ANZACS on the Western Front

Our first full day will take us to Ypres via the Messines Ridge. After lunch, we will spend time around the Passchendaele battlefields, including Polygon Wood and Tyne Cot Military Cemetery. We’ll also visit the shell-scarred area of Hill 60 and Hooge Crater before returning to Ypres. The final part of the day includes attendance at the daily playing of the Last Post under the Menin Gate at 8pm.

• Meals
  • Breakfast

Leaving Belgium, today we’ll cross into Flanders and spend time at Fromelles, the site of the disastrous attack of 19 July 1916, where we’ll visit Pheasant Wood Cemetery and the new exhibition nearby. Next, we’ll visit the Wellington Quarries, which were fashioned from existing medieval quarries by New Zealand Engineers in 1916 and 1917 as part of the preparations for the Battle of Arras. We’ll remember Australia’s role in this battle at Bullecourt, with a stop at the Digger Memorial.

• Meals
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner

The Somme still captivates the soul – and it’s here that the ANZACs first saw major action in the middle of 1916. Pozières and Mouquet Farm were especially important for the Australians, and Longueval and Flers for the Kiwis. We’ll also remember the colossal loss experienced by Great Britain with a visit to the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. Later, we’ll reminisce on our tour at our farewell dinner.

• Meals
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner

As the home of the National War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is central to Australian commemoration and memory. Here, we’ll visit the Franco-Australian Museum and the Sir John Monash Centre, before shifting our focus to the last year of the war, 1918, with a visit to Le Hamel – the site of the successful 4 July attack. Afterwards, we’ll return to Lille, where our tour will come to a close.

• Meals
  • Breakfast