DAY 1:
Local departure by coach and then onwards to Belgium for four nights.

DAY 2: First Shots – Blitzkrieg (included)
We begin at Mons where the first shots of the war were fired by the British Army in August 1914. We see the memorial to the 4th Dragoon Guards, and visit Nimy Bridge where the first two Victoria Crosses were won. We then see the unique St Symphorien Cemetery, where the first and the last British casualties of WW1 are buried. Lunchtime in Mons. In the afternoon, we travel to Waterloo and look at the battle of June 1815. We see the Lion Mound and Visitors Centre. B

DAY 3: Flanders Fields (included)
We start the day at the In Flanders Fields US Cemetery, where the American soldiers who fell in Flanders in 1918 are buried.In nearby Menin we see the largest German War Cemetery in Belgium from WW1 with more than 48,000 graves and end the morning at Tyne Cot, to see the largest British cemetery and visitors centre. Lunch at Hooge. At Essex Farm we see where Canadian poet John McCare wrote the immortal In Flanders Fields poem in May 1915, and then travel up to Diksmuide to visit the Trenches of Death where the Belgian army fought during 1914-18. At nearby Vladslo we see some unique statues in the German cemetery, carved by the mother of a soldier buried there. The day ends in Ypres, where we attend the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate. B

DAY 4: Tournai – Operation Switchback (included)
Moving on to WW2, at Tournai we look at the British Army's defence of this ground in May 1940 against the German Blitzkrieg, seeing the 1940 graves and the Escaut Canal where the defence line was held. We then travel to northern Belgium and visit the Adeghem Canadian War Museum where we have a good look round this massive collection of WW2 memorabilia. In the afternoon we look at the advance of allied troops in Belgium during September and October 1944. We examine Operation Switchback, the Canadian landings in Northern Belgium and the crossing of the Leopold Canal, the Canadian War Cemetery at Adeghem, the canal near Eede and nearby memorial and also the beach where the Canadians landed on another 'D Day'. B

DAY 5:
To Calais, then return home B

Included Meals: B=Breakfast 

• FREE local joining points

• Travel by executive coach
• Specialist Battlefields Guide

• Battlefield visits as described

• 4 nights' accommodation with continental breakfast

Note: Entrance fees to museums & places of interest are at extra cost

You'll stay for four nights at the 3-star Flanders Lodge Hotel in Ypres. The hotel has a bar and restaurant and all bedrooms have T.V. and telephone. You may also stay at the 3-star Hotel Oude Abdij in Lo or the 4-star Hotel Ambassador in Menen.