Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Le Quesnoy Western Front 100th Commemorative Tour 2018, Travel Company, .
Some more great shots from our customer Jude Dobson's time on - Le Quesnoy's 100th Commemorative tour.
Battlefield tour guide Carl stopped in Mons to show the meaning of the flags on either side of the road. This is the very spot where the first (1914) and last (1918) shots of the First World War were taken.
In association with The Innovative Travel Company, the Battlefield tour specialists House of Travel Stephen Parsons in Palmerston North have another battlefield tour due in to commemorate the Liberation of Le Quesnoy in November 1918, with on tour military historian Damian Fenton.
It was a pleasure meeting up with Jude Dobson, who will be a tour participant on the Liberation of Le Quesnoy, Western Front 100th Commemoration tour 2018.
Commemorating an historic liberation
1918, 4 November, Northern France - just a week before the end of the First World War, the New Zealand Division capture the French town of Le Quesnoy in dramatic fashion. Scaling ladders set against the ancient walls of the town, the New Zealand soldiers take the remaining Germans prisoner. It was the New Zealanders' last major action in the war. To this day, the town of Le Quesnoy continues to mark the important role that New Zealand played in its history. Streets are named after New Zealand places, there is a New Zealand memorial and a primary school bears the name of a New Zealand soldier.
The centenary of this liberation is only a few weeks away, and VOICES New Zealand is honoured to be able to contribute to the activities on the day. There will be a lot of important people in town; politicians and diplomats from France, New Zealand and Germany, relatives of the soldiers and the descendants, and of course of the people of Le Quesnoy.
VOICES will bring its own special gift along, a music piece especially commissioned for this occasion, ‘The Unusual Silence’. Composed by Auckland-based artist Victoria Kelly, the work was premiered in September last year at the Auckland Museum, and made such a deep impact on us - one that has not left us since.
Taking this work to the people of Le Quesnoy and to perform it in their beautiful, little church - Église Notre-Dame de l'Assomption - will be an emotional occasion for all involved.
We will document our journey for you through our page with photos and small videos, and hope that you might share these special moments with others too.
On 4 November, against faltering opposition, the British First, Third and Fourth armies launched a major offensive (later designated the Battle of the Sambre). It would prove to be the final attack of the war. On the opening day, the New Zealand Division captured 2000 prisoners and 60 field guns and advanced to the edge of the Mormal Forest. Le Quesnoy fell the same day after soldiers from the 4th Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, scaled the walls with a ladder.
The old fortress town of Le Quesnoy had been in German hands since 1914, and several thousand German troops were still inside it when the New Zealanders attacked. Heavy artillery could have rapidly demolished the walls of Le Quesnoy, but at heavy cost to the inhabitants. No such attack was contemplated – the plan was for the 3rd New Zealand (Rifle) Brigade to bypass the town and isolate the enemy forces there.
Although their orders did not provide for an immediate assault on the town, the New Zealand riflemen were determined to capture it. A little competition between the 2nd and 4th Battalions developed after the encirclement was complete; the former advanced on the town in the direction of the Valenciennes Gate, while the latter pressed forward through the outer defences from the west. The German defenders were demoralised, but their officers were not prepared to surrender without a fight.
This set the stage for one of the New Zealand Division’s most spectacular exploits of the war. When a section of the 4th Battalion reached the inner walls about midday on 4 November, they had already scaled the complex network of outer ramparts with ladders supplied by the field engineers. But because of the height of the inner wall, the riflemen could only position a ladder on a narrow ledge atop a sluice gate. Led by Lieutenant Leslie Averill, the battalion’s intelligence officer, a small group of men quickly climbed up the wall. The whole battalion followed. After exchanging shots with fleeing Germans, the New Zealanders entered the town. The garrison quickly surrendered.
[Leslie] Averill and [Harold] Kerr were already working along the tree-covered bank to the edge of the inner moat. They picked up the ladder, and stepping on the knife-edge bridge in single file reached the sluice-gate. The whole place was ominously still but for the low gurgle of water in the moat below them… Quietly they raised the ladder against the wall. It reached the top of the bricks with a foot to spare, resting against a 2-foot high grassy bank which crowned the rampart… Averill started to mount it, telling the others that he would shout down to them from the top if all was quiet. It was now about 4 p.m. Averill quickly reached the top of the brick-work, and stepped over the coping on to the grassy bank. Crouching behind it, he peered over. It was one of the most dramatic moments in the Division’s history. There was an instant crashing through some brushwood on the far side, and Averill saw 2 Germans of the bombing post running off panic-stricken. He sent a revolver bullet after them. Kerr was now on the topmost rung. The 2 officers could see a pair of machine guns on the salient on their right pointing into the moat but abandoned. They stood up and walked over the top of the grass slope and down the other side towards the boulevard. They were greeted by a great jabbering of German. Kerr fired a shot at the man who appeared to be leader, but missed. The whole enemy party bolted at once into an underground cavern under the rampart.
