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1 Battlefield Cover.qxp_Layout 1 19/01/2018 09:10 Page 1 Step on to a Leger holiday and step off into... Battwilth e Spefciailiset Balttdlefie ldT Guidoes urs 201 8/2019 Featuring European Wars: Low Deposit Waterloo to WW2 15 Brand new from £50 Worldwide Conflicts: tours for 2018 see inside for details American Civil War, see inside for details Boer War & Vietnam www.legerbattlefields.co.uk 2 & 6 Intro & Contents.qxp_Layout 1 19/01/2018 13:42 Page 1 E M O C L E Welcome W Welcome to our 2018/19 collection of battlefield tours. As we move into the final year of the centenary of the end of WW1 our head guide Paul Reed has created a selection of special anniversary event tours plus new tours covering some of the major final campaign battles. We also have an expanded collection of WW2 tours some of which cover historical events around the end of the war and the aftermath of the Cold War. Further afield we are pleased to introduce a brand new Vietnam tour covering the harrowing events of that long campaign. Ian Henry, Chief Executive, Leger Holidays Inspirational journeys of Remembrance and Discovery Visiting battlefields from the two World Wars remains a fascinating, rewarding and moving experience. A century after WW1 and some 75 years since WW2, the debt we owe to those generations remains strong and the legacy of Remembrance they have left us prompts many who travel on our Battlefield Tours to ask more: who is the solider in that faded photo at home? What was that name on the local war memorial? What did grandad do, and how did his war fit into the bigger picture? Villy La Ferté 1940 These are just the sort of questions Passchendaele is a good example myself and my team of dedicated of this: think of this battle and one Specialist Battlefield Guides (see imagines a lunar landscape of page 6) get asked on a typical water-filled shell holes on a rain Leger Battlefield Tour. We are there soaked landscape. to help you decipher all the military Battlefield Tours teach us that the jargon and understand a past that experience of war like this was touched us all – so that we, too, about ordinary people in can continue with the legacy and extraordinary circumstances: that ensure the sacrifice and service are these men and women who served never forgotten. saw the best and worst of life as 2018 marks another special period carnage raged around them, and it of anniversaries for the First World was an experience that changed War, as it will be the centenary of them forever. the end of the war. These were On Battlefield Tours we discover some of the biggest, bloodiest that freedom is never free and the battles of the war and many have huge cemeteries bring that home in become not only household names, a way that is only possible on such but come to symbolise the war a tour. Since our first Battlefield itself in some ways. The Battle of Auschwitz-Birkenau 2 Call or visit www.legerbattlefields.co.uk for full details 2 & 6 Intro & Contents.qxp_Layout 1 19/01/2018 13:42 Page 2 S T N E T N O C Contents World War 1 – 1914-18 see pages ......................7 to 24 World War 2 – 1939-45 see pages ....................25 to 47 Other Campaigns ........48 to 53 Anniversary Tours NEW Somme to the Armistice 2018 ............................11 Armistice Day in Flanders ..........12 Armistice on the Somme ............12 Armistice in Mons ......................13 NEW Kaiser’s Battle – Operation Paul Reed Michael ........................................14 NEW Centenary of ANZAC Head Battlefield Guide at Villers-Bretonneux ..................15 I have had a life-long interest in military NEW Somme Advance to history, my father being a WW2 veteran Victory Centenary Tour ..............16 and both my grandfathers serving in NEW Dambusters 75th WW1. I read history at University and went Anniversary Tour ........................25 on to do a Masters. I began working as a Battlefield Guide in 1987 and joined Leger New for 2018/2019 for their first ever battlefield tour in April NEW First & Last Shots ..............13 1997. When not working for Leger, I work as a Military Historian in television; NEW Itinerary for 2018 in the past few years I have worked on numerous documentaries for Walking the Somme ....................21 BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5 relating to WW1 and WW2 including NEW Western Front Dig WW2 with Dan Snow and Heroes of the Somme . End to End ....................................22 Main de Massiges Trenches, Champagne NEW Following General Patton: Battlefield Tours in 1997 – some 20 years ago Luxembourg ................................33 – we have established an unrivalled NEW Downfall in Berlin reputation for expert and by Air ............................................39 