Leger Holidays currently have a fantastic offer on their Fromelles – The Forgotten Battlefield tour which has been reduced to just £235pp - a huge saving of £50pp off our brochure price.

Hurry though, the departure date of 24th June 2011 is almost upon us and with just a couple seats left, you will need to be quick!

This tour is solely dedicated to Fromelles Battlefield. You will visit the battlefield park as well as memorials, museum and the new cemetery.

4-days departing 24th June 2011
Brochure price: £285pp. NOW: £235pp!

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As with the region close to Ypres, there are many cemeteries, time and again down very small, muddy roads. My 1st intended destination was the Hawthorn Crater. This is one of the mines that was detonated underneath the German front line at the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The explosion was recorded on film and is routinely shown in documentaries about the Battle of the Somme. After driving around the area for a while, I came across the Newfoundland Park Memorial & Visitors Centre and pulled over to have a look.

It was a part of the British and Canadian Lines on 1st July 1916 when the Battle of the Somme commenced. Some of the trenches are very well preserved and from the Caribou Monument, you can get the perfect understanding of the terrain and the course of attack. It is also frighteningly obvious how far the troops were expected to advance over open space facing of cannon and machine guns.

At Newfoundland Park, I was given directions which helped me to find the Hawthorn Crater and so it transpired I’d driven right past it. It wasn’t long until I arrived back and found the access point via a fairly muddy field. To start with I was hesitant but decided it’s a part of the experience. I got to the side of the crater but it was very over grown so I didn’t venture too far and I was quickly on my way to my next port of call, Ulster Tower. This is a memorial to the Ulster Regiments who performed so well on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Nearby is the Thiepval Memorial which is the biggest British War Memorial on the planet. Each 1st July, a significant ceremony is held here in memory of the dead. The tower can be seen from quite some distance and addititionally there is a motivating visitors centre with information about the battles fought here.

Not far away is the South African Memorial at Delville Wood. The memorial was dedicated to all South African battles, not only those in The First World War. As with all the memorials, Delville Wood is sacred ground but I found this place in particular to be very peaceful and appropriate. I’m not really sure what made Delville Wood stand out for me but for me, there was just something a lttle bit special about this spot.

My final stop of the day was a short one at the site to the east of Amiens where the Red Baron was shot down. There isn’t actually much to see except for a little notice board by the side of the road. The site is situated by a local factory with a prominent chimney. The story of the Red Baron is one of the 1st I heard about concerning The Great War so whilst there wasn’t very much to see, it was something that I wanted to do. The Red Baron was a German air ace called Baron Manfred von Richthofen. From 1916 – 1918, he shot down a total of 80 Allied aircraft and was eventually shot down but ground fire from an Australian unit on 21 April 1918.

The conflict that took place between our planet’s two super powers, the USSR and the United States was viewed as the lengthiest non-conflict engagement war of all time. It was known as the Cold War. The 2 sides had various allies; with the NATO lead United States Of America taking care of Western Europe and the Warsaw Pact driven by the Soviet Union controlling the Eastern side of Europe.

The undoing of the USSR in 1991 finished this conflict that began immediately following World War II ended in 1945. During this period there was virtually no genuine military engagement from both sides hence the usage of the word ‘cold’. However all through the Vietnam and Korean Wars, even though the Cold War existed, some shots were fired; albeit indirectly.

The minute Japan and Nazi armies were conquered in the second world war, and this left the 2 dominant powers, the USA and the USSR were left in opposition. Both had different kinds of economies along with the forms of government. The USSR operated a Communist government while the United States ran a capitalist one and as a result of conflict of interest, this descended into direct rivalry.

Let alone unite; both ideologies never saw face to face. The Cold War worsened even more as the Communist values being spread were responses to the Capitalists’ policies. With the fall of the Third Reich, the Soviet Union held a free reign within Europe with its Allies dealing with the many areas that bordered the Soviet Union to the West.

The Iron Curtain came in to existence when Europe was split. Soviet ideals and invasion together with actual growth further prompted anxiety and insecurity in the West. After the implementation of the Truman Doctrine, the West offered military aid and financial help to any countries that opposed Communism. During the early 60′s Europe was dramatically divided into 2 blocks. This made it a possible battlefield for looming World War III and nuclear warfare. Gradually the Cold War had spread out all over the earth with little countries being sucked in, making an even greater split on earth.

ANZAC soldiers who died while battling in the world’s fiercest wars were buried at Gallipoli. There are tours of the area that will give you an insight at the efforts in the commemoration and preservation of these fallen heroes that make both Aussies and New Zealanders proud.

Beginning 25th April 1915 to 9th January 1916, during World War One, the Gallipoli campaign took place in the Turkish Peninsula of Gallipoli. So they can secure a route by sea to Russia and capture the Ottoman capital, the British joined forces with the French. The operation failed miserably with each side taking heavy deaths and injuries.

This campaign resulted in the first major battle ever undertaken by a combined force of Australians and New Zealand Army Corps better known as ANZAC. The two countries look at this campaign as the birth of national consciousness. The Anzac Commemorative Site is considered the most significant destination and tour sites.