Colonel Hugh Stewart, The New Zealand Division 1916–1919: a popular history based on official records, Whitcombe & Tombs, Auckland, 1921, pp. 591–2
This was last significant action of the war for the New Zealanders. During 5 November they pushed through the Mormal Forest north-east of Le Quesnoy. That night the division was relieved. The New Zealand gunners remained in action in support of British units for a few days before heading back into reserve on the 9th. Two days later, the fighting ended. The last New Zealanders in action had been the mounted riflemen and cyclists serving in XXII Corps, which, after helping to capture Valenciennes, had reached Mons when the guns fell silent.
Abandoned by its allies – Bulgaria, the Austro–Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire had all ceased hostilities – its population suffering heavily from the effects of the Allied blockade and its armies in disarray, Germany accepted defeat. An armistice on the Western Front came into effect at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918.
Curly Blyth
The area around Le Quesnoy maintains a strong affinity with New Zealand. In 2000, the village of Beaudignies renamed its square ‘Place du Colonel Blyth’ in honour of Lieutenant-Colonel Lawrence (Curly) Blyth, whose unit captured ground in the area during the New Zealand Division's final opeartions. One of the last New Zealand veterans of the First World War, he died in 2001, aged 105.
The New Zealand Division came out of reserve for the final phases of the Battle of the Canal du Nord (27 September–1 October). Fighting their way through the main Hindenburg Line, the 1st New Zealand Infantry Brigade seized the town of Crèvecoeur on the final day of the battle, establishing a valuable foothold across the Scheldt (Escaut) Canal in the process. In effect, the New Zealanders had already broken through the ‘Masnières–Beaurevoir line’, a trench system prepared hastily behind the Hindenburg Line on which the Germans hoped to hold the Allied advance in this sector.
After pausing to regroup, the British Third and Fourth armies renewed their attack on 8 October. Breaking through weak German defences, the New Zealand Division advanced more than 5 km to take the village of Esnes, capturing more than 1000 prisoners and a dozen field guns along the way. The 800 New Zealand casualties included 150 dead. That night German forces withdrew to the Selle River, allowing Canadian troops to take Cambrai unopposed. Further south, the New Zealanders continued the pursuit for 18 km to the river, seizing an important bridgehead at Briastre before being relieved on 14 October.
A week later, the division returned to the fray, taking part in the closing stages of the Battle of the Selle (17–25 October). It advanced to within a kilometre of the old fortress town of Le Quesnoy, which was encircled by elaborate and historic brick ramparts. During this attack, New Zealand lost one of its most courageous soldiers. Victoria Cross recipient Sergeant Henry James Nicholas was killed in action near Beaudignies, 4 km west of Le Quesnoy, on 23 October. He is buried in nearby Vertnigneul Churchyard.
✨Win a trip for two to the Western Front✨
Join a commemorative group tour across France and Belgium to mark the 100th anniversary of the Liberation of Le Quesnoy.
Simply fill in the entry form attached to this link to be in to win😀
https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/win-trip-for-two-western-front
Battle of Beersheba centenary - Israel
On 31 October 1917, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade took part in an attack on Ottoman forces defending the small Middle Eastern town of Beersheba. By the end of the day, Anzac mounted troops were swarming through the streets – Beersheba was captured, and the Allied troops had a foothold in Ottoman Palestine.
The Battle of Beersheba was one of many battles that New Zealanders fought in between 1916 and 1918 in the Middle East as they helped to push Ottoman forces across the Sinai Peninsula and into Palestine. By the end of October 1918, when the Ottoman Empire was forced out of the war, 543 New Zealanders had been killed, among a total of 1,470 New Zea On 31 October New Zealand and Australia will conduct a commemoration to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba at the Beersheba Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Be’er Sheva, Israel.
