Tag: specialist guide

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A battlefields tour and a journey to a 'free Europe'

Paul Prendergast shares his experience of the D-Day Landings in Normandy tour, his second Battlefields tour with Leger.

DAY 1
The first day of our Battlefields tour started with a noon pick up at Pease Pottage service station. It was a smooth journey down to Dover where we had the changeover onto our coach onward to the Battlefields of Normandy. Whilst at Dover I had the chance to have a quick chat with Paul Reed, the Leger Head Battlefields Guide – this man is without a doubt a great Military Historian and his knowledge is boundless. It was a real pleasure to meet him and shake his hand. We arrived in Calais with no problems. On the four-hour drive to the beaches of D-Day the journey was quick and pleasant and Mark and Dave – our drivers – were friendly, smart and willing to help. Our guide for the trip was Bill McQuade. He told us what to expect on each day of the tour. Again, his military knowledge was boundless and he answered any questions with no problems.

DAY 2
We set off at 08.30am to Pegasus Bridge. It was great to actually walk on the bridge – just to think, this was the point that the heroes started to fight to free Europe and get back the freedom to the people of France. We also went to visit the Gondrée Café which was the first place to be liberated in France. I found it quite remarkable that a small band of men risked so much on this bridge. We stopped for lunch at a small café just next to the bridge before going to Sword Beach – Queen’s sector. This is where the British landed. We also stopped to see a statue of a piper who led the soldiers into battle playing – this was at Hermanville which is twinned with Tangmere in West Sussex where a Battle of Brittan RAF squadron was based. We then visited the Juno Sector of the beach which is where the film D–Day was actually made and then went to see a memorial to the 7000 Canadians that landed on the beach, before moving on to the Juno Centre – a fantastic place to look around at pictures and artifacts. I sat in a small cinema with a small group of people from our group and also a group of children from Canada. The film showed actual battlefield dead and casualties, and as we left the cinema I found some of the children crying. I asked if they were OK and one of them told me that it had brought it home to them what really happened. I found it quite touching that children from today realise what these men gave up. We then visited an underground bunker which was in very good condition – it still had the small stove and cots in it. We then went to Mulberry B. We couldn’t see a lot due to the mist on the sea, and can only imagine how it was on 6th June 1944.

DAY 3
Our day began with a very misty drive down to Bloody Omaha, the American sector of the D-Day landings. We started our day at the American War Cemetery at Omaha. I have never visited any other cemeteries apart from the British ones and I didn’t know what to expect. On arrival there were immaculate white headstones as far as the eye could see. Buried in this place are a few people who I would like to mention: Robert A Niland, killed 06/06/44 and Preston Niland, killed 07/06/44 – two brothers killed within a day of each other and on whom the film Saving Private Ryan is based. Also, Theodore Roosevelt Jnr., killed 12/07/44, son of the American President.
Walking around this place bought chills to me and brought home the price that these men paid for my freedom today. Then it was on to the Overlord Museum. This had some fantastic pieces of kit in it to look at close up, ranging from a Panzer Tank to Sherman Tank and personal belongings of British and American soldiers. We then went down onto the actual Omaha Beach. I can’t imagine the mayhem and slaughter the Americans must have gone through on the landing day. I went up a small path which lead to a small German bunker which likely held a machine gun because of the vantage point down on to the beach. We then went to Utah Beach to a fantastic little place where you could have look around and actually see what happened on the day. My favourite part of Utah Beach was when I found a few German bunkers that you could actually go into. We then stopped at a statue of Dick Winters – he was one of the Band of Brothers. We stopped at a tribute to the 101 Airborne Division, otherwise known as Easy Company, made famous by a TV series by Stephen Spielberg.
Unknown Soldier Headstone
The last trip of the day was to a German War Cemetery. I didn’t know how I would feel about this because I’ve never visited one before. It contained about 8000 soldiers of all ranks. What was also shown to me by our guide was the grave of Michael Wittmann and his tank crew. He was one of the most daring commanders of his time and he died and was buried with his crew. I walked around the cemetery and noticed no headstone standing upright and the lack of flowers on any graves. I asked Bill, our guide, why this was. He said it was that a ‘Spirit of the Forest’ approach is taken to death in Germany, hence the lack of flowers – only firs and ferns on some graves. In the British cemeteries, any soldier that is not known and buried is marked with the words ‘Known But To God’. Here nothing. All it said was Ein Deutscher Soldat – A German Soldier. I found it simple but quite touching. A very thought-provoking end to the day.