On the morning of 25th April 1915, the 1st Australian Division troops arrived at Anzac Cove on the shoreline situated on the North Beach. It was here where Albert Jacka became the very first Australian to be granted the Victoria Cross. Jacka defended an assault on the part of trench he was holding from several Turkish solders. Having a graphic representation showing you the campaign account, this memorial site holds a commemorative focus. A thought provoking annual dawn service is held here every year on the anniversary. All too often in the cold pre-dawn, 1000′s of pilgrims assemble here to remember the legacy left behind by the fallen World War One heroes.

An additional significant location is the Chunuk Bair Cemetery found on the ridge running on the north eastern side of the Brighton Beach. Among the main objectives of the Chunuk Bair is the Sari Bair Battle of August 6th to 10th, 1915. The New Zealand Infantry Brigade were involved in this attack but the Turkish Army Corps ultimately overran them.

Commonwealth troops who died in battle were buried at the Chunuk Bair Cemetery by the Turks. A total of 632 Commonwealth soldiers are laid to rest here along with around 850 New Zealand soldiers who died on the peninsula. The man behind the Gallipoli campaign was none other than Winston Churchill. The overall Allied losses were over 200,000 and paradoxically, the most successful aspect of the campaign was the withdrawal.

The Battle of Fromelles during The First World War started on 19th July 1916 and ended the following day. The assault started near to the village of Fromelles in Northern France and was meant to remove the emphasis off of the fight which was taking place 50 miles to the south at the Battle of the Somme which had started on 1st July 1916.

History has implied that this particular battle was quite unnecessary as it cost countless soldiers their lives for little reason. British and Australian troops alike were ordered to storm the frontlines throughout World War I. This battle, which lasted only moments is said to have claimed the lives of no less than five thousand Australians and fifteen hundred British troopers.

It would take ninety four years before these troops were laid to rest in a cemetery, as they were initially buried in a mass grave but now lay to rest quietly at the Pheasant Wood Cemetery which is dedicated to their extraordinary sacrifices. Fromelles was a combined operation between the British and those who were in Australian military troops also called the Australian Imperial Force.

It is thought to have been a failure as the attack itself was unsuccessful in its attempts to create a diversion for the enemy. Amongst the causes historians imply it was a disaster was the fact that the troops were ordered to advance in the light of day, making them a target for the enemy as they were in plain view from the minute they went over the top.

Currently you will see in the Fromelles Australian Memorial Park a statue that honours the various courageous soldiers that were seen carrying out the wounded. One of those troopers Sergeant Simon Fraser from the 57 Battalion tells the story of how he began carrying one of the injured and heard a faint voice asking for aid who he did help pull to safety. Sergeant Fraser would later lose his life the following year as he fought in the Great War.

The white feather has totally different symbolic meanings in the American Military compared to the British Army and armies linked to the former British Empire. In the American military, a white feather is a sign of excellence in combat marksmenship. However, in The UK, the meaning could hardly be more different.

As early as the late 18th century, the white feather has been the sign of cowardice. Its origins come from the world of cockfighting as birds with any white tail feathers were viewed as poor fighters. The superior gamecocks were bred without having white tail feathers.

It became very common for ladies in particular to hand white feathers to men of fighting age they spotted in the street. A large number of men were so ashamed by being given a white feather in public, they would find a nearby recruiting office and join the military. Quite a few were destined only to stop an enemy round.

The act of presenting white feathers was so common that a number of the men who had been given them should never have received them. Some men who were home on leave and strolling the streets in civilian clothes were handed feathers. Various other undeserving recipients included men who were dismissed because of injury, were home recovering from injury or those that were clinically not fit to enlist.

The majority of the women who gave white feathers were part of a movement referred to as “Order of the White Feather” that had been started in 1914 to encourage women to give feathers to men who hadn’t signed up with the military. Nevertheless, there were people who thought that the ladies were occasionally somewhat to eager to give out feathers to men that shouldn’t have been given them.

However, one pacifist who refused to fight, was satisfied with the fact he was presented with so many feathers. Fenner Brockway was reported to have said that as a result of refusing to fight in The First World War, he had received ample white feathers to make a fan.

Throughout The Great War, the death over the fields of Flanders was on an horrendous scale with numerous bodies never identified or retrieved. On 11th November 1920, simultaneously ceremonies took place in both London and Paris to unveil tombs of unknown soldiers.

The tomb of the unknown soldier came to symbolize the loss endured by the families of soldiers who fell and whose bodies were never identified or brought back. The unknown French soldier lies in the Arc de Triomphe in Paris while the unknown British soldier lies entombed in Westminster Abbey amongst kings and statesmen.

The idea was first contemplated by a clergyman called Reverend David Railton. In 1916 in France, he had seen a cross with the words “An Unknown British Soldier” written on it. Four years later in 1920, Railton contacted the Dean of Westminster saying it would be appropriate to have a nationally recognised grave for an unidentified soldier.

Four British servicemen were exhumed from Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres and taken to a chapel at St Pol, near Arras. Every body was draped in a Union flag and one was picked out by Brigadier General L J Wyatt. Wyatt had no idea from where the bodies were removed from or their rank. The idea was that the unknown soldier could possibly have been anyone from a Private right up to a Colonel, a colonial labourer to the child of an Earl.