The New Zealand National commemoration will be held at Tel Beer Sheva at 2 p.m. 31st October 2017 Tel Beer Sheva is approximately 5 kilometres east of Be’er Sheva. This mound, known historically as Tel el Saba, was New Zealand’s objective in the Battle of Beersheba. After six hours of hard fighting, the well-defended tel was captured by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. Eight New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade men were killed in the attack and 26 wounded, almost all from the Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment.
The elevated Tel site is uninhabited and well-preserved because it is a National Park with UNESCO World Heritage status due to the biblical wells and ruins located there. Rising 20 metres above the surrounding area, the site provides a clear view across farm land to the Anzac approach route and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles attack onto Tel el Saba.
About Be’er Sheva and Beersheba War Cemetery
Be’er Sheva is a town on the edge of the Negev Desert, 75 kilometres south-west of Jerusalem
Other New Zealand events in Israel
• In November Sand in the Apricot Jam, an exhibition by New Zealand artist Rebecca Holden, will be on display at the Rishon LeZion Museum, 2 Ehad Haan Street, Rishon LeZion from 19 October 2017. Sand in the Apricot Jam is a visual arts project that commemorates the men and horses who served with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles in the Middle East campaign of the First World War. Sand in the Apricot Jam is one of two exhibitions the museum will host focusing on events a century ago.
• Wreathlaying at Ramleh War Cemetery, Ramla, on 2 November 2017 at 10.30 am. The New Zealand Defence Force will conduct a wreathlaying ceremony in honour of those who served in the Battle of Ayun Kara (14 November 1917). This ceremony will also feature a special tribute to the soldiers of the Rarotongan Company buried in this cemetery. This service is open to all wishing to attend and no registration is necessary.
• Wreathlaying at Jerusalem War Cemetery, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, on 2 November 2017 at 2 pm. The New Zealand Defence will conduct a wreathlaying ceremony in honour of the 34 soldiers buried in the cemetery and the 87 listed on the Memorial with no known grave. Central to this service will be the Memorial Chapel with its interior forming a tribute to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force who served in the Sinai-Palestine campaign. This service is open to all wishing to attend and no registration is necessary
From one of our tour travellers :
Everyone in our group worked as a member of a team and shared their interests and their reasons for being in the group. It did not take long for us to reach out to each other and become somewhat like a larger family.
We were indeed lucky to have Glyn and ‘Kiwi’ Bob as our historian and tour guide. Both had a great sense of humour.
Like many of you I learned much and I find it hard to think what the most important item or event on the trip. I think for me it comes down to a simple item of being in the area and seeing the lie of the land. Looking at B&W or coloured pictures miss that third dimension of depth. A picture only has two dimensions and being there and gaining the information from Bob and Glyn on site made so much difference. Of course there were some things that had more impact than others but it was all great. I only wish that I could have spent more time in some of the different locations.
Great photo of our exclusive tour group at Arras on our recent Passchendaele 100th Commemorative tour
Further feedback from one of our tour members who has just arrived home from our exclusive Passchendaele 100th Commemoration tour 2017
It was very good but very long days. Glyn Harper and our guide Bob, were fantastic. They certainly put a lot of effort into making sure we saw and did lots of things. They also worked with specific requests from the other guests.
We went to three ceremonies - Passchendaele (Tyne Cot), then the night service at Polygon Wood and then a night light display back at Tyne Cot. The weather for the Tyne Cot service was sunny so it was lovely. The first two were amazing - organised by the kiwis!! But the night light display was a fantastic idea but did not work - screens too small so you could not see anything. But there were over 7,000 people who turned out to remember those who died and most were the Belgians. So very good from this point of view. I especially liked the evening service at Polygon Wood with the fantastic choir from NZ and then the impromptu haka from the band and others. It was very moving.
Weather was very good. In fact as we got closer to the end, it got hotter and hotter. Last 3 days were in the mid 20’s and the last day was more like 30 degrees!!! Very unusual.
Hotel standard was quite good, with the Hotel Arianne in Ypres being amazing. Fantastic staff and great meals. Very strange with those organised meals though. Choosing the menu in advance meant they went with the most selected. So no choice for any course and this happened at every set meal.
We plan to have Bob as tour es**rt joining renowned on tour historian Glyn Harper on our exclusive Liberation of Le Quesnoy 100th Commemorative Tour to France/Belgium in October/November 2018...bookings to Steve Parsons [email protected] or 0800 509 444
Feedback from one of our tour members who has just arrived home from our exclusive Passchendaele 100th Commemoration tour 2017
"Thank you for your email welcome home. It was a grand trip and I sometimes even now wish it had been longer.
