|
ANZAC Nation: Dawn Service at Villers-Bretonneux & Western Front Battlefields
5 days/4 nights
Pay respects to the fallen on the Western Front, their sacrifice brought to life for you by your specialist battlefield guide. Experience Hill 60, Fromelles and Pheasant Wood, Villers-Bretonneux and the Franco-Australian Museum at the Victoria School, the Australia National Memorial, Tyne Cot Cemetery, Cobber Memorial, St Quentin Tunnels, Pozieres...
Our tour will trace the paths of the Commonwealth troops, focusing on the brave contributions of the Australian and New Zealand divisions. Do you have a loved one who was lost here? Advise us and we will incorporate sites of your personal interest, seeking out specific battle and/or grave sites as time and distance will permit.
Certainly the poignant highlight of our tour will be paying tribute to the selfless soldiers at the Villers-Bretonneux Dawn Service on ANZAC day, 25 April, 2012. Surely to be a very moving experience that will invigorate national pride and live with you for years to come.
Tour Date: 23 – 27 April, 2012
Tour Cost: $1899 USD per person, $500 single supplement
What your tour price includes: Services of a specialist battlefield guide for 5 touring days, accommodation for 4 nights in 3 star properties while on the tour including breakfast daily and most dinners, as listed. Your price also includes all entrance fees to attractions while with your guide, mini-coach transportation, exclusive services of your driver/guide-companion throughout, all taxes, tolls and tips other than those you may wish to give your guide.
Airport transfers, rail arrangements and accommodation pre/post tour are not included but can be added to your package as you wish. Ask us for details.
Why Not ‘Link It?’ ANZAC Nation links with another special event tour, 8-day Holland Floriade. The Floriade is a special cultural and gardening event that happens just once every 10 years. Enjoy a sample of Belgium and Holland’s gardens including a full day at The Floriade, Keukenhof Garden & Holland’s famed bulb fields!
We also offer a range of scheduled battlefield tours throughout the year including a shorter 3-day ANZAC Dawn Service Weekend Tour if you prefer.
Start planning now! Special Tours In Remembrance: WWI Centenary 2014 - 2018.
This tour begins and ends in Lille, France.
TENTATIVE ITINERARY
Day 1 Monday, 23 April, 2012
From our meeting point in Lille, we will make our way to The Somme. On the 1st July 1916, the British Army suffered its greatest losses, with nearly 60,000 soldiers becoming casualties. We will follow the Brinds Road walk across Pozieres battlefield including the Gibraltar and Windmill sites, Thiepal Memorial to the Missing, Monquet Farm, Ulster Tower, Lochnager Crater, Beaumont Hamel trenches and Longueval, honouring the New Zealand efforts during the autumn battles for Flers.
NIGHT STOP: Peronne/Amiens area, The Somme
Day 2 Tuesday, 24 April, 2012
Another day spent exploring the sites of The Somme. We will incorporate sites of a personal interest to the individual guests on board, seeking out and paying respects to fallen loved ones. Our other touring options today and tomorrow afternoon include the excellent Historical Museum in Peronne, tracking the history of the 1st World War and the Australian Second Division Memorial at Mont St Quentin, following the Hindenburg Line with a guided walk and the villages of Bullecourt and Hendecourt plus the St Quentin tunnels.
NIGHT STOP: The Somme, as above
Day 3 Wednesday, 25 April, 2012
An early call this morning to attend the Anzac Day Dawn Service at The Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. Certainly this will be a day not soon forgotten. The Memorial itself is a tribute to those who lost their lives in France during the war and know no grave.
Our time here will include the Franco-Australian Museum at the Victoria School that was rebuilt after WWI with donations from Victorian school children by means of a penny collection. The words “Never Forget Australia” are sure to be etched on your heart.
Later, we have another opportunity to explore places of a personal interest to individual guests aboard. The rest of our day will be determined by the individuals on board in consultation with your guide.
NIGHT STOP: The Somme, as above
Day 4 Thursday, 26 April, 2012
Firstly to Arras, exploring the Wellington Tunnels, which is a virtual city beneath the city. This impressive complex, built in large part by New Zealand troops, is an insight into the life of these soldiers, who were bombarded by German artillery from above while they mined underground.
Travel onto Fromelles, the battle of Fromelles 19th – 20th July 1916 was the AIF’s first action on the Western Front. The 5th Division, which arrived from Egypt, suffered 5,500 casualties in 27 hours. See Pheasant Wood, where 250 Australian soldiers have recently been laid to rest and the Cobber Memorial, which depicts the story of Sergeant Simon Fraser of 57th Battalion who risked his life to answer a cry from one of the wounded “don’t forget me cobber!” We’ll visit Polygon Wood and via “Plug Street” to Messines Ridge, where the New Zealand and Australian troops played a crucial role in taking the ridge.
This afternoon, we travel to Ypres and attend the sunset Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate.
NIGHT STOP: Ypres
Day 5 Friday, 27 April, 2012
Today’s excursion of Flanders Battlefields focuses on the Ypres Salient region, sites will include Tyne Cot Cemetery, Passchendale and the Hooge Crater Museum, a privately owned museum of WW1 memorabilia and artifacts that are still being found in the surrounding fields. We will walk the crater ridden Hill 60 and the Menin Road, the scenes of battles in 1917 which cost some 38,000 Australian casualties.
Our tour will finish in Lille this evening. You can extend your stay in Lille or make your way to Brussels, Paris or London via rail.
Why Not Connect to another Special Event tour? Our Holland Floriade tour, a garden and cultural event that happens just once every ten years, starts tomorrow, Saturday 28 April in Brussels. The Floriade tour features general highlights and gardens of Belgium and Holland.
We also offer a range of scheduled battlefield tours throughout the year including a shorter 3-day ANZAC Dawn Service Weekend Tour if you prefer.
Please Note: All attraction opening times are correct at time of printing this website. While we do our utmost to include all properties, we reserve the right to change an attraction should it become impossible to visit due to change in opening times, days.
|
