Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours | Tours - Fromelles Reinterment Tour

WATCH CONSTRUCTION OF NEW FROMELLES CEMETERY

The final stages of construction of the new cemetery at Fromelles. Click to watch

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Fromelles Reinterment Tour
9 Nights 14-23 July 2010 $3997*
BOOK NOW - LIMITED AVAILABILITY!

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT ATTENDANCE AT THE FROMELLES SERVICE: Recent reports from the UK have raised the possibility that attendance numbers at the Fromelles dedication service may be restricted. Mat McLachlan Battlefield Tours has raised this issue with the Australian officials organising the event and can confirm that all passengers on our tour WILL BE ABLE TO ATTEND THE SERVICE. We will release more details once we have received them from the Commonwealth War Graves authorities.

In July 1916 Australia launched its first attack on the Western Front, near the French village of Fromelles. The attack was a disaster, and left more than 5500 Australians dead or wounded. In 2006, a mass grave was discovered at Fromelles containing the bodies of hundreds of Australian and British soldiers who had been lost for 90 years. This is your chance the attend the dedication service of the first new military cemetery to be built in France since the Second World War, when the Diggers of Fromelles are laid to rest on the 94th anniversary of the battle. The tour also visits all the key Australian battlefield sites in France and Belgium, giving you the chance to walk in the footsteps of the original Anzacs. Escorted by Will Davies and Peter Smith.

Your tour includes:

The best historians - Will Davies and Peter Smith are experts on the Battle of Fromelles. There are no better guides to travel with around the Western Front.
All excursions, scenic drives and sightseeing as described in the itinerary
Attendance at the dedication service of the new military cemetery at Fromelles
Educational kit - follow the service of an Australian soldier as you travel across the battlefields
9 nights first-class accommodation
Hotel porterage
Breakfast daily, 3 lunches, 4 dinners
Welcome drink in Paris
Services of a Tour Manager, Driver plus a WWI War Historian and experienced local guides
Extensive touring of the WWI battlefields
All entrance fees as per the itinerary
Travel by first-class air-conditioned coaches
Local taxes and end of tour tips to your Tour Manager, Historian and Driver
Commemorative cap
Autographed copy of Mat McLachlan's definitive guide to the Western Front, Walking with the Anzacs
Quality travel bag

DAY 1 14 JULY - PARIS

Welcome to our Western Front tour, and a moving journey to honour the fallen Diggers of Fromelles. After checking in to our Paris hotel, the group will come together for a welcome drink. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know your fellow passengers, Tour Manager, Driver and War Historian. After drinks, we'll enjoy dinner in the hotel. (D)

DAY 2 15 JULY - PARIS

Spend the day exploring Paris with the group. In the morning we will visit Louis XIV's magnificent Palace of Versailles. A local guide will give us an exclusive tour of the spectacular palace, including the Hall of Mirrors, where the Versailles Treaty was signed, bringing the First World War to an end. After lunch we return to Paris for a Panoramic Tour of the city's iconic sights. The Eiffel Tour, Champs Elysées, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and Notre Dame will all be seen. (B)

DAY 3 16 JULY - FLANDERS

Our tour in the footsteps of the Anzacs begins today. After breakfast we depart Paris for Flanders, near the Belgian border, scene of some of the most horrific fighting of the First World War and our home for the next four nights. On the way we will stop at Epernay and visit the famous Champagne house of Mercier. After a guided tour of the cellars and a tasting of their famous bubbly, we will travel to Reims, the historic city in the heart of the Champagne district. While there we will see the magnificent cathedral where the kings of France were once crowned. After leaving Reims we will visit the inspiring Australian 2nd Division Memorial and see the remains of trenches captured by Australian troops on the 1918 battlefield of Mont St Quentin. On arrival in Flanders we will enjoy dinner in our hotel. (B, D)

DAY 4 17 JULY - FLANDERS

A short drive this morning will bring us to the town of Ypres. En route we will visit the battlefield of Messines, where Australian and New Zealand troops participated in a huge British advance in June 1917. Between 1914 and 1918 Ypres was the centre of four great battles, and was completely destroyed by shellfire. Today the rebuilt town is one of the iconic places on the Western Front. This morning our historian will take us on a walk around the town, visiting key sights from the war such as the magnificent Cloth Hall, St George's Chapel, St Martin's Cathedral, the Menin Gate and Ramparts Cemetery. After free time for lunch, we will visit the outstanding In Flanders Fields Museum, a provocative collection of relics and displays that chronicles the fighting in Flanders and the personal stories of the people involved. This evening we will return to the Menin Gate, where the names of 54,000 missing British and Commonwealth soldiers are recorded, for the moving Last Post ceremony. The Ypres fire brigade has performed this bugle ceremony every day and in all weather since the memorial opened in 1927. The only interruption was during the four years of German occupation during the Second World War - the ceremony recommenced on the day the town was liberated. (B)