I will also mention that our tour guide Bob Beelen was really top-notch. Bob was splendid. His knowledge of the area, Belgium and European history, and the Great War was full. He had a great sense of humour and to us he became Kiwi Bob especially when he was given one of our black jackets and a beanie on our last dinner together. He was keen to show us what we may have been interested in if there was time and so he fitted in the odd other thing when possible. On our last night after the dinner he walked back to our hotel by a different route showing us different parts of the city area such as the Mannekin P*s, some different hotels like where Ronald Regan always stayed, the location of the German SS during WW2, and some shopping malls after dark.
There is much to tell but Bob Beelen was a splendid man to be our guide.
He took care to see that people were taken to the airport and station and assisted wherever he could.'
we plan to have Bob as tour es**rt joining renowned on tour historian Glyn Harper on our exclusive Liberation of Le Quesnoy 100th Commemorative Tour to France/Belgium in October/November 2018...bookings to Steve Parsons [email protected] or 0800 509 444
Tour members have dinner with on tour Historian Glyn Harper along with special guest Captain Shaun Fogarty MNZM RNZN Capitaine de vaisseau Attache de defense en France & en Belique, NZ Embassy Paris along with his wife Felicity at the café “au petit riche”...a wonderful night of reflection and anticipation
photos by Nick Paulsen
Our New Zealand Tour group , with renowned historian Glyn Harper is in Belgium for this special event..they were at Tyne Cot Cemetery for the official commemoration yesterday.
100 years on from our darkest day, Prince William shares a hongi and praises our national spirit.
Consider visiting Wellington
Battle of Passchendaele National Commemoration Pukeahu National War Memorial Park 12 October 2017 On 12 October 2017, a national commemorative programme will be held in Wellington to mark the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele. It was during this battle that New Zealand experienced its ...
These are all good questions , as we remember
In two hours on Passchendaele ridge half as many Kiwis were lost as in the eight-month Gallipoli campaign.
Just announced ...Prince William to attend NZ Battle of Passchendaele commemoration
The Duke of Cambridge will be in attendance for the 100th anniversary commemorations.
Liberation of Le Quesnoy The Western Front 100th Commemorative tour 2018 Belgium & France.The Kiwi story ...
Historic Notes :
Just a week before the end of the First World War in November 1918, the New Zealand Division captured the French town of Le Quesnoy. It was the New Zealanders' last major action in the war. To this day, the town of Le Quesnoy continues to mark the important role that New Zealand played in its history. Streets are named after New Zealand places, there is a New Zealand memorial and a primary school bears the name of a New Zealand soldier. Visiting New Zealanders are sure to receive a warm welcome from the locals.
The Germans held Le Quesnoy for almost the entire war, from August 1914 through to its dramatic liberation on 4 November 1918. The New Zealanders scaled a ladder set against the ancient walls of the town and took the remaining Germans as prisoners. The liberation of Le Quesnoy was just one of the many campaigns that New Zealanders fought on the Western Front, the line that stretched across northern France and Belgium. The majority of New Zealanders killed in the First World War lost their lives in the battles that raged there from 1916 to 1918. More than 12,000 New Zealanders died on the Western Front in two and a half years fighting; this was more than in the entire Second World War.
Registration of interest are now being accept to [email protected] or 0800 509 444
Bookings are now being accepted for our exclusive Liberation of Le Quesnoy, The western Front 100th Commemorative Tour 2018, ..Our new tour programme and itinerary are out shortly…
Advance expressions of interest to [email protected] of 0800 509 444
NEW ZEALANDERS LEAVE FOR PASSCHENDAELE CENTENARY
The centenary of one of the greatest tragedies of World War One will be commemorated by hundreds of New Zealanders and Australians early this month (October).
One of New Zealand’s foremost war historians, Professor Glyn Harper, leaves this week to revisit Passchendaele where 846 Kiwi soldiers were killed in two hours in a futile attempt to take the Passchendaele ridge.
Glyn Harper, Professor of War Studies at Massey University, will spend two days on reconnaissance at the site and pay his own tribute to the battle which was “the darkest day in New Zealand military history”, an attack that should never have gone ahead.
In Paris on October 6 he’ll catch up with a party of New Zealanders who he’ll mentor and act as their expert historian on their journey to the Passchendaele centenary on October 12.
