The Ypres Salient

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The horror of the First World War can be summed up in two words ‘The Salient’. This small and militarily insignificant Belgian town was to become the eye of the storm that raged around the few square miles of its perimeter.

The Salient was a bulge in the line that stretched to the edge of the low range of hills that surround Ypres. From those hills on a clear day you could see the English Channel and as is so often the case it was gentlemen in England over their copies of the Times and breakfast who decided that Ypres had to be held at all costs.

They weren’t going to have to do the holding, but to the men that did that cost was to be some 250,000 British and Commonwealth dead. Some 90,000 men disappeared into the mud and the names of the men that have no known grave are commemorated on the Menin Gate and at Tyne Cot Cemetery.

 

Suggested itinerary

  • Fully guided 1-Day Ypres Salient
  • Bayernwald trench system
  • Kit & weapon demonstration
  • Essex Farm Cemetery & Advanced Dressing Station
  • Langemarck German Cemetery
  • Tyne Cot Cemetery
  • Last Post Ceremony

A 1-day tour to Ypres is ideal for schools wishing to gain a better understanding of the battlefields of the Western Front and the human cost of the Great War. Alternatively by combining it with a visit to the Somme or Vimy Ridge it can form part of a longer study tour.

 

Discover the reality of life in the Trenches

Life in the TrenchesAre you planning a visit to the Battlefields of the Western Front? Well what better way is there to get inside the mind of 'Tommy Atkins' than by walking the same ground wearing his boots, tin hat, tunic & webbing and carrying a Lee Enfield Rifle.

Developing the very successful 'Show & Tell' sessions we run as part of our Christmas Truce tour, ANGLIA is pleased to offer student groups touring with us to the Somme and Ypres, a unique hands-on experience and an opportunity to get to grips with authentic Great War equipment.

These engaging sessions are led by your ANGLIA guide and will include both a short brief on the equipment on display as well as the chance for one lucky 'volunteer' to don full kit - which makes a perfect photo opportunity.

If you are interested in adding a 'Show & Tell' session to you Battlefield Tour or would like further information please contact us.

 

Specifications/topics supported by these tours:

AQA Specification B > Britain at War

Edexcel Specification A > War and the Transformation of British Society 1903-1928 Key Topic 2 ‘The part played by the British on the Western Front’
> War and the Transformation of British Society 1931-1951
> The impact of War on Britain 1914-1955

Edexcel Specification A and B > Northern Ireland 1968-1999

New ‘A’ level topics: AQA Unit 1 > France in Revolution, 1774-1815

OCR ‘A’, Option B, KS3: > Napoleon, France and Europe, 1795-1815

Themes

  • Causes of the Great War
  • The Western Front
  • The ‘actualities of war’ – the experience of soldiers on the Western Front
  • Kitchener’s Army – the Pals Battalions
  • The relationship between Officers and men
  • The development of warfare – tactics and technology in the Great War
  • The role of the Generals, in particular the Haig Debate
  • The impact of the Great War