+ 44 (0)1438 989129
+ 44 (0)1438 989129
+ 44 (0)1438 989129


Tour Dates: 30 September - 3 October 2022

Price Per Person: TBC

Hotel: Hotel D'Withuis, Dixsmuide   

Limited to 25 spaces

 

WFA National Tour -
Ypres 1918   


                                                  

WFA National - Tour Ypres 1918

This tour is open to the general public and run-in association with the WFA, non-members would be expected to join the WFA £29.00 per annum 
 
As in previous years these popular tours will be led by Jack Sheldon and Clive Harris providing a unique picture from both sides of the wire. 
The group size is limited to just 25 spaces to ensure quality and your personal requests to visit men or regiments in the Ypres Saliant, connected to 1918 are whole heartedly received, Jack and Clive will research them in advance, its these personal links that make for such a memorable tour. 

For the Autumn 2022 National Tour we have decided to study the area in and around Ypres in the final year of the war. Starting with the Battle of the Lys, (Operation Georgette), between Bailleul through Kemmel Ridge in April we will study the actions of British, Australian, French, and German divisions.

We then focus on the final offensive between 28 September and 2nd October 1918 and look at a number of actions including British, Belgian, American, and German units as the war drew to its conclusion. 

A final visit to Zeebrugge completes our tour before returning to the UK   

Tour Itinerary

The tour will start at Ebbsfleet International Station offering superb convenient links from London rail hubs and in addition provides secure parking at a reasonable rate. Transport via an executive standard coach and return channel crossing are also included throughout. The tour is limited to 25 spaces to ensure quality and make this tour feel like a personal pilgrimage as opposed to a large coach group. Personal visits to relatives or people of interest to you are positively encouraged and will be incorporated into the tour itinerary whilst these will be reflected as the group fills up a preliminary itinerary is planned as follows:

Day 1 - Friday 30 September 2022
Pick up in Ebbsfleet & Dover (first pick up around 10:30 hours) on route to our hotel we will visit Estaires to discuss the often-overlooked Portuguese Divisions and the German breakthrough here between the 9th-11th April 1918

Day 2 - Saturday 1 October 2022  
“There must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one must fight on to the end.” Haig’s special order of the day is the backdrop for our study of the Battle of the Lys, including visits to Hazebrouck so stoutly defended by the First Australian Division, the French defence around Kemmel, and the eventual capture of Kemmelberg and the Scherpenberg that mark the high-water mark of the German offensive, consider the before ending in and around Ploegsteert.
The evening will be spent in Ypres where an opportunity to participate in the Last Post Service at the Menin Gate.

Day 3 - Sunday 2 October 2022
A day studying the final advance across Ypres, the main battle lasted for four days starting on 28 September 1918, we begin however at Veerstraat and the actions of the US 27th (New York) and 30th (Old Hickory) Divisions across this ground. We then look at the capture of the Gheluvelt Plateau by the 29th Division, the advance through Polygon Wood to Zonnebeke by the 9th (Scottish) Division under the command of Major General Henry Tudor, the capture of Passchendaele before turning our attention to King Alberts Belgian divisions to the north of the battlefield. 

Day 4 - Monday 10 June 2022 
Travel back after a morning at Zeebrugge to study the raid that took place 23 April 1918, before onward travel to the UK, arriving at Ebbsfleet International for around 1600hrs.