enthusiastic guides. Our aim is to ‘bring history alive’: for NEW The Rise of Evil: our team, guiding is not just Munich, Nuremberg a job, but a passion. & The Eagle’s Nest by Air ..........41 Paul Reed, Head Battlefield Guide. NEW Anzio, Monte Cassino & San Pietro: Italian Campaign By Air ..........................45 With a choice of over 50 fully escorted tours exploring WW1, NEW Behind The Iron Curtain: WW2, and other historic battles, Spies and Espionage in step on to a Leger Battlefield Tour, the Cold War ................................47 and step off into the footsteps of NEW Itinerary for 2018 heroes. At War with Wellington – The Peninsular War ....................49 NEW Vietnam War ......................51 Troops in Mons Call or visit www.legerbattlefields.co.uk for full details 3 2 & 6 Intro & Contents.qxp_Layout 1 19/01/2018 13:43 Page 3 E M O C L E Welcome to our new 2018/2019 Battlefield Tours Brochure W World War 1 to start with if you are wanting to following the story of General WW2 armour, we have a broad We are now entering the final understand more about WW1. George S. Patton: one of the range of tours to interest the year of the WW1 Centenary and For 2018 we also have new walks most iconic commanders of the WW2 enthusiast and those will be focussing on the on the Somme; an excellent way conflict. We continue to visit all wanting to learn more. to see the ground. Looking ahead the key WW2 battlefields in importance of 1918, from the Remembering the to 2019, we will be introducing Europe, from D-Day to Germany, Kaiser’s Battle to the final Holocaust Advance to Victory, as well as new tours to cover the legacy and beyond, with new air tours to commemorative events for the and aftermath of WW1, as Munich and the Eagle’s Nest, We must never forget the centenary of the Armistice. We Remembrance must not stop Downfall in Berlin and also Anzio Holocaust and that dark chapter also bring back our popular with the end of the centenary. and Monte Cassino. Whether you of WW2 history. Understand it enjoy seeing WW2 more on our longer tour travelling Western Front End to End tour, World War 2 where we travel all 450 miles of megastructures or bunkers, want across Holocaust sites in Europe frontline, and our ever-popular All For 2018 we have several new to follow the Rise and Fall of or join our popular 5-day fly tour Quiet on the Western Front tour WW2 tours, including one looking Nazi Germany, to Poland, where you can visit remains the best battlefield tour at the war in Luxembourg and or look at tank warfare and see Auschwitz and Kraków. LDEOPOW SIT SECURE The Somme Battlefields YOUR PLACE Low deposits Educational FROM JUST 3 For as little as £50 you can secure your next tour! When you book by 16th Battlefield Tours February 2018, you’ll only pay £50 per In 2015 Holts Tours became part of the Leger family. With almost 40 person to reserve your place on your years’ experience in operating Battlefield and History tours and more chosen coach tour* – see panel below. than 25 years in running School Travel, Holts Tours prides itself in Call or visit our website for full details. being the specialist in educational travel and the leading history and £ battlefield tours company. Working with Holts Tours, we pupils, parents and school. Some De50posits All deposits are per person Low Deposit* Full offer educational school visits, schools like to combine an art or trips and tours for school student cultural trip with leisure time, Coach Holidays up to 11 Days £50 £100 groups, in Europe, around the UK while on history and battlefield Coach Holidays of 12 Days and Over £50 £200 and overseas. Our range of trips tours, some schools prefer to covers art, culture, geography, visit a specific grave or war Air Holidays (Europe) - £150 science and language tours as cemetery and lay a wreath. Let us Air Holidays (Worldwide) - £300-500 † well as battlefields and history. know your requirements and we can build them into the itinerary. Eurostar £50 £100 All school tours can be tailor- made to suit the needs of your *Low Deposit applies to all 2018/19 departures booked by the 16th February 2018. In the event of your cancellation, the difference between the low deposit and the full deposit To find out more about our applicable to your tour will be payable – please see our Booking Conditions. †See tour pages for details. Educational Battlefields Tours, visit www.holts.co.uk or call Tracey on 01306 873 571. 4 Call or visit www.legerbattlefields.co.uk for full details 2 & 6 Intro & Contents.qxp_Layout 1 19/01/2018 13:43 Page 4 E M O C L Travel in comfort and luxury E W Other Periods Executive With an unrivalled team of Executive – a modern and comfortable way to travel.
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    World War I Casualty Biographies

