I'd really fancy this, is there anyone below 40 going? I understand I sound like an arse right now.
Personally I would have thought you would be better off with older people on this trip to grasp a better understanding of things. I appreciate you are probably thinking about a bit of banter on the coach and a few drinks in the evening but putting that aside go with experience.
I am a WW2 buff so keeping my eyes open for any trips that comes along for this era.
I know where you are coming from, Popcorn, but remember there are people in their 30s who are old fogies, & those in their 60s who are still teenagers at heart! I wondered initially if I might be the only woman on the trip, but it didn't stop me going ahead.
I am in Messines currently and have walked the entire front over the last 3 days (around 15km a day, we have been lucky and studied every unit that fought in what was a hugely successful set piece battle from the 23rd and London Divisions in the north down to the NZ and Australian Divisions in the south.
I had people whose Great Grandfathers fought in the battle and one whose father fought. An amazing few days where we managed to skip every ceremony and covered all the ground often with the battlefields to our self.
This week was the story of Plumers II Army, from his dynamic leadership alongside his Chief of Staff Tim Harrington, through the incredibly thorough detailed planning of the BEF staff, to the determined spirit of the rifleman at the sharp end who bought into the commanders intent and understood entirely the plan.
Messines was a victory the likes of which the British Army had not experienced up to that point in the war and one they were not to experience again until the following summer and the Last Hunsred Days, the fact that it came less than a year after the First Day on the Somme makes it all the more incredible.
Our local lads were directly involved with the 20th (Blackheath & Woolwich) Btn, London Regiment who fought along the canal sector and passed the bluff, (many Addicks were among their ranks) and through the Gunners, again many from Woolwich/Plumstead who literally blew the German Army off the Ridge (and whose achievements are often overshadowed by the quite incredible tunnelling operations).
What a day and what a victory the 7 June 1917 was.
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I am a WW2 buff so keeping my eyes open for any trips that comes along for this era.
Who really wants to sit in a coach full of whistling hearing aids, creaking joints, dicky bladders and snoring.
That's just me.
I wondered initially if I might be the only woman on the trip, but it didn't stop me going ahead.
I had people whose Great Grandfathers fought in the battle and one whose father fought. An amazing few days where we managed to skip every ceremony and covered all the ground often with the battlefields to our self.
This week was the story of Plumers II Army, from his dynamic leadership alongside his Chief of Staff Tim Harrington, through the incredibly thorough detailed planning of the BEF staff, to the determined spirit of the rifleman at the sharp end who bought into the commanders intent and understood entirely the plan.
Messines was a victory the likes of which the British Army had not experienced up to that point in the war and one they were not to experience again until the following summer and the Last Hunsred Days, the fact that it came less than a year after the First Day on the Somme makes it all the more incredible.
Our local lads were directly involved with the 20th (Blackheath & Woolwich) Btn, London Regiment who fought along the canal sector and passed the bluff, (many Addicks were among their ranks) and through the Gunners, again many from Woolwich/Plumstead who literally blew the German Army off the Ridge (and whose achievements are often overshadowed by the quite incredible tunnelling operations).
What a day and what a victory the 7 June 1917 was.