Somme 110

A three-night guided tour of the Somme battlefields, focussing on the Flers-Corucellete Operations in September 1916. The tour will be led by Dr Jack Sheldon, an published authority on the German Army in the Great War and historian Clive Harris.

Tour Dates: 12 – 15 September 2026

Price Per Person: £810:00 (£140:00 Single Supplement)

Hotel: 3 nights Central Arras (on a B&B Basis)

Pick Up Points

(i) Watford Services, M1 (ii) Ebbsfleet International (iii) Dover Eastern Docks

Key Information

This tour in open to the general public and is run in association with The Western Front Association, non-members will be encouraged to join the WFA.

Our second tour of 2026 with the WFA will study the Flers Courcellete battle of September 1916 over its 110th Anniversary .

Dr Jack Sheldon will again be joining the team, bringing his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things German Army on the Western Front with him. Historian Clive Harris will this year be working alongside, he has strong family connections to the battles in this region, his Great Grandfather Charlie Addams was a Gunner in the 12th Eastern Division who fought in the 1916 battles here, alongside a Great Uncle who served in Hawke Battalion, RND on the Somme.

This tour of the Somme battlefield will start with a look at the area between Courcelette and High Wood where, led by tanks for the first time, the BEF, including Canadian troops, advanced astride the Albert Bapaume Road on the opening day of the battle.

We then shift our focus to the southern sector of the battlefield between Delville Wood and Combles, including the actions of the Guards Division and 16th (Irish) Division between Guillemont and Guinchy and the 56th (London) Division and 20th (Light) Divisions towards Leuze and Boully Woods.

Our final day, on the 15 September will focus on the centre of the battlefield in and around Flers, following the New Zealanders and 41st Division, culminating with a short act of remembrance at their memorial in the village.

Visits to the Tank Memorial and Theipval will also be included and personal requests are positively encouraged.

Our WFA National tours have a history of selling out quickly, they are restricted to just 25 participants to ensure quality, together with the Western Front Association, we feel these national tours not only provide a comprehensive study of the campaign, they also offer an informal, social, weekend on the ‘old front line’ for WFA members and the chance to remember over a century on.

Itinerary

The tour will start with a pickup at Watford Gap Services before heading south to Ebbsfleet International Station offering superb convenient links from London rail hubs and in addition provides secure parking at a reasonable rate.

Transport is via an executive standard coach and return channel crossings are also included. 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 where possible whilst these will be reflected as the group fills up a preliminary itinerary is planned as follows.

Day 1 - Saturday 12 September 2026

Travel to Dover and across to Calais. En-route to our Hotel we will stop at the impressive Cabaret Rouge CWGC on the outskirts of Arras where a number of the casualties from the Somme fighting were concentrated after the war.

Jack will discuss the situation on the Western Front that led to the Somme Battle in 1916.

Day 2 - Sunday 13 September 2026

Today we focus on the area of the Battle of Flers-Courcellete between Regina Trench (Canadian sector), through to High Wood, assaulted by the 47th (London) Division on the 15th September 1916. We will visit the Tank Corps Memorial at nearby Pozieres and discuss the differing challanges both the BEF and defending Germans faced on the opening day.

Day 3 - Monday 14 September 2026

Today is spent studying the ground to the South of the offensive between Delville Wood and Combles, including the fighting in the villages of Guillemont, Guinchy and wooded areas of Leuze and Bully Woods to wards Combles, through the cemeteries, divisional and private memorials, we explore the events of September 1916 from both sides of the wire.

Day 4 - Tuesday 16 September 2026

The final morning sees us follow the bothe the New Zealand Division and 41st Division on the 110th Anniversary of their assault towards the village of Flers, ending with a short service of remembrance at their stunning Memorial in the centre of the village.

We then visit the Theipval Memorial to the Museum to conclude our tour before onward travel to Calais and the UK.

