The National WWI Museum Inaugural Battlefield Tour

An Overview and Background Information

This year, the Museum is launching its first battlefield tour in conjunction with specialist tour operator Battle Honours Ltd in the UK. Our pilgrimage will provide a comprehensive study of the ground and actions fought over by the American Expeditionary Forces during 1917/18.

We begin in Belgium where we visit Flanders Fields to experience the American and British actions there; then travel through the Somme down to the Hindenburg Line, where Americans fought under the command of the Australians. Our focus then turns to the sites where Americans saw their greatest battles—Château-Thierry, Belleau Wood, the Meuse-Argonne and the St. Mihiel Salient. We will also spend a day in Verdun, scene of the most famous French battlefield of the war.

Join us as we follow in the footsteps of the AEF during the Great War. Stand in the craters and walk the trenches where remnants of this war still abound. Included will be free time for personal pursuits and ample moments for reflection, along with a visit to one of the best champagne houses in France at Épernay.

This tour requires independent mobility as it will include a fair amount of walking. We will have several professional battlefield guides on hand throughout, to include the museum’s own chief historian, Dr. Lisa M. Budreau. The tour is limited to just 25 places and is open solely to members of the museum. (For information on joining the Museum's Friends Program, please follow this link, www.theworldwar.org)

Initial costing is based on 25 participants staying in 3/4 star hotels on a bed & breakfast basis, a number of group lunches and dinners, receptions, executive coach throughout, the services of our battlefield guides and all museum entries.

Planned Itinerary

Monday 1 October – Depart US on an overnight flight to Brussels, Belgium

Tuesday 2 October – Liaise with the tour party at Brussels Airport and transfer by executive coach to the historic town of Ypres. On route we visit the Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial where staff will meet and brief us on the history there. After checking into our hotel, we visit the newly refurbished In Flanders Fields Museum for a guided tour. Following an evening welcome reception our group will lay a wreath at the poignant Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony, followed by a group meal. Overnight in Ypres (dinner included)

Wednesday 3 October - We start our day with a visit to Lijssenthoek Cemetery, Poperinghe, where a number of American soldiers are buried. We then visit the Vierstraat area to study the actions of the 27th New York and 30th Carolina and Tennessee Divisions who were attached to the British forces here. After lunch in a local café we head south to the Somme battlefield where we learn the story of tunneling at the phenomenal Lochnagar Crater and the British Somme offensive. We finish the day with a visit to Le Hamel where, in July 1918, American soldiers took part in a succesful advance that formed the blue print for the Advance to Victory. Near here we will also see the ground where the Red Baron met his final fate. Overnight in Peronne (lunch included)

Thursday 4 October – We launch fully into the American sector with a visit to many sites associated with the September 1918 actions on the Hindenburg Line, including the American Cemetery at Bony and the beautiful Bellicourt Memorial. We move to the St. Quentin Canal where we will explore the Riqueval Bridge and the tunnel entrance below the Tennessee Memorial. After lunch, visit the impressive Historial de la Grande Guerre Museum located in a castle in Peronne. Overnight in Peronne (lunch included)

Friday 5 October – Leaving Peronne we head south to Belleau Wood where we study the US Marine Corps’ action in the summer of 1918, and visit the nearby Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, memorial, and village church, rebuilt after the war by men of the 26th Division. After a visit to the spectacular memorial at Château-Thierry with its stunning vista we move eastward to Verdun. Overnight in Verdun (lunch included)

Saturday 6 October – Today we visit the dramatic sites on the battlefield of Verdun including the Ossuary and Fort at Douaumont, the forts of Souville and Vaux, the Ouverage de Froide Terre and Trench of Bayonets, the Maginot Memorial and the destroyed village of Fluery complete our day. Overnight in Verdun (lunch included)

Sunday 7 October – Our morning begins with a visit to the magnificent Montfaucon Monument and the Meuse Argonne American Cemetery at Romagne for a wreath laying ceremony before lunch at a quaint family-run restaurant and private museum. In the afternoon we visit the site(s) of Sergeant Alvin York’s famous action then onto Sommerence, where the US 1st Division fought. We end the day with a visit to Cunel to hear the story of Lt Samuel Woodfill. Overnight in Verdun (lunch included)

Monday 8 October – Continuing our study of the Meuse Argonne, we return to this battlefield to visit a number of additional key sites including the Missouri Memorial at Cheppy, the destroyed mined village of Vauqouis, the Pennsylvania Monument at Varennes-en-Argonne, and the site of the Lost Battalion. We return to Verdun for a special group dinner prepared by chefs at the Coq d’Or, a local landmark. Overnight in Verdun (lunch and dinner included)

Tuesday 9 October - This morning we visit the St Mihiel battlefields including the American Cemetery at Thiaucourt and the Montsec memorial for a spectacular view overlooking the St. Mihiel salient. After lunch we make our way back toward Paris stopping en route in Épernay at one of the best champagne houses in France. The evening will include a farewell reception and dinner followed by time on your own. Overnight in Chateau-Thierry (reception and dinner included).

Wednesday 10 October – Transfer to Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris and onward flight to the US (an extended stay in Paris is possible).