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  • Press Kit 2020 the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy

    Press Kit 2020 the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy

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  • The Western Front the First World War Battlefield Guide: World War Battlefield First the the Westernthe Front

    The Western Front the First World War Battlefield Guide: World War Battlefield First the the Westernthe Front

    Ed 2 June 2015 2 June Ed The First World War Battlefield Guide: Volume 1 The Western Front The First Battlefield War World Guide: The Western Front The Western Creative Media Design ADR003970 Edition 2 June 2015 The Somme Battlefield: Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont Hamel Mike St. Maur Sheil/FieldsofBattle1418.org The Somme Battlefield: Lochnagar Crater. It was blown at 0728 hours on 1 July 1916. Mike St. Maur Sheil/FieldsofBattle1418.org The First World War Battlefield Guide: Volume 1 The Western Front 2nd Edition June 2015 ii | THE WESTERN FRONT OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR ISBN: 978-1-874346-45-6 First published in August 2014 by Creative Media Design, Army Headquarters, Andover. Printed by Earle & Ludlow through Williams Lea Ltd, Norwich. Revised and expanded second edition published in June 2015. Text Copyright © Mungo Melvin, Editor, and the Authors listed in the List of Contributors, 2014 & 2015. Sketch Maps Crown Copyright © UK MOD, 2014 & 2015. Images Copyright © Imperial War Museum (IWM), National Army Museum (NAM), Mike St. Maur Sheil/Fields of Battle 14-18, Barbara Taylor and others so captioned. No part of this publication, except for short quotations, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the permission of the Editor and SO1 Commemoration, Army Headquarters, IDL 26, Blenheim Building, Marlborough Lines, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 8HJ. The First World War sketch maps have been produced by the Defence Geographic Centre (DGC), Joint Force Intelligence Group (JFIG), Ministry of Defence, Elmwood Avenue, Feltham, Middlesex, TW13 7AH. United Kingdom.
  • In a Foreign Field – Memorials to the Missing

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    In a Foreign Field – Memorials to the Missing Many of Helensburgh’s soldiers died in battle and their remains were not recovered. Men were often buried in temporary battlefield cemeteries and after the Armistice the Imperial War Graves Commission, as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was then known, carried out what was called a ‘concentration’. The mortal remains of the war dead were collected from the battlefield cemeteries and re-buried in the new Imperial War Grave cemeteries. In the beautifully maintained Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries the graves of all soldiers, regardless of rank, religion or country of origin are marked with a uniform headstone of white Portland limestone. However, some men were lost forever on the battlefields and at sea and have No Known Grave. These men, approximately 315,000 in France and Belgium alone, are remembered with honour on the great memorials built overseas to honour their sacrifice. The inscription on the Menin Gate in Ypres encapsulates the intention of these memorials, “Here are recorded names of officers and men who fell in Ypres Salient, but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death”. The names of Helensburgh men with no known grave, 101 altogether, appear on twenty-six memorials to the missing. All images, unless stated, Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Arras Memorial to the Missing. Arras, Pas de Calais, France. Helensburgh Soldiers Andrew Alexander Adam, Walter Bain, William Dempster, James Don, Thomas Elliot (Elliott), Murdoch Gillies, James Graham, James Kelly, James Kidston Law (Arras Flying Services Memorial), Francis McClymont, John McHardy, Murdoch MacKay, Archibald McKillop, Alexander Neish, Alan Hope Smith Nicholl, Thomas G.
  • Canadian Fatal Casualties on D-Day

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  • On Our Doorstep Parts 1 and 2

