WW1 and WW2 sites in France May 2015

Lord Vader

Lord Vader

Well-Known Member
After talking to a few people at the National it turns out that there was a bit of interest on a trip over to France to have a look at some Normandy sites and than hop over to the other site to look at some WW1 stuff.
We are looking at the end of Mai and intend to stay for a week.
Basic Plan would be for our northern nearly independent :scotsman1: and other strange talking people to maybe make their way down south on Sat. Stay at mine,if i run out of space i am sure someone else on here would offer a place for a night, and set of for France on Sunday morning. Hop over the channel by train,lunch in Hornfleur,find a campsite and do some site seeing. Leave maybe Wednesday,go over to the WW1 sites and do the same. Make our way back maybe Saturday and you guys make your way up north on Sunday.
As usual nothing is written in stone and might change. No one has talked dates as such but the few people we where talking to prefered the end of Mai. So how about the 24th-31st of Mai?
I have a lot of the Normandy sites stored in my Satnav plus the odd lane :D :cool: :cool: but never been to any of the WW1 sites so any suggestions would be a appreciated


People interested so far



Nigelphoto
Outrunner
Whealie
Mikey



UPDATE 01/01/2015

Ok,Deb and i will be going over probably on the Sat the 23rd and make ourway to Normandy.Still looking for a place for the first 2 nights as the nice campsite only opens on the 25th. We intend to stay here from monday http://www.chateau-martragny.com/index.htm?lang=en till Wednesday the 27th of May. Then make our way over to Ypres where we intent to stay here http://www.jeugdstadion.be/E/index.php till Sat/Sun. Both Campsites are central enough to make nice daytrips to a lot of places.
I suggest we meet up on the Campsites unless someone wants to come over to mine earlier and travel with us.


Update 06/01/2015

I had a reply back from the campste in Ypres(Jeugdstadion) and they said that they would have space for us. I did enquire for spaces for 4 tents and about 8 people. Deb and I are booked in from wed the 27th to the sunday the 31st of May :thumbsup:
I will not book for all as i dot know yet who is definatly coming along. The cost for both of us is 48euro for 4 nights :cool: :cool:
 
P

Philwhiskeydrinker

Well-Known Member
Great plan, pencil us in.






As long as you don't start taking the pi$$ out of our carrier pigeons!

It'd be easier for us to get the LeHavre ferry & meet in Honfleur.

Phil
 
Lord Vader

Lord Vader

Well-Known Member
Phil said:
Great plan, pencil us in.






As long as you don't start taking the pi$$ out of our carrier pigeons!

It'd be easier for us to get the LeHavre ferry & meet in Honfleur.

Phil
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Oh you planning to take the recovery truck again :D
 
Mikey

Mikey

Administrator
Staff member
Forum Supporter
Phil said:
As long as you don't start taking the pi$$ out of our carrier pigeons!

Ian Porter said:
if he does can we have it on video this time

Phil
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Not really funny in a museum full of soldiers and airborne personnel :whistle: :whistle:
 
W

Wigan Chris

Member
That sounds interesting, and it's something I've always had in mind... only issue for me is booking annual leave at that time of year... I'm going to subscribe to this thread... pencil me in for now
 
N

nigelphoto

New Member
I'd be very interested in coming on a trip to the WW1 battle sites (WW2 - been there, done that, taken the pictures, eaten the foie gras). Phil suggests going via Le Havre but its a bit far from the northern WW1 sites - the British sector extended from Nieuport on the Belgian coast around Wipers (Ypres) and south to the Somme. I've been several times and it is very harrowing to visit these places, especially if one has relatives buried in one of the huge cemeteries (Tyne Cot for instance at Ypres is the largest Commonwealth War Graves site on the Western Front). My Great Uncle Lt Geoffrey Hepworth Frischling was born a German (father German, mother English) but brought up in England and served with the 12th Bn East Surrey Regt. He died on 14th August 1918 and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery at Poperinge, West Flanders. Sorry, I'm going on a bit, but the general gist of all this is count me in, although dates would need confirming.

PS Thought the map might be of interest - I've marked the British sector in blue
 
Whealie

Whealie

Wing Commander
Staff member
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Could we find time to swing by Fonsommes? It is not directly relevant but is the source of the Somme and I have this idea of visiting the source of several rivers on various trips. We'd be passing nearby anyway.

