Williamsomme Tours

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Williamsomme Tours

Personalised tours of WW1 Battlefields in the Somme and Flanders After a four year sabbatical, tours are up and running again from 2023. Thanks so much."
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Williamsommetours offers all inclusive bespoke tours of the First World War Western Front for groups of up to eight people. The base for the tours is a beautiful 200 year old Picardy farmhouse and barn conversion close to the battlefields of the Somme, where many horrific battles took place. The properties are around two and a half hours from Herne Bay. Several important battlefields and memorials

are visited during the four day tours. Visits can also be made to Agincourt (1415), Crecy (1346) and V1 and V2 rocket launching sites which can be found close by. Tours generally start in Herne Bay or Faversham but pick-ups can also be arranged in Northern France or Belgium. Free research will be carried out for those seeking to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors. Tour Guides
The two Williamsomme tour guides live in Faversham and Herne Bay. Mike Williamson was headteacher at Davington Primary School for 17 years and has a passion for the First World War. Giles Guthrie, until recently, worked as a museum curator and collections manager at Maidstone museum and in his 20 years in this position he also managed the military collection at the Royal West Kent Military Museum. He has worked with Mike since 2013. Their interest is in bringing to life the experiences of individual soldiers and sharing these within the context of the First World War. The all inclusive tariff includes:
All travel, accommodation (including linen and towels), meals (including those in restaurants) ,drinks, snacks, and museum and tunnel entrance fees. Full details about the tours can be found on the website; www.williamsommetours.co.uk

Testimonials
"Spectacular trip! Your hospitality was exceeded only by your in-depth knowledge of the history and ability to find the most remote of the specific gravesites sought! We leave with great regret and a much greater understanding of a terrible time in the world's history. Bob & Marilyn, Ontario, Canada

"Thank you very much for having us to stay and for being so attentive to all our needs and never ending questions! It was a pleasure to see Oliver, my 10 year old son making the connection between the history books and the countryside of Northern France and Flanders. For me, I enjoyed the balance between the sombre and thought provoking tours and the fun and games of the evenings in your stunning house. Thank you for having us and see you again." Philip, Norfolk

13/09/2024

On the opening day of the Battle of Arras, 9 April 1917, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps, fighting side by side for the first time, scored a huge tactical victory in the capture of the 60 metre high Vimy Ridge.

After the war, the highest point of the ridge was chosen as the site of the great memorial to all Canadians who served their country in battle during the First World War, and particularly to the 60,000 who gave their lives in France. It also bears the names of 11,236 Canadian servicemen who died in France - many of them in the fight for Vimy Ridge - who have no known grave.

The memorial was designed by W.S. Allward. It was unveiled by King Edward VIII on 26 July 1936.

13/09/2024

Although we were following in the footsteps of Private John Robert Crane 11th Leicestershire's and Royal Engineers we always find time to visit some of the iconic sites too ..... Vimy Ridge....the site of Canada's resounding victory on day one of the battle of Arras....

13/09/2024

We all miss Yvrench but there is some lovley accomodation in Picardie......this week we stayed at Monchel Sur Canche......not too far from Yvrench.

10/09/2024

Breakfast picked up from Frevant....

07/09/2024

A further two comrades are buried in our neighbouring village of Villers Faucon.....Tom Parkinson was from Colne, Lancashire.....as was my visitors grandfather.

07/09/2024

I'm in Epehy for our legendary annual Fete du Village but while here I've been carrying out a bit of research for a tour next year. A visitor following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who fought with the 1/5th East Lancashire regiment.

I've managed to find the final resting place of 7 of his comrades in our own Epehy Wood Farm cemetery.......these men fought together, died together and are buried together.

05/09/2024

I'm often asked how far apart the front lines were on the western front.....it varied greatly....in some sectors hundreds of yards and in others so close that it wasn't possible to use artillery on the enemies front line as the risk to our men was too high.

This is Hill 60....a few miles outside of Ypres.......I took this image from the 1915 allied front line...my friends Duncan and Carrick are standing on the German 1915 front line.......

04/09/2024

As football fans we also visited the UEFA Christmas Truce Memorial next to Prowse Point cemetery near Ploegsteert........and The Khaki Chums 1914 Christmas Truce Cross a little further down the road .

04/09/2024

My two guests last week were a father and son from Falkirk and both season ticket holders at Falkirk....therefore a visit to McCrae's Battalion Memorial at a Contalmaison was a must.

The battalion was actually the 16th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Scots , raised from volunteers in 1914 the unit was named after its charismatic colonel, former Liberal MP for Edinburgh East, Sir George McCrae.

Largely compossed of professional and amateur sportsmen, "McCrae's" was the first of the so-called 'footballers' Pals battalions to be raised during the war.

16 players from Heart of Midlothian F.C. ("Hearts") enlisted, along with 500 supporters.

04/09/2024

How we start our days......I'm always at the Boulangerie as it opens at 7 to get freshly made croissants, Pain au Chocolat and baguettes...... the bread is often still warm by the time I get back...

03/09/2024

We have been spoiled over the years by being based at Mike and Lorraine's lovley property at Yvrench. Yvrench may have been passed on to new custodians but we still stay in wonderful rural French properties in Picardie........this is where I was staying with the guests last week....

