html

Wellington Quarry - Arras After descending 20 metres in a glass elevator, you enter this strategic network of tunnels that were key in the Battle of Arras. This site was recently renovated and offers a superb audio guided tour.