Glyn Harper, who wrote the definitive book about the battle entitled Massacre At Passchendaele: The New Zealand Story, says the attack, ordered by overall commander, Field Marshal Haig, was New Zealand’s worst military disaster and should never have happened.
Passchendaele was part of the Ypres campaign which lasted from July to November 1917 and, early in October, four Anzac divisions succeeded in securing the foothills around the Passchendaele ridge and deserted village.
“It was a stunning success by the divisions, three Australian and one New Zealand, who attacked side by side. But, as they took the foothills, the rain bucketed down and turned the whole area into a quagmire,” he said. “The divisions should have stayed until conditions improved. The weather was atrocious and it was impossible to move the artillery forward.”
Instead Field Marshal Haig wanted to continue and ordered the New Zealand divisions to storm 3,000 yards and take the Passchendaele ridge without adequate artillery support.
“It was an incredible distance in a quagmire and they were massacred. The ridge was well defended and the Germans knew in advance because a British deserter told them the night before,” Glyn Harper says.
Within two hours 846 Kiwi soldiers were killed, 138 died of their wounds in the next few days and a further 2,000 were wounded. The Australians suffered similar casualties.
Our troops, commanded by General Andrew Russell, led the charge. It was the first time a New Zealand division had failed to take its objective. When the attack was called off that afternoon, it took three days to clear the battlefield.
Glyn Harper said our division was a spent force and they saw little action until they played a significant role in winning the war in 1918.
“Their loss impacted on families throughout the country for decades to come. It shaped New Zealand as a nation,” he says.
Many lessons were learned from Passchendaele. “We learned that good quality soldiers were not a resource to be squandered and it was a betrayal of their trust that they were given an order that was impossible to fulfil,” Glyn Harper comments.
“It led to the Freyberg Charter in the Second World War where our government gave New Zealand commanders the authority to say no if they didn’t agree with given orders.”
So angry was Prime Minister William Massey, who was in England at the time, that he told British PM, Lloyd George, his men “should not be shot down like rabbits” and there were serious consequences if it happened again.
The party, organised by Stephen Parsons House Of Travel, will spend 10 days in France and Belgium, and visit the site of the Battle of the Somme, Waterloo, the towns of Ypres and Arras before attending Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium, the largest Commonwealth War Grave cemetery, for the October 12 ceremony. At the cemetery the names of 1,179 missing New Zealand soldiers are recorded.
Glyn Harper admits he will be moved to tears at the cemetery. “Our soldiers were so young and cut down in their prime. It was just slaughter,” he says.
One particularly interesting visit the HOT party will make is to the extensive tunnels at Arras built by an independent tunnelling unit comprising up to 500 miners from the West Coast, Buller and Waihi.
“They built a network of tunnels over a year which contained an underground hospital, railway, barracks, rooms, military headquarters and dining rooms for about 20,000 troops,” he said. “In the tunnels, troops were moved forward to prepare for the Battle of Arras and, when the attack started in April 1917, they broke through the surface close to the German lines.”
The tunnels have inspired Glyn Harper’s latest book, a children’s story about Bobby, the Littlest War Hero. Bobby, the canary, played an important role in alerting tunnellers about the level of toxic gases in the mine. It will be launched next year.
While Passchendaele was a disaster, Glyn says New Zealand can be immensely proud of the role our forces played in 1917, at Arras, Messines and the Battle of Broodseinde, where our division captured the foothills on October 4.
It was there 100 years ago that legendary All Black captain, Dave Gallaher, lost his life.
CONTACT - Professor Glyn Harper (027-210-4784) or Steve Parsons, Stephen Parsons House of Travel (06-356-7051)
nebeke, Belgium
The New Zealand National Commemoration for the Battle of Passchendaele will take place at Tyne Cot Cemetery, near Zonnebeke at 11 a.m. This is the largest Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery in the world. It contains 520 New Zealand graves and further New Zealanders are listed on the New Zealand Memorial to the Missing in the Battles of Passchendaele.
The day will conclude with a sunset ceremony in Buttes New British Cemetery in Polygon Wood at 7.15 p.m. finishing at 8 p.m. The New Zealand Memorial to the Missing for those 388 New Zealanders who were killed in the vicinity of Polygon Wood between September 1917 and May 1918 and who have no known grave is located within this cemetery. The cemetery has 95 known New Zealand graves. There are, however, over 1600 unknown soldiers buried in this cemetery.