    On Our Doorstep Parts 1 and 2

    ON 0UR DOORSTEP I MEMORIAM THE SECOD WORLD WAR 1939 to 1945 HOW THOSE LIVIG I SOME OF THE PARISHES SOUTH OF COLCHESTER, WERE AFFECTED BY WORLD WAR 2 Compiled by E. J. Sparrow Page 1 of 156 ON 0UR DOORSTEP FOREWORD This is a sequel to the book “IF YOU SHED A TEAR” which dealt exclusively with the casualties in World War 1 from a dozen coastal villages on the orth Essex coast between the Colne and Blackwater. The villages involved are~: Abberton, Langenhoe, Fingringhoe, Rowhedge, Peldon: Little and Great Wigborough: Salcott: Tollesbury: Tolleshunt D’Arcy: Tolleshunt Knights and Tolleshunt Major This likewise is a community effort by the families, friends and neighbours of the Fallen so that they may be remembered. In this volume we cover men from the same villages in World War 2, who took up the challenge of this new threat .World War 2 was much closer to home. The German airfields were only 60 miles away and the villages were on the direct flight path to London. As a result our losses include a number of men, who did not serve in uniform but were at sea with the fishing fleet, or the Merchant avy. These men were lost with the vessels operating in what was known as “Bomb Alley” which also took a toll on the Royal avy’s patrol craft, who shepherded convoys up the east coast with its threats from: - mines, dive bombers, e- boats and destroyers. The book is broken into 4 sections dealing with: - The war at sea: the land warfare: the war in the air & on the Home Front THEY WILL OLY DIE IF THEY ARE FORGOTTE.
  • In Grateful Memory of the Men of the Parish of Rockcliffe and Cargo And

    In Grateful Memory of the Men of the Parish of Rockcliffe and Cargo And

    In grateful memory of the Men of the Parish of Rockcliffe and Cargo and of this district who lost their lives in the service of their country in the Great War and in World War Two, and of their comrades who returned, having done their duty manfully. It is not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or whether the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…. who strives…. who spends himself…. and who at worst, if he fails, at least he fails in daring, so that his place will never be with those timid souls who know nothing of either victory or defeat. At the going down of the sun, And in the morning We will remember them. A cross of sacrifice stands in all Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries on the Western Front. The War Memorial of the Parish of Rockcliffe and Cargo. It is 2010. In far off Afghanistan young men and women of various nations are putting their lives at risk as they struggle to defeat a tenacious enemy. We receive daily reports of the violent death of some while still in their teens. Others, of whom we hear little, are horribly maimed for life. We here, in the relative safety of the countries we call The British Isles, are free to discuss from our armchair or pub stool the rights and wrongs of such a conflict. That right of free speech, whatever our opinion or conclusion, was won for us by others, others who are not unlike today’s almost daily casualties of a distant war.
  • Trinity College War Memorial Mcmxiv–Mcmxviii

    Trinity College War Memorial Mcmxiv–Mcmxviii

    TRINITY COLLEGE WAR MEMORIAL MCMXIV–MCMXVIII Iuxta fidem defuncti sunt omnes isti non acceptis repromissionibus sed a longe [eas] aspicientes et salutantes et confitentes quia peregrini et hospites sunt super terram. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Hebrews 11: 13 Adamson, William at Trinity June 25 1909; BA 1912. Lieutenant, 16th Lancers, ‘C’ Squadron. Wounded; twice mentioned in despatches. Born Nov 23 1884 at Sunderland, Northumberland. Son of Died April 8 1918 of wounds received in action. Buried at William Adamson of Langham Tower, Sunderland. School: St Sever Cemetery, Rouen, France. UWL, FWR, CWGC Sherborne. Admitted as pensioner at Trinity June 25 1904; BA 1907; MA 1911. Captain, 6th Loyal North Lancshire Allen, Melville Richard Howell Agnew Regiment, 6th Battalion. Killed in action in Iraq, April 24 1916. Commemorated at Basra Memorial, Iraq. UWL, FWR, CWGC Born Aug 8 1891 in Barnes, London. Son of Richard William Allen. School: Harrow. Admitted as pensioner at Trinity Addy, James Carlton Oct 1 1910. Aviator’s Certificate Dec 22 1914. Lieutenant (Aeroplane Officer), Royal Flying Corps. Killed in flying Born Oct 19 1890 at Felkirk, West Riding, Yorkshire. Son of accident March 21 1917. Buried at Bedford Cemetery, Beds. James Jenkin Addy of ‘Carlton’, Holbeck Hill, Scarborough, UWL, FWR, CWGC Yorks. School: Shrewsbury. Admitted as pensioner at Trinity June 25 1910; BA 1913. Captain, Temporary Major, East Allom, Charles Cedric Gordon Yorkshire Regiment. Military Cross.
  • The Forgotten Fronts the First World War Battlefield Guide: World War Battlefield First the the Forgotten Fronts Forgotten The

