Escorted motorcycle touring holidays where you are accompanied by one of our experienced Tour Managers

Escorted Motorcycle Touring Holidays

Battlefield Tour

Tour E07 - France
21st August 2010 - 24th August 2010

Battlefield Tour

We are very privileged to be able to offer this short weekend break to stay in Cambrai, scene of ferocious fighting and the very first tank battle of World War One.

When we visit the Town Square it is difficult to imagine that most of the town centre of Cambrai was levelled during the fighting to secure this town that once held a position of great strategic importance. The proprietor of our Hotel (known locally as Phil the Tank) spent many years of research before finding the precise location of an authentic WW1 tank which he then proceeded to excavate and return to its former glory. Talk to Phil about his renovation experiences - it really is a quite remarkable tale!

We have secured the services of an English motorcycle tour guide who will accompany us on one of our Battlefield rides out. A leading expert on the Battlefield area he really brings to life the experiences of trench warfare in the First World War. He has been a Curator with the Royal Armouries and is also the author of eleven books including one on the Battle of the Somme, has lectured extensively worldwide and has been a consultant on several TV programmes. You couldn’t get a better guide! Our first visit of the day will be to Thiepval Memorial to the Missing as the relatively new visitor centre gives an excellent overview of the Somme battlefields. Time permitting we will visit the Sheffield Memorial Park, Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont Hamel, The Sunken Lane and one of only five German Cemeteries on the Somme at Fricourt.

Our informative tour around the Somme will take us to Vimy Ridge, the scene of intense trench warfare where both sides were dug in no more than a few hundred yards apart. We will take you into the underground tunnels where you will get a true flavour of the conflict which went on for years with only minimal gains of terrain on each side. We visit the Notre Dame Cathedral at Vimy used for target practice by gunners trying to range find over the battlefields. We will ride to Albert to witness a sobering recreation of life in the trenches located in a former air raid shelter underneath the Town Hall. We shall also take a ride on the P'tit Train - a railway line used to feed munitions to the Front.

As a resident of this country you are assured of a warm welcome from French people who, to this day, actually do appreciate the sacrifices made by a former generation of Allied forces who gave their lives to secure the Liberte, Egalite and Fraternite of the modern-day French Republic.

You owe it to your grandad or great-grandad to come on this tour...

Lest we forget.

A starter tour for novice riders or those interested in World War One history. No high mileages.