+ 44 (0)1438 989129
+ 44 (0)1438 989129
+ 44 (0)1438 989129
Tour Dates: 15th - 18th November 2021

Price Per Person: £725:00 (£110:00 Single Supplement)

Hotel: Holiday Inn Express, Arras (B&B Basis)

Somme Winter Walk 

Somme Winter Walk 

Led by Clive Harris & Julian Whippy, this overdue return to a favourite tour is back after a lengthy delay. Our walks will center on the November 1916 actions that mark the end of the Somme Offensive alongside the 1918 breakout up to the Hindenburg Line.
Detailed studies of the Ancre Valley, St Pierre Divion, Beaumont Hamel, Mont St Quentin, Bellicourt and Bony plus a visit to the CWGC Visitors Centre at Beaurains make for a memorable visit. The tour this year is based in Arras at the central Holiday Inn Express and personal visits and requests are encouraged.    

Tour Itinerary

Day 1 - Monday 15th November 2021

Picking up at Ebbsfleet International Rail Station we take the Eurotunnel to France before onward journey to Arras via a battlefield related visit to set the scene. 

Day 2 - Tuesday 16th November 2021

'Somme Winter' We begin the day with a visit to the Theipval Memorial and visitors centre before our first walk that crosses overs the Schwaben Redoubt to the  Ancre Valley following the November fighting of the Royal Naval Division. We pass their divisional memorial through the pontine marshes that influenced JR Tolkien before ending with a visit to the nearby Ancre CWGC.
Lunch in Albert 
'Twilight Walk' Starting at Newfoundland Park, we walk across to the 51HD Memorial before descending 'Y Ravine' into the village of Beaumont Hamel. Maintaining our focus on the 51st Highland Divisions night atttack 13/14 November,we end as light fades with a twilight ramble over the isolated cemeteries of Waggon Road and Frankfurt Trench. These seldom visited spots contain the men and their stories from the last battle of the Somme, 18 November 1916 as the 32nd Division attempted to advance over the quagmire in this sector.           
Amber Walks - 5/6KM - on roads and tracks, through woodland, but graded amber as slightly longer distance
*Note* please bring a head torch for this day as we do intend to walk after light has faded, it is a deliberately relaxed paced day with time to visit the visitors centres at both Thiepval and Newfoundland Park

Day 3 - Wednesday 17th November 2021

 'A Fine Feat of Arms' Following in the footsteps of the Australian Second Division as Monash's Australian Corps utilise speed, surprise and aggression to capture the strategically dominant heights of Mont St Quentin. Starting on the north bank of the Canal Du Nord we cross and begin the advance up to the hilltop village. Initially concentrating on the 17th AIF, we reach the outer village defences, scene of several Victoria Cross actions 2 September 1918. Once in the village, stoutly defended by Prussian Guards, we focus on the 21st AIF who consolidated the early gains made. Visits to the crater, the old chateau grounds and the Second Division Memorial end our morning. 
Lunch in Peronne
'Brothers in Arms' Our final walk enables us to study the contrasting fortunes of American, Australian and British troops in Breaking the Hindenburg Line, 29 September 1918. Following the US II Corps we begin at the notorious Guillemont Farm before descending into Bony US Cemetery and Memorial, we then walk to the St Quentin Canal Tunnel and the main ABMC Memorial before continuing onto Bellicourt village, scene of bitter fighting and the location of the British/US link up late that afternoon. We end with a visit to the famous 'Riqueval Bridge' before returning to Arras.            
Amber Walk - 7/8 KM - on roads, tracks and through some woodland, over mainly rising ground.

Day 4 - Thursday 18th November 2021

Our final Day in France leaves us plenty of time to make a visit in the morning to the newly opened CWGC Visitors Centre at Beaurains, before onward travel to Calais & Ebbsfleet.