03/09/2024

As well as detailed field visits we always find time to take visitors to the iconic sites on the western front. Such as Beaumont Hamel Newfoundland Memorial and Vimy Ridge memorial, trenches and tunnels. Also

03/09/2024

We enjoy very specific site visits such as this sunken lane at Les Beoufs on the Somme. One of the positions occupied by Robert Ogden before he was in action attacking Hazy and Boritska trenches

03/09/2024

The Glasgow Highlanders were tasked with taking an elevated position known as the Tortoise Redoubt on the banks of the canal. It was intended that by dealing with this threat then the 6th Brigade would have an unmolested left flank during its own attack.

The waiting men of the battalion were however engulfed in our own gas clouds that blew across the canal from the south and before thier attack had even started they had suffered heavy casualties.

Despite having less than a couple of dozen men fit to attack, the Highlanders went over the top to do their best. It was a pointless exercise, and when only one survivor returned the attack was called off.

Robert Ogden was among the lucky few who escaped unscathed.....

British infantry advancing through the gas cloud on 25 September 1915.

03/09/2024

The subject of our tour, Robert Ogden, although a Glaswegian fighting with the Glasgow
Highlander he didn't fight with the 9th or the 15th Scottish Divisons but with the 2nd Divison at the very northern flank of the attack at the La Basse Canal.

The canal photographed in January 1918

03/09/2024

The Battle of Loos began on 25th September and ended on 19th October 1915.

The Battles of the Somme or Paschendaele are
often used to highlight the dreadful losses
during our offensives, but this less well known battle ended with 60,000 killed, wounded and missing.

This is often considered a very Scottish battle as the 9th and the 15th Scottish divisions both played significant rolls here and, indeed, over 7000 of those killed were Scots.

03/09/2024

I always intend to post during tours but I'm so busy talking I invariably don't have the time...
So here are some post for our tour last week following in the footsteps of Robert Ogden 9 Highland Light Infantry.

Dud Corner Cemetery and memorial Loos where the names of 20636 missing are carved in stone around the walls. 1785 men are also buried here although only 687 are identified.

11/06/2024

The very moving bronze statues of mourning soldiers in the cemetery were created by Munich sculptor Emil Krieger……He took his inspiration from a photograph of soldiers from Reserve Infantry Regiment 238 standing at the grave of a fallen comrade in 1918.

11/06/2024

The German cemeteries have a very different feel to other cemeteries and Langemark is no exception.

One of four cemeteries in the Flanders’s region it is the final resting place for more than 44,000 German soldiers and two British soldiers.

11/06/2024

Gauche Wood Cemetery near Villers-Guislain and not far from my village of Epehy….hardly ever visited as it is quite out of the way.

Although the 48 burials are all from September 1918 the site itself saw fierce fighting in late 1917 and the spring of 1918.

The fields beyond the cemetery are where Lance Dafadar Gobind Singh won a very well deserved VC on Dec 1st 1917

20/05/2024

I took some time yesterday to have a little tour on my own…..visiting places that I haven’t seen for a while

The Welsh National Memorial Park near Langemark is a must for anyone with connections with Wales.
It is built where the 38th Welsh Division fought on 31st July 1917……Also it is close to where Welsh Poet Hedd Wynn (Ellis Humphrey Evans ) was killed in action serving with The Royal Welch Fusiliers on July 31st 1917

20/05/2024

One for you Nick Hammond……I saw this at St George’s Church this morning and I know this will mean a lot to you.

20/05/2024

Over to Belgium in advance of my group from Ireland…..stayed the night in Ypres and will meet them at Ypres train station at 12.45

16/05/2024

Possibly my favourite memorial on The Western Front. The Brooding Soldier at St Juliaan, Langemark near Ypres…. The memorial commemorates the Canadian First Division's participation in the Second Battle of Ypres, which included fighting in the face of the first poison gas attacks along the Western Front.

At the end of the war, The Imperial War Graves Commission granted Canada eight sites – five in France and three in Belgium – on which to erect memorials. Each site represented a significant Canadian engagement in the war and for this reason it was originally decided that each battlefield would be treated equally and graced with identical monuments.

The Canadian Battlefields Memorials Commission was formed in November 1920 and decided a competition would be held to select the design of the memorial that would be used at the eight European sites.

In October 1922, the submission of Toronto sculptor and designer Walter Seymour Allward was selected as the winner of the competition, and the submission of Frederick Chapman Clemesha placed second.

The commission decided Allward's monumental design would be used at Vimy Ridge in France as it was the most dramatic location. Originally, Clemesha's 'Brooding Soldier' design was selected for the remaining sites but was later, for a number of reasons, erected only at Saint Julien in Belgium

16/05/2024

Day Three…..Loos, Neuve Chapelle, Auber Ridge, Fromelles, Ploegsteert, Messines Ridge, Paschendaele, Tyne Cott, St Julian and The Menin Gate………

15/05/2024

I forgot to post this from yesterday….. The 58th London Division memorial at Chipilly…….very moving.

15/05/2024

Day three ahead…….another busy one……but as with all days on tour my day starts with a trip to the bakery in St Riquier…..

15/05/2024

The late afternoon was spent in the Villers Bretonneux area visiting Dive Copse cemetery so that John, on his 11th tour with us, could visit his great uncle Ben who died of wounds on the 2nd July 1916

15/05/2024

….then on to the Sunken Road, Beaumont Hamel memorial and the Newfoundlanders, Ulster Tower, Thiepval, and Lochnagar crater

15/05/2024

A very, very wet day on the Somme…..but that didn’t stop us visiting Wavans, Doullens, Louvencourt and Serre.

Address

140 GRAND Drive
Herne Bay

Website

http://www.williamsommetours.co.uk/

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