Day 1

Name: WFA National Tour Cambrai
Start: 2025-09-19T00:00:00+01:00
End: 2025-09-22T23:59:59+01:00
Location: Battle Honours Limited

Scheduled flights from London to Istanbul. Transfer to Gallipoli by coach to the Hotel Grand Anzac in Canakkale.

This is a 4 hour transfer on a fully air-conditioned coach. We will stop off for a short snack/toilet break halfway through the journey.

All our transfer coaches have Wi-Fi and complimentary bottled water on board.

Monday 12 May 2025 – Anzac Day

The best way to study an amphibious landing is by boat. Our morning will be spent studying the Gaba Tepe from the sea before we come ashore to walk from Beach Cemetery, via Shrapnel Valley up to the heights of Plugges Plateau, the first ridge captured by the Anzac’s on 25 April 1915.

After lunch at a local restaurant, we will continue the Anzac advance from the Second Ridge at Lone Pine, to the furthest advance of the Australian and New Zealand troops on that first day of the landing. This walk will take us over Pine Ridge, down into Legge Valley and up onto the Third Ridge (Gun Ridge), the final objective of the covering force, ending the walk at Mustafa Kemal’s command post on the Scrubby Knoll.

Tuesday 13 May 2025 – Helles Day

Beginning the morning on the top of Achi Baba, where we will experience panoramic views of the Helles battlefield, we will descend down to the beaches. Next stop is Erturgal Fort, trenches and the Ottoman memorial to Sgt Yahya, all overlooking V Beach. We will visit V Beach CWGC Cemetery, the spit of rock where the River Clyde came shore, all under the shadow of Seddulbahir Fort. We will then advance up through the village to Doughty-Wylie’s Grave, and then the Helles Memorial.

After lunch at V Beach Café, we will walk from the French artillery battery onto Hunter-Weston Hill and then Lancashire Landing CWGC Cemetery. From there we will visit W Beach to recount the story of the 6 VC’s Before Breakfast before ascending onto Hill 114 to explore the old base-camp of the MEF.

We end the day with visit to the Bengodi/Asmadan Vinyard for a tasting flight (foot passage ferry option for non-winers).

Wednesday 14 May 2025 – Gully Ravine Day

We will spend the whole day exploring Gully Ravine, starting at the Ottoman Nuri Yamut Memorial we will walk across the seaward cliffs to Gurkha Bluff, just above Y Beach. We will continue along Gully Spur, visiting Geoghegan’s Bluff and the football field for lunch. We will then continue to follow the ravine to Gully Beach. Exiting the ravine we will walk along the West Krithia to finish the day at Pink Farm CWGC Cemetery.

Thursday 15 May 2025 – Suvla Day

We will begin the morning on the once hotly contested Scimitar Hill (Hill 70) before following the Ottoman trench lines on to the top of the W Hills where we will get excellent views of both the Suvla and North Anzac battlefield. Walking down to Hetman Chair and Dead Man’s Gully, we will finish at Chocolate and Green Hill.

After a packed lunch at the museum in Buyuk Anafarta, we will walk from the Jandarma Memorial to Kidney Hill, Caribou Hill and then to Azmak CWGC Cemetery, also visiting the new Ottoman cemetery site on Kiretch Tepe. We will finish the day at Suvla Point and General Stopford’s HQ.

Friday 16 May 2025

Return to Istanbul or, Optional extension to the island of Imbros to explore the sites of Sir Ian Hamilton’s GHQ, Kephalos ‘K’ Beach, the Australian Field Bakery site, RNAS airfields and the journalist camp to name but a few.

Saturday 17 May 2025

Return to Istanbul for those who stayed for the optional day to Imbros.

Booking

Deposits can be paid via BACS transfer (IBAN if overseas) both account details are on the bottom of the booking form.

If you wish to pay by credit card, drop us an email and we will send you the relevant link.

Cheques can be made payable to “Battle Honours Ltd”