The soldiers coffin was transported to London and was delivered to Westminster Abbey in a horse drawn gun carriage. The cortege was accompanied by King George V and individuals from the Royal family. At Westminster Abbey, it was flanked by a guard of 100 winners of the Victoria Cross.

The casket was positioned and covered with soil taken from the battlefields of World War I. It was capped with a slab of black marble from Belgium and it is the only tombstone in Westminster Abbey which it is unacceptable to step on.

Ever since then, plenty of other nations have dedicated similar tombs including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Russia, Ukraine and the United States.

In the early part of 2011, we’re planning an exciting visit to the Western Front in Belgium and France.

Unlike previous trips, this will be a flying visit…literally. The plan is to take a light aircraft over from southern England to various points along the Western Front and photograph them.

The aim is to record as many photos as possible in a couple of days flying. Normally, a short trip like this to places such as Ypres or the Somme would mean only a few places could be visited by road. However, by air, it is a different story. Obviously, we can’t land at every site but we will be able to cover a much wider area.

This is where we need your help. We’re currently in the planning stage and looking for suggestions of places to photograph from the air. These could be memorials like Vimy Ridge, cemeteries such as Etaples or battle scars such as the Lochnagar Crater. We’re not necessarily looking for the more famous landmarks, as long as your suggestion will make a good photo from the air, we’ll consider it.

We’re looking forward to hear your ideas.

Brandhoek Cemetery is where Captain Noel Chavasse was laid to rest. Captain Chavasse is one of just three men to have been accorded Britain’s top award for bravery, the Victoria Cross. Furthermore, he has also been accorded the Military Cross. I am at present reading a book titled “In Foreign Fields” by Dan Collins and it is written about soldiers who’ve been accorded medals in Afghanistan and Iraq. When you understand exactly what a soldier needed to undertake in order to be granted an MC, it forces you to understand what a brave man Captain Chavasse was especially when he was a member of the Royal Medical Corps and never fired a shot for the duration of the war.

My next stop was near to the village of Passchendaele at the largest sized British Military Cemetery at Tynecot. Over 12,000 soldiers are buried here. From the cemetery, you can easily look out for several miles in all directions over fields and it seems tough to imagine the carnage which had been there 90 years ago. The visitors centre provides a historical past of the region as the names of a few of the fallen and missing are sent out calmly over audio speakers.

From Tynecot, I began to head back in direction of Ypres stopping at Hill 61 (Sanctuary Wood) on the way back. There is a little museum and some preserved trenches here. All through my trip, the weather was not kind and even if it was nothing like as lousy as conditions might have been throughout The Great War, the bottom of the trenches still looked quite awful. It cost a couple of Euros to get in and this was the first time I began to find out the impact of the notorious mud.

My next planned stop was the Hooge Crater. As previously in the day, I had a hard time trying to locate it although I saw a little independent museum called the Hooge Crater Museum which in fact had a compelling variety of artefacts such as a British Ambulance and a Victoria Cross.

My sightseeing for the day wasn’t complete as I still had to take a look at the renowned Cloth Hall which was almost ruined (since totally reconstructed) as well as the Last Post ceremony and that is carried out at 8pm each evening at the Menin Gate. I always find the Last Post incredibly haunting and moving to listen to. Soon after it was finished, 2 wreaths were laid by young British troops and was followed by a recital from Laurence Binyon’s “For The Fallen”

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

This years motion picture ‘Beneath Hill 60′ conveys the real account of a team of troopers with the 1st Australian Tunnellers led by Captain Oliver Woodward CMG MC and two bars. In the dvd, Woodward is portrayed by Brendan Cowell. He had been a miner and metallurgist from New South Wales and had not joined up like numerous other adult men in the area had done. He was deemed to be necessary to stay home to support the war effort and consequently, he had been sent several white feathers. It had been frequent at the time for folks to give white feathers to people whom they believed to be cowards.

Hill 60 is located in the southern area of the Ypres Salient and it wasn’t a natural feature. The hill was made with soil dug away to make a nearby railway cutting. Quite a few significant actions happened at Hill 60 in both World War I and World War II. During one night in 1915, 4 Victoria Crosses were granted as a German attack was successfully fought off.

The dvd highlights the events at the start of the Battle of Messines in 1917. 19 mines with almost 500,000 kgs of explosives were fired before the start of the assault. The storyline revolves around the exploits of Woodward and his men showing precisely what the tunneller companies were required to experience, a part of war that receives minimal coverage.

Woodward is put in command of a company and leads by example for the duration of the build up for the assault around Ypres. The action begins in the small hours of the morning when Woodward sets off the mine his soldiers have spent the previous weeks putting in place and defending.

Right after the war, Woodward goes back to Australia to wed his young sweetheart who had begged him not to join the army.

‘Beneath Hill 60′ is the ideal film which conveys the story of one of the most scary tasks of the Western Front. The tunnellers on both sides had to work in awful conditions understanding the enemy may perhaps be simply metres away preparing to either blow up their tunnel or break in and begin firing.