Fonsommes by whealie, on Flickr
 
Lord Vader

Lord Vader

Well-Known Member
nigelphoto said:
I'd be very interested in coming on a trip to the WW1 battle sites (WW2 - been there, done that, taken the pictures, eaten the foie gras). Phil suggests going via Le Havre but its a bit far from the northern WW1 sites - the British sector extended from Nieuport on the Belgian coast around Wipers (Ypres) and south to the Somme. I've been several times and it is very harrowing to visit these places, especially if one has relatives buried in one of the huge cemeteries (Tyne Cot for instance at Ypres is the largest Commonwealth War Graves site on the Western Front). My Great Uncle Lt Geoffrey Hepworth Frischling was born a German (father German, mother English) but brought up in England and served with the 12th Bn East Surrey Regt. He died on 14th August 1918 and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery at Poperinge, West Flanders. Sorry, I'm going on a bit, but the general gist of all this is count me in, although dates would need confirming.

PS Thought the map might be of interest - I've marked the British sector in blue
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Cool but there are several people which never been to the Normandie sites hence Phil mentioning the Le Havre ferry :thumbsup: maybe you could hook up with us once we moved on to the WW1 sites :cool:
 
M

Mark

Member
Have done both WW sites, first world war more recently.

We based ourselves at a lovely campsite near Arras, from there you can reach most things. There is a massive French cemetery (Notre Dame de Lorette, around 20,000 fallen) and a German one (La Maison Blanche,around 44,000 fallen) as well as the Commonwealth ones. Arras has The Wellington Quarry where loads of soldiers where hidden ready for one of the pushes. From there Thiepval, Lochnagar Crater, Tyne Cot, Vimy Ridge, etc are all reachable. Then we moved onto a camnpsite in Ypres, 5 minute walk to the Menin gate, a little ride up the road is the Hooge crater museum, Passchendale isnt to far either.

The reason we went originally was my wifes great Uncles grave is at Gezaincourt. With the power of the internet we found he was in 77th Siege Battery, RGA. Was killed in April '18 when the Germans launched Operation Michael. He was wounded near Doullens then moved to 29th Casualty Clearing Station where his wounds got the better of him, He was buried there as was the norm then. Amazing what you can find out with a bit of cross referencing and snippets of info here and there.

If we can get Roxy looked after we'd like to try and make it.



Here's the campsite near Arras http://www.la-paille-haute.com/ Lovely site, nice location/staff

Ypres http://www.jeugdstadion.be/E/ Bit clinical, automated entry but dead handy for Ypres visiting.
 
T

Traveller

Active Member
nigelphoto said:
I'd be very interested in coming on a trip to the WW1 battle sites (WW2 - been there, done that, taken the pictures, eaten the foie gras). Phil suggests going via Le Havre but its a bit far from the northern WW1 sites - the British sector extended from Nieuport on the Belgian coast around Wipers (Ypres) and south to the Somme. I've been several times and it is very harrowing to visit these places, especially if one has relatives buried in one of the huge cemeteries (Tyne Cot for instance at Ypres is the largest Commonwealth War Graves site on the Western Front). My Great Uncle Lt Geoffrey Hepworth Frischling was born a German (father German, mother English) but brought up in England and served with the 12th Bn East Surrey Regt. He died on 14th August 1918 and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery at Poperinge, West Flanders. Sorry, I'm going on a bit, but the general gist of all this is count me in, although dates would need confirming.

PS Thought the map might be of interest - I've marked the British sector in blue
Click to expand...


Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery at Poperinge is where my great uncle buried. A lot of people buried there died from injuries after evacuation to hospital that was set up there.
 
M

Mark

Member
The reason we went originally was my wifes great Uncles grave is at Gezaincourt. With the power of the internet we found he was in 77th Siege Battery, RGA. Was killed in April '18 when the Germans launched Operation Michael. He was wounded near Doullens then moved to 29th Casualty Clearing Station where his wounds got the better of him, He was buried there as was the norm then. Amazing what you can find out with a bit of cross referencing and snippets of info here and there.
 
Whealie

Whealie

Wing Commander
Staff member
Forum Supporter
Traveller said:
A lot of people buried there died from injuries after evacuation to hospital that was set up there.
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Sounds like Lewisham Hospital ;)
 
Chewbadger

Chewbadger

Active Member
Lord McVader said:
Wigan Chris said:
Well that was a big fat :27: from my manager for annual leave in May... :sad:
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Oh man :(
Got a postcode? If my family can hit Fish and Chip shops they sure can...... :hitler: :D
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Bollocks, you had to use your entire bomber squadrons to hit the chip shop in Coventry, and they still missed the one in Tile Hill.

I'd be up for a bimble about next year Pete, pencil me in.

Rob
 
Lord Vader

Lord Vader

Well-Known Member
XS904 said:
Lord McVader said:
Oh man :(
Got a postcode? If my family can hit Fish and Chip shops they sure can...... :hitler: :D
Click to expand...
Bollocks, you had to use your entire bomber squadrons to hit the chip shop in Coventry, and they still missed the one in Tile Hill.

I'd be up for a bimble about next year Pete, pencil me in.

Rob
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Nope that was on purpose as my uncles cousin which is now in Buckingham palace liked that one :D
 
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