Hurst Johnian Club Battlefields and Wargraves of Ypres and The Somme

Meet your Tour Manager at Hurstpierpoint College for an early morning transfer to Dover with brief stop en route to collect guests joining at the Ashford International Hotel. Our mid-morning ferry crossing gives time for lunch and duty-free shopping.

On arrival in Calais we drive to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery at Vimy Ridge. Overlooking the Douai Plain, the Vimy memorial commemorates more than 11,000 men of the Canadian Expeditionary Force killed during the First World War and who have no known grave. Next to the national military cemetery Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, the ‘Ring of Remembrance commemorates almost 580,000 men of 40 nationalities, who died in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais during the Great War. The 350-metre long elliptical memorial - comprising 500 three-metre tall panels symbolising unity in the form of a human chain, cantilevers out from the hillside as a reminder of the fragility and precariousness of peace. Uniquely for a war memorial, names are listed in alphabetical order to evoke a sense of ‘posthumous fraternity’ and to stress a loss that goes beyond national boundaries. Our tour continues to Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery where the Arras Memorial commemorates nearly 35,000 soldiers of the British, South African and New Zealand forces with no known grave. After checking-in to the Mercure Arras Centre Gare for a 2-night stay, your evening is at leisure.

Today our tour focuses on the Somme and what was one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War. Thiepval Memorial stands where some of the heaviest fighting took place. Dominating the landscape, it commemorates the men of British and South African forces who died in the Somme sector and have no known grave. At the time of the OJ Tour, The Commonwealth Wargraves Commission will be in the middle of renovating the Memorial, however they are creating a visitor trail which allows easy access to the Vistor Centre and to view the Memorial.  Other visits today include memorials and cemeteries with OJ graves where we can pay our respects to the fallen.

This evening the OJ Club will host a drinks reception with canapes at the hotel.

After checking-out of the hotel we drive to Poperinge. Used by the British Army for the distribution of supplies, billeting troops, casualty clearing stations and for troops at rest from duty in the forward trench positions, the town was the gateway to the battlefields of the northern Ypres Salient. Here we visit Talbot House, which was established by Army chaplains Neville Talbot and Philip ‘Tubby’ Clayton in December 1915. For more than three years this ‘Everyman’s Club’ provided soldiers and officers, regardless of rank, respite away from the turmoil of battle. Mid-afternoon we check in to the Novotel leper Centrum in Ypres for a 2-night stay. Later we visit St Georges Church, where we’ll be joined by Governors, the Headmaster, CCF Colour Party and NCO Cadre, a Piper, the School Chaplain and Prep School Choir for a Commemoration Service and dedication of the memorial plaque. Together the OJ and School party will march to Menin Gate for the Last Post Ceremony, a simple but moving tribute to the courage and self-sacrifice of those who fell in defence of the town. We’ll pay our respects with the laying of wreaths, a piper lament and singing of a hymn. The remainder of the evening is at leisure.

Today’s exploration of the Flanders region includes a visit to the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917. It provides an overview of the five battles of Ypres including the bloody Battle of Passchendaele, which is renowned as one of the most horrific battles from the First World War. During the British offensive almost 600,000 victims fell in 100 days for a mere 8-kilometre territorial gain on the frontline. Extending through the former battle landscape, Tyne Cot Cemetery is today a silent witness to the Battle of Passchendaele. There are almost 12,000 graves and the wall behind the cemetery is inscribed with the names of 35,000 soldiers with no known grave. During our visit we’ll pay our respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. The evening is at leisure.

This morning after checking out of the hotel and concluding our visits in the area we leave Ypres and drive to Calais with a stop en route for lunch and last-minute shopping. In the late afternoon our ferry arrives Dover and we’ll continue our onward journey, via Ashford International Hotel, to Hurstpierpoint College.