3 Days History tour itinerary for Arras, Lille & Ypres: Commemorate The British Indian Army's Efforts In WWI
Neuve-Chapelle Memorial commemorates more than 4,700 Indian soldiers and labourers who lost their lives
Lille-France
Join this tour to explore the heritage of the soldiers of the British Indian Army on the Western Front. Many thousands of men from what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal served in France and Belgium in the Great War. Many of them did not go back and are buried or commemorated in Britain, Belgium and France.
DAY 01
Lille- Ieper
In Flanders Fields
Flanders Fields Museum. Orientation to the Western front
The story of the Indian Army in the 1st Battle of Ypres in 1914. Stories of Indian soldiers who distinguished themselves including Khudadad Khan VC and Subedar Thakur Singh MC
Preserved Trenches on Messines Ridge, close to where the young Adolf Hitler served.
Bedford House cemetery with the Indian Army graves
The Indian army at the 2nd Battle of Ypres and the first use of poison gas. Story of Mir Dast VC
Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate and opportunity to lay a wreath at this ceremony
DAY 02
Ieper -Arras
Depart Ieper with your Europe tour guide.
Visit the battlefield of Neuve Chapelle
The Battle of Loos and the role of the Indian Corps.
The story of Kulbir Thapa VC
Zelobes Indian Cemetery
Indian Army memorial and memorial to the Missing Neuve Chapelle
The story of Indra Lal Roy buried in Estevelles Communal Cemetery
Overnight Arras
DAY 03
Arras-Lille
Visit:
Technology and the Great War
The Historial Museum of the Great War Peronne.
Thiepval memorial
The Indian Cavalry on the Somme, the Deccan Horse versus machine guns.
The battle of Arras
Cambrai - The Indian Cavalry and Army and Tanks
- 1200 GBP Per Adult
Europe tour guide services.
Research into personal stories. This is what is special about these tours. A battlefield historian will carry out some research to find the locations relevant to individuals of interest to you. For example, the guide will explain what the service record means and cross-reference the war diaries and history books to find places where that person's unit served and even where they became a casualty.
Maps and other supporting material handout.
Accommodation: Can recommend hotels and hostels to suit your preferred standards and the itinerary.
Meals: Can recommend restaurants to suit your taste and the size of your group. For large groups, menus can be recommended. Can picnic in good weather. Budget around 10-15 Euros for lunch and 25-50 euros for an evening meal.
Guide accommodation and subsistence: If you want the guide to provide an informed company during the evening, book them into the same hotel. Otherwise, they will stay in budget accommodation.
Transportation: This will depend on the size of your group. Can advise and book suitable transport and drive or share the driving.
Museum entrances
This is more than a guided tour. This is an offer of a personalised visit to the battlefields of the western front with an itinerary that is tailored to your interests. Can adjust the itinerary to include locations and topics that are specific to you. If you want to visit the graves of a soldier or the places where they served, the guide will do our best to find out the background to what happened and why.
Cover the main sites of interest to the Australian visitor, but the historian will do it, as far as possible through the experiences of the people of most interest to the guests.
You are charged for the guide’s time. Everything else is charged at cost, to keep the cost down for you, the guests.
Happy to adjust this tour around commemorations for Armistice day.
Neuve-Chapelle Memorial: It commemorates more than 4,700 Indian soldiers and labourers who lost their lives on the Western Front during the First World War and have no known grave.
Arras, Lille, Ypres



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