Driffield Battlefield Tours

The 2018 tour took in the Armistice Centenary commemorations in Flanders, marking 100 years since the war on the Western Front came to an end, and not surprisingly, bringing huge crowds to Ypres, the epicentre of the Salient and a deserved focus for the ceremonies at the famed Menin Gate. Travelling to Belgium was a much more relaxed affair this time around, with the six strong group of myself, Mick, Moggy, Jon, Digger and Pete taking the decision to plan our own travel indep

Just under two weeks to go to the 2018 Armistice Centenary tour to Ypres, and we've now had confirmation from Battlefield Exploration that our guide for the day will be Johny Callandt. Johny was born in Ypres while the town was still recovering from the effects of the Great War. He took up technical studies and became a carpenter and interior decorator in 1972. From 2009 onwards he became a fully licensed tour leader, specialising in Southern France, but his interest in local

This year’s tour – Leger’s All Quiet On The Western Front - began at the more civilised time of 7.30am, with a smaller party than usual – just myself and Mike Abbott - travelling to Belgium by train. For the first stint to London we enjoyed the first-class breakfast catering facilities of Virgin Trains. After sampling a brew at Kings Cross it was on to St. Pancras to catch the Eurostar to Lille. At Lille all of the Leger tour party who had travelled by Eurostar were transferr

Next month - 21 April to be precise – sees a detachment of the Driffield Historical (Battlefields) Society make their annual trip to the battlefield sites of Europe. This year due to prior commitments, a smaller than usual group of members will be making the journey to Belgium and France on the Leger Battlefield Tour All Quiet On The Western Front. This is a tour that the society has done before, almost a decade ago in 2008, but this time around the travel arrangements will

Another year, and another tour has come and gone, and once again a grand time was had by all in the Belgian and French countryside on Leger’s Tunnellers on the Western Front - The Underground War. Surprisingly good weather and a superb itinerary made this an excellent trip, with the only blot on the landscape being the interminable wait to get through Customs checks on the way home at Calais and Dover. We appreciate that extra checks are necessary thanks to the murderous acti

Well, it’s less than two weeks now until we head back aboard the good old cross-Channel ferries for our latest tour - The Underground War. We've now received the full itinerary, which is as follows: Day Two We begin our tour in Flanders where tunnelling for the British Army began in 1915. At Hill 60, one of the most mined sites near Ypres, we see evidence of the craters and learn the story of the tunnellers, also visiting the mighty Caterpillar Crater. We then travel via the

Unfortunately, due to lack of numbers, our trip to the Somme in April has been cancelled. The good news is that we have been able to switch to another excellent Leger tour departing the same weekend, so this year’s trip will now be: Tunnellers on the Western Front - The Underground War This tour looks at the extensive use of tunnelling and mines throughout Belgium and northern France during the Great War, and includes visits to several sites around Flanders, plus a day on the

A visit to this cemetery won't be found on any Leger Battlefields Tour, but if you are staying in Ypres and have some spare time it is worth making the effort to go and have a walk around. How to find it: Ypres Town Cemetery Extension is located 1 km east of Ypres town centre, on the Zonnebeekseweg (N332), connecting Ypres to Zonnebeke. From Ypres town centre, the Zonnebeekseweg is located via Torhoutstraat and right onto Basculestraat. Basculestraat ends at a main cross road

Our first visit to Ypres - a whistlestop visit for a meal and the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate - took place during the All Quiet on the Western Front tour in October 2008, and it was clear to us straight away that this was a special place. Due to its location at the heart of the British efforts during WWI, Ypres WWI, Ypres – known locally as Ieper – is absolutely steeped in history from that period, and is surrounded on three sides by reminders of the battles that too

Thiepval Memorial, 2008... Overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the Thiepval Memorial, which holds the names of 72,195 British and Commonwealth troops listed as missing after the Battle of the Somme. Along with the Menin Gate in Ypres, Thiepval is probably the most impressive - certainly in terms of size - of the memorials you're likely to encounter on a battlefield tour. Now consider the fact that the Menin Gate holds the names of another 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who lost t