    The Forgotten Fronts the First World War Battlefield Guide: World War Battlefield First the the Forgotten Fronts Forgotten The

    Ed 1 Nov 2016 1 Nov Ed The First World War Battlefield Guide: Volume 2 The Forgotten Fronts The First Battlefield War World Guide: The Forgotten Fronts Creative Media Design ADR005472 Edition 1 November 2016 THE FORGOTTEN FRONTS | i The First World War Battlefield Guide: Volume 2 The British Army Campaign Guide to the Forgotten Fronts of the First World War 1st Edition November 2016 Acknowledgement The publisher wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the following organisations in providing text, images, multimedia links and sketch maps for this volume: Defence Geographic Centre, Imperial War Museum, Army Historical Branch, Air Historical Branch, Army Records Society,National Portrait Gallery, Tank Museum, National Army Museum, Royal Green Jackets Museum,Shepard Trust, Royal Australian Navy, Australian Defence, Royal Artillery Historical Trust, National Archive, Canadian War Museum, National Archives of Canada, The Times, RAF Museum, Wikimedia Commons, USAF, US Library of Congress. The Cover Images Front Cover: (1) Wounded soldier of the 10th Battalion, Black Watch being carried out of a communication trench on the ‘Birdcage’ Line near Salonika, February 1916 © IWM; (2) The advance through Palestine and the Battle of Megiddo: A sergeant directs orders whilst standing on one of the wooden saddles of the Camel Transport Corps © IWM (3) Soldiers of the Royal Army Service Corps outside a Field Ambulance Station. © IWM Inside Front Cover: Helles Memorial, Gallipoli © Barbara Taylor Back Cover: ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ at the Tower of London © Julia Gavin ii | THE FORGOTTEN FRONTS THE FORGOTTEN FRONTS | iii ISBN: 978-1-874346-46-3 First published in November 2016 by Creative Media Designs, Army Headquarters, Andover.
  • 1 Introduction

    1 Introduction

    Notes 1 Introduction 1. Donald Macintyre, Narvik (London: Evans, 1959), p. 15. 2. See Olav Riste, The Neutral Ally: Norway’s Relations with Belligerent Powers in the First World War (London: Allen and Unwin, 1965). 3. Reflections of the C-in-C Navy on the Outbreak of War, 3 September 1939, The Fuehrer Conferences on Naval Affairs, 1939–45 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1990), pp. 37–38. 4. Report of the C-in-C Navy to the Fuehrer, 10 October 1939, in ibid. p. 47. 5. Report of the C-in-C Navy to the Fuehrer, 8 December 1939, Minutes of a Conference with Herr Hauglin and Herr Quisling on 11 December 1939 and Report of the C-in-C Navy, 12 December 1939 in ibid. pp. 63–67. 6. MGFA, Nichols Bohemia, n 172/14, H. W. Schmidt to Admiral Bohemia, 31 January 1955 cited by Francois Kersaudy, Norway, 1940 (London: Arrow, 1990), p. 42. 7. See Andrew Lambert, ‘Seapower 1939–40: Churchill and the Strategic Origins of the Battle of the Atlantic, Journal of Strategic Studies, vol. 17, no. 1 (1994), pp. 86–108. 8. For the importance of Swedish iron ore see Thomas Munch-Petersen, The Strategy of Phoney War (Stockholm: Militärhistoriska Förlaget, 1981). 9. Churchill, The Second World War, I, p. 463. 10. See Richard Wiggan, Hunt the Altmark (London: Hale, 1982). 11. TMI, Tome XV, Déposition de l’amiral Raeder, 17 May 1946 cited by Kersaudy, p. 44. 12. Kersaudy, p. 81. 13. Johannes Andenæs, Olav Riste and Magne Skodvin, Norway and the Second World War (Oslo: Aschehoug, 1966), p.
  • The Battle of Messines

