WW1 Battlefield tour 3-6 May 13 Report

**BennytheBall** · 16-05-2013, 20:39

Hi All just a quick report on the excellent Ledger "All Quiet on the Western Front" Tour that me and the wife attended on 3-6 May 13. The tour started Day One, at (dark o'clock) 0400hrs on friday 3rd picking up the coach from Chester down to Dover where we changed over to the tour coach (which happened to be Pat's Coaches of Wrexham) on the ferry to Calias and then to the tour Hotel In Menen at 1930hrs. Quick briefing by our tour guide (Victor Piuk) a couple of beers and a bite to eat then off to bed for an early start next day. After a good continental breakfast it was on the tour coach for 0845hrs for the Flanders tour, visiting Sanctuary Wood museum and cemetary and Hill 62 then onto Tyne Cot cemetary and vistor's centre and Passchendale - Pilkem Ridge (taking in HellFire Corner, which is now a roundabout) and the Canadian Memorial - Langemark German Cemetary - Hooge Crater musuem and cemetary (lunch break) - Messines and the Irish Peace tower and park - Hill 60 and cemetary - Ploegstreet(Plugstreet) Winston Churchill plaque on the town hall,cemetary ( where 2 shot at dawn gravestones are sited) - Polgon Wood cemetary - Ypres for the Last Post at the Menin Gate Memorial ( where I had the great honour of meeting some great fella's from the Biker's for the RBL and especially Mick Fowles RE of BLESMA who recognised the beret and hackle and said he is a great pal of one of our members' Pat Provis, then back to Menen and the hotel. Once again, an early start on day three the Somme tour, 1st stop the Peronne historical Museum - the Crater at La Boiselle (Lochnargar Crater) where a memorial bench has been placed by the Rossett ACF detachment - the Ulster Tower (lunch break) - Delville and High wood asked Vic our guide if we were passing Mametz Wood (38th Welsh Division Memorial) he said yes and would stop for a photo shoot and gave a quick resume of the battle - to Beumont Hamel - Serre Cemetaries - Mathew, Luke, John woods - Theipval Memorial and cemetary, vistors centre. then back to the Hotel at Menen a quick change and powder our noses for a tour party dinner (pay your own) in the local steakhouse. Day Four the long Journey home arriving back in Chester at 2220hrs 6th May 13. To sum up, a very informative and well organised tour lots of "Whistle Stops to cram in as much as you can in 2days Victor our tour guide was a walking WW1 historian and made the tour with his snippets if information keep us inform all the time. Hope fully pics will follow once I work out how to post them on the forum (not that computer literate)