DAY 5 18 JULY - THE YPRES SALIENT

The Ypres Salient was a bulge in the front line that curved around Ypres for most of the war. More than a million men were killed or wounded trying to gain control of this small patch of ground. Today we will explore the Australian battlefields in the Salient, places where the Anzacs made history in 1917. Our first stop will be the Passchendaele Museum which features a recreated British dugout. We will then visit the 5th Australian Division Memorial at Polygon Wood and see the graves of Private Hunter and Sergeant Calder, the two Australian soldiers who featured in Mat McLachlan's documentary Lost in Flanders. Lunch is included at Cafe de Dreve, where the owner, Johan Vandewalle, will tell us about his discovery of the bodies of Private Hunter and Sergeant Calder in a Belgian field. We then get a taste of the devastation caused by four years of continuous artillery fire at the cratered landscape of Hill 60, before visiting Tyne Cot, the world's largest Commonwealth war cemetery. Tyne Cot sits in the heart of one of the most horrific battlefields of the war - Passchendaele. Our final stop today is at the German Cemetery at Langemarck, where we will learn about the men on the other side of the line. As we drive back to Ypres we will see the magnificent Canadian memorial at Langemarck, marking the site where poison gas was first used in the war. Our evening is free to enjoy dinner in Ypres, before we board our coach for the return journey to our hotel. (B, L)

DAY 6 19 JULY - FROMELLES CEMETERY DEDICATION SERVICE

Today is the focus of our journey through the battlefields of the Western Front. This morning we have a short drive to Fromelles, where we will attend the moving dedication service for the new Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery. We will join hundreds of Australian and British travellers in paying our respects to the soldiers who have been missing for almost a century. Those men who have been identified will be buried with a headstone bearing their name, while the vast majority will simply be buried as 'Soldiers of the Great War - Known Unto God'. After this unique event, we will dedicate the rest of the day to exploring the Fromelles battlefield and gaining a better understanding of this ill-fated attack that cost so many young lives. We will see the Australian Memorial Park, VC Corner Cemetery (the only all-Australian cemetery in France), Le Trou Aid Post Cemetery, Rue Petillon Cemetery and also the site of the mass grave where the soldiers lay for 90 years at Pheasant Wood. We will also be joined by Lambis Englezos, the Melbourne teacher who uncovered the evidence that the Fromelles mass grave existed, and who lobbied for more than six years to have the site investigated. Without Lambis the Diggers at Fromelles would never have been discovered, and it will be a privilege to hear him discuss his role in the recovery of the missing men. In the afternoon we will return to our hotel and spend the evening at leisure, enjoying dinner and sharing our thoughts of a memorable day with our fellow travellers. A packed lunch will also be included today (B, L)

DAY 7 20 JULY- FLANDERS TO THE SOMME

Today we leave Flanders and travel south to the battlefields of the Somme (if required, we have time this morning to return to the battlefield of Fromelles, to see any sites we may have missed the previous day). Our first stop is the magnificent Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge, where we will spend time wandering the maze of preserved trenches on the site. We then visit the battlefield of Bullecourt, where Australia lost 10,000 men in two great battles in 1917. We will pay our respects to them at the Slouch Hat memorial in the centre of town, and the Australian Memorial Park on the site of the German front line. A packed lunch is included today, and we will enjoy dinner in our hotel on our arrival in Amiens. (B, L, D)

DAY 8 21 JULY- THE SOMME

Few names carry as much infamy as the Somme, and today we will explore the region that became synonymous with the carnage of the First World War. Our journey begins at the imposing Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, which bears the names of almost 11,000 Australians missing in France. The memorial, set in the middle of one of Australia's most famous battlefields of the war, is where the Anzac Day Dawn Service is held each year. Later we will visit the Victoria School in Villers-Bretonneux and see the sign that entreats the children of Villers-Bretonneux to 'Never Forget Australia'. We then begin our tour of the 1916 battlefields of the Somme. Our first stop is Pozieres, scene of the most costly battle in Australia's history. 23,000 men were killed or wounded capturing the ruins of the town, and we will visit the scenes of their heroic sacrifice at the 1st Division Memorial and the Windmill. We will also see Mouquet Farm, scene of bitter fighting between Australian and German troops in August 1916. Lunch is included at the Ulster Tower, a memorial located in the heart of the 1916 killing fields. In the afternoon we visit the Thiepval Memorial, where the names of 75,000 British soldiers missing from the Somme fighting are recorded. Later we will explore the trenches at the Newfoundland Memorial Park and see the incredible Lochnagar Mine Crater, blown by the British on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Returning to Amiens, our evening is free. (B, L)

DAY 9 22 JULY - THE SOMME TO PARIS

Our last day on the battlefields will begin with a visit to Amiens Cathedral, one of the world's most glorious Gothic cathedrals - be sure to see the plaque honouring the Australian forces in the nave. Leaving Amiens we will return to the Villers-Bretonneux battlefield and visit Adelaide Cemetery, where Australia's Unknown Soldier lay before being returned to the Australian War Memorial in 1993. We will then travel east to the departement of the Aisne, scene of Australia's great victories in 1918. We will visit the 4th Division Memorial at Bellenglise, as well as the village of Montbrehain, scene of the last Australian battle of the war. We then farewell the battlefields and return to Paris. In the evening a local coach will take us to a traditional French restaurant for a farewell dinner, where we will enjoy French accordion music with food with drinks included. After dinner we will enjoy an Illuminations Tour of Paris' landmarks bathed in glorious light. (B, D)

DAY 10 23 JULY - PARIS

Sadly our Western Front Tour ends this morning after breakfast. (B)

*Per person, twin share, land only. Single supplement: $997. Ask about our great airfare deals!