    The Battle of Messines

    CHAPTER XV THE BATTLE OF MESSINES-JUNE 7TH BEFOREmost great attacks on the Western Front, during that critical last night in which, generally, the infantry left its billets and made its way, first, in column of fours on dark roads beside moving wheel and motor traffic, then, usually in file, along tracks marked across the open, and finally into communication trenches to wind silently out in the small hours and line the “ jumping-off ” trenches or white tapes laid in the long wet grass of open No-Man’s Land, where for an hour or two it must await the signal to assault-during these critical hours one thought was usually uppermost in the men’s minds: does the enemy know? With the tactics of 1917,involving tremendous preparatory bombardments, which entailed months of preliminary railway and road construction, G.H.Q. had been forced to give up the notion of keeping an attack secret until it was delivered. Enemy airmen could not fail to observe these works and also the new camps, supply centres, casualty clearing stations, hangars for aeroplanes. Reference has been made to the Comniander-in-Chief’s desire to impart the impression, in April, of a serious attack, and,‘in May, of a feint. But the final week’s bombardment had given sure notice of the operation, and the most that could be hoped for was that the enemy might be deceived as to the main stroke that would come after, and might continue to expect it at Arras rather than at Ypres. As far as the Messines offensive went, the Germans must know that a great attack-whether feint or principal operation-was imminent ; indeed, German prisoners spoke with certainty of it.
  • Valortours 2016Flyer.Pdf

    Valortours 2016Flyer.Pdf

    2-10 May 2016 $3,395 per person Space limited Twin-Share, Land Only Our Concept: Friday, 6 May 2016 We go where history was written; we Historic & Symbolic Verdun: Walking walk in the path of those who served; tour of the city's many historic sites and a visit to Vauban's Citadel; battlefield we endeavor to understand the memorials, including: Bayonet Trench, challenges they faced; we will never the famous Ossuary, and much more. forget their sacrifices. Hotel: Verdun Monday, 2 May 2016 Saturday, 7 May 2016 Arrival Day in Paris: In the evening the group assembles for our welcome dinner. The Left Bank: Destroyed villages of Haucourt & Cumières, Mort Homme, Côte Hotel: Golden Tulip at CDG Airport 304, and the Butte de Vauquois. As time allows, key sites associated with the U.S. Tuesday, 3 May 2016 Meuse-Argonne Offensive of 1918. 1914 Shapes the Verdun Battlefield: Hotel: Verdun Champagne campaigns of 1914 & 1915; earlier German attempts to capture Ver- Sunday, 8 May 2016 dun; the Voie Sacrée. The Hot Zone, High Water Mark & Hotel: Verdun End Game: Thiaumont defenses; Quatre Chiminees, Froideterre Ouvrage, Fleury Wednesday, 4 May 2016 Ravine, Fort Souville, the Fallen Lion, the recapture of Douaumont and Vaux. Opening Attack: 21 February 1916: German rear area; attack at Bois des Hotel: Verdun Caures; Verdun Memorial; destroyed Monday, 9 May 2016 village of Fleury; Meuse River positions. American Sites Near Château-Thierry Hotel: Verdun & Musée de la Grande Guerre: The Thursday, 5 May 2016 "Rock of the Marne" site; Rainbow Divi- sion Monument; Château-Thierry; and Focusing on the Forts: The two defen- Belleau Wood; the spectacular Musée de sive ridge lines; Fort Douaumont and its la Grande Guerre at Meaux; departure surprising capture; Fort Vaux and its fall; dinner at our hotel.