johnreynolds Posted 6 July , 2009 Share Posted 6 July , 2009 My wife and I are going to be in Arras for two nights next week visiting the grave of her great uncle. Whilst there, we'd like to undertake a full day guided tour of the Arras battlefields. Does anyone know of a good company that organises such tours, either bookable on the day or in advance? We already have accommodation and travel from UK sorted so we're just looking for the one day tour. Most I've found so far are three, four or five day packages from UK. Grateful for any help or advice. Thanks in anticipation, John and Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedog Posted 6 July , 2009 Share Posted 6 July , 2009 My wife and I are going to be in Arras for two nights next week visiting the grave of her great uncle. Whilst there, we'd like to undertake a full day guided tour of the Arras battlefields. Does anyone know of a good company that organises such tours, either bookable on the day or in advance? We already have accommodation and travel from UK sorted so we're just looking for the one day tour. Most I've found so far are three, four or five day packages from UK. Grateful for any help or advice. Thanks in anticipation, John and Barbara John and Barbara Contact Western Front Tours which is run by Forum member Peter Norton and is based in Arras. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockney tone Posted 7 July , 2009 Share Posted 7 July , 2009 John, Welcome to the Forum, I tried to PM you with details of a local guide, however my understanding is that until you have 'posted' 10 times on the Forum that facility is not available to you! I will resend when you reach 10 then! (or go on my peofile and see if you can send me a message with your e-mail address on!) Regards, Scottie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnreynolds Posted 7 July , 2009 Author Share Posted 7 July , 2009 John, Welcome to the Forum, I tried to PM you with details of a local guide, however my understanding is that until you have 'posted' 10 times on the Forum that facility is not available to you! I will resend when you reach 10 then! (or go on my peofile and see if you can send me a message with your e-mail address on!) Regards, Scottie. Thanks both. Peter --- can't find any details for Western Front Tours on the web. You don't have contact details do you? Scottie --- Like you, I'm struggling to get a message through too. Any info you could post up here? Cheers, John and Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockney tone Posted 7 July , 2009 Share Posted 7 July , 2009 John, I not sure but I think that it may infringe the Forum Rules for me to name the Gent in the open Forum! You are on three posts already so can I suggest that you perhaps introduce yourself on the Forum in the relevant area and that will provoke some welcome messages you can reply to and very quickly we will have you up to 10 posts! Regards and best wishes, Scottie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter and Ellen Posted 7 July , 2009 Share Posted 7 July , 2009 Thanks both. Peter --- can't find any details for Western Front Tours on the web. You don't have contact details do you? Scottie --- Like you, I'm struggling to get a message through too. Any info you could post up here? Cheers, John and Barbara Hi John and Barbara, Try www.westernfronttours.com.au Regards, Peter (not bluedog - I'm another Peter) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-ted Posted 8 July , 2009 Share Posted 8 July , 2009 John & Barbara. I know of a few good local guides if you e-mail me I will send you contact details. seahamww1@hotmail.com Regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnreynolds Posted 12 July , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 July , 2009 Thanks once again to one and all for help and advice on this one. Looks like there's a very supportive community here on line. However, our travel plans have now changed because we discovered three nights ago that we've been tracking the wrong casualty. It seems that the young lad who died near Arras shared the same surname and initial as my wife's great uncle and came from the same area. We actually think they may have been cousins which adds a little further poignancy. Our relative actually died on August 5, 1917 and is buried in Mendingham cemetry, near Ypres. We've checked the war diary for the 8th battalion Border Regiment, with whom he was serving at the time, and our best guess is that he died in the Bellewarde region. So we're heading for Ypres instead of Arras later this week but same question still applies. Anyone know of any good local tours, bookable on the day, that would enable us to see the Bellewarde area? Thanks again, John and Barbara P.S. Tips on decent restaurants in Ypress would also be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 12 July , 2009 Share Posted 12 July , 2009 If you want an Ypres related tour I would recommend Iain McHenry, who is also a forum member. See: http://www.trenchmaptours.com/ He is away on a tour outside of Europe at present so give him a few days to respond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 12 July , 2009 Share Posted 12 July , 2009 If he is buried at Mendinghem, he died at the Casualty Clearing Station there. Wounded some time before. For Ypres, contact Jacques and Genevra at http://ypres-fbt.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 12 July , 2009 Share Posted 12 July , 2009 Would also agree that Jacques and Gen are also worth considering. Both excellent guides, and really nice people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnreynolds Posted 12 July , 2009 Author Share Posted 12 July , 2009 If he is buried at Mendinghem, he died at the Casualty Clearing Station there. Wounded some time before. For Ypres, contact Jacques and Genevra at http://ypres-fbt.com/ Chris ..... that's really interesting -- thanks. We did wonder if Bellewarde was the area where he was wounded because it does seem quite a distance from Mendinghem. We've no idea when he was injured. All we know is that he served with the 8th battalion Border Regiment and died of wounds on August 5th. We've tried tracking the battalion's progress through summer 1917 but we can't find any evidence of them in action around Proven/Mendinghem. Is that unusal? Would casualties normally have been taken to clearing stations very close to where they were injured or could they have been transported many miles for treatment? Thanks to all for tips on the tours by the way. John and Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislock Posted 12 July , 2009 Share Posted 12 July , 2009 I also recommend Iain McHenry of Trench map tours. If you are also thinking of Arras and the Somme, again Iain is my recommendation. If he is unavailable, I can only recommend Rod Bedford. He lives on the Somme and is well placed for your needs. If you pm me, I will give you his contact details. Best of luck. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianjohnson1@blueyonder Posted 12 July , 2009 Share Posted 12 July , 2009 You could try Somme-normandy tours. http://www.somme-normandy-tours.com Can recommend these myself. Ian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 13 July , 2009 Share Posted 13 July , 2009 It is likely that your soldier was wounded only a day or two before he died. I would look at the diary to see where they were in their tour of front line duty before 5 August - say between 31 July and 4 August. You will not find them in action at Proven as it was several miles behind the front line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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