Stephen Parsons House of Travel Palmerston North exclusive group with one of New Zealand's leading military historian Glyn Harper will be at the commemorations
During the First World War the Belgian government created the Mèdaille de la Reine Elisabeth, or Queen Elisabeth Medal, to honour Belgian and foreign women who had performed outstanding services in aid of Belgian refugees and the military.
Thirty-three women in New Zealand are known to have received the Queen Elisabeth Medal for their work during the First World War.
Mary Wick, Elizabeth Pinfold and Mary Stewart are three women who were awarded the Queen Elisabeth Medal,
New Zealand’s relationship with Belgium was forged not only on the battlefield,
but through efforts here at home.
In the lead up to New Zealand's centenary commemoration of the Battle of Passchendaele, we're remembering the compassion New Zealanders showed towards Belgium and its refugees during the First World War.
Socks were knitted, clothing donated, and fundraisers held. By the end of the war, New Zealanders had raised around £805,000 for the Belgian Relief Fund - that's around $100 million today!
How will you remember and celebrate compassion
New Zealand’s relationship with Belgium was forged not only on the battlefield,but through efforts here at home.
In the lead up to New Zealand's centenary commemoration of the Battle of Passchendaele, we're remembering the compassion New Zealanders showed towards Belgium and its refugees during the First World War.
Socks were knitted, clothing donated, and fundraisers held. By the end of the war, New Zealanders had raised around £805,000 for the Belgian Relief Fund - that's around $100 million today!
The forgotten soldiers of Passchendaele – the French First Army
General François Paul Anthoine commander of the First French Army. “It is a question of national honour. We have to keep our word we gave to the British”
One army has been almost completely absent from any mention in the commemorations of this week=end’s centenary of the start of the 3rd Battle of Ypres. This army is the French 1st Army which also took part in the battle. Although the operation was led by the British, it was an allied operation With 135,000 men and over 1000 guns the French Army that took part was larger than the Australian, Canadian or New Zealander contingents that fought. Yet their role and sacrifices have been ignored.
The French First Army’s deployment on the British left was a commitment to the alliance, despite the strikes and mutinies afflicting their army after the failure of the Nivelle offensive April 1917. Their tactics were designed around using artillery fire to destroy and neutralise defences and seizing limited objectives to minimise infantry casualties. The tactics used on 31st July were the first use of those methods that Petain would use to rebuild the confidence of the French Army.
The two divisions of the 1st Army attacked on a 4 km frontage. Particular attention was paid to artillery support. The artillery included 60 batteries of 75mm guns, 240 pieces, 277 pieces of trench artillery – mortars, 164 heavy howitzers, 148 long ranged guns (105- 240mm) for counter battery fire and 64 heavy guns (305mm,320mm and 370mm) to smash concrete bunkers. This artillery train was supported by aircraft detachments for heavy artillery and counter battery fire, bomber, and reconnaissance squadrons and the elite Cigognes fighter squadron.
The French were faced with the problem of assaulting across the Yser canal against defences based on concrete bunkers. The French thought the concrete bunkers were less of a tactical challenge than the deep shelters capable of protecting entire platoons the Germans dug is drier country. The assaulting troops were preceded by a creeping barrage of shrapnel 150m ahead of the infantry.
On the 31st July the French First Army was tasked with protecting the Northern flanks of the British 5th Army. They succeeded in this mission, advancing 2500 metres, almost as far as the Guards division to their right. The French took part in several attacks in concert with the British , until the end of October.
The French had advanced some 10 km, capturing 1,500 prisoners. Their casualties were low, 1,625 killed or missing and 6901 wounded or taken prisoner. These are very light compared to those suffered by British formations, and raise some questions about British tactics.
The French army of Flanders was deployed to support the British led operation “as a matter of honour.” It is a shame that their gesture has not be remembered a century later.
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In association with The Innovative Travel Company, the Battlefield tour specialists House of Travel Stephen Parsons in Palmerston North have another battlefield tour due in #Europe to commemorate the Liberation of Le Quesnoy in November 1918, with on tour military historian Damian Fenton. It was a pleasure meeting up with Jude Dobson, who will be a tour participant on the Liberation of Le Quesnoy, Western Front 100th Commemoration tour 2018.
Here is a 15 minute video of the amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative Tour -more to follow
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 100th Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
Some personal comments about our amazing Anzac Day 2015 Commemorative tour
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