German Grave


Day 4
We set off on another misty day to visit Jerusalem Cemetery, a very small place with only 48 buried at the cemetery. I found a grave of J Banks DLI who died on the 21st July 1914 aged just 16. How can a child die like that because he wanted to do the right thing for King and Country? We stopped to take some photographs of a memorial to the 49th West Riding Division and then onto the Scottish Corridor and Hill 112 to look at a Cromwell tank. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see much from the top of the hill due to the mist. We stopped off in a town called Falaise for lunch – this town is famous for being the town where William the Conqueror was conceived – before going to Mont Ormel, known as The Polish Battlefield. We also went to a small but fantastic museum which had great artifacts and also a fantastic view of where the German retreat took place. The group’s last stop was at a National French monument which is a tiger tank abandoned by its crew. We had a group photo taken by Bill.
The thoughts on my first Leger WW2 trip? Simply fantastic. Our guide, Bill McQuade’s knowledge was amazing and all our questions were answered. His passion for his subject is simply wonderful. Our drivers, Mark and Dave were safe drivers, always helpful and well turned out. With the 70th anniversary of D-Day fast approaching, I would recommend this trip without a doubt.
This was my second trip with Leger in under six months – my first was All Quiet on the Western Front – and I’ve enjoyed them both. Which one next? Verdun? Fritz? Tommy? Who knows, but whichever one I book, I know it will be great.

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A battlefield guide in the making – Conor Reeves

A battlefield guide in the making

When 15-year old budding World War historian Conor Reeves, from Cheshire, first came on a Leger battlefield tour, little did he know where it would lead.

After taking the Old Front Lines tour, he contacted his battlefield guide to thank them for the experience and to ask if there was any possibility he could do some work experience on a future tour. Fully expecting a polite ‘no’, he was amazed when Leger’s head battlefield guide, Paul Reed, got in touch to make it happen. So in July 2013, Conor took the ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ tour – but this time as a trainee guide, presenting some of his extraordinary knowledge about the topic to other guests on the tour. Here he explains the experience in his own words:

On the 26th of July, I embarked upon my journey to the First World War battlefields of Northern France and Flanders. I had travelled with Leger on three previous occasions and, consequently, knew what to expect. This time, however, my experience would differ because I would be aiding the Battlefield Guide.
After weeks of planning and preparation, I arrived at the hotel to be greeted by the specialist guide. We discussed how the weekend would work and which ‘presentations’ I would perform.
The 27th of July saw our group head out onto the Ypres Salient, in Belgium. After visiting the recreated trenches and museum at Sanctuary Wood in the middle of an electric storm, we were bound for Tyne Cot British Cemetery. The largest British and Commonwealth war cemetery in the world, with around 12,000 burials, Tyne Cot always captures hearts and minds of visitors; whether they are first timers or regulars. This would be the setting, and what a spectacular setting it was, for my first presentation. I decided to set the scene and put the cemeteries into context with a brief overview of common traits and a brief history of Common Wealth War Grave cemeteries as, for many, it was their first time visiting the battlefields. This was a leap of faith on my part as I had to judge to what depth of detail I should go into and how much people already knew.  Although, at first, my presentation started a little quietly, I started to pick up techniques from our guide. I tried to amalgamate a selection of different techniques like facts, opinions and anecdotes.

Connor Reeves on his work experience
Conor answering questions from the group

People were soon asking questions and it was a pleasure to able to answer them; it was a thoroughly enriching experience to help people understand and enjoy the trip. Although the battlefields have a certain pull factor, insisting that many visitors return time after time, for many it would be the first and only time on the old frontlines. The thought that I was helping to forge the only memories of visiting the battlefields on which their relatives probably fought and died, really is priceless. I choose the word “is” with some conviction because it still makes me feel proud and very grateful, even to this day.
Later that day, I presented some information at the Ploegsteert Memorial, with subjects including the story of a posthumous Victoria Cross winner and a former England Rugby captain. With my confidence improving, I was receiving lots of positive feedback which would stand me in good stead and give me great amount of encouragement for our time on the Somme, the following day.
The Somme holds a very special place within the consciousness of the British nation because of its apparent embodiment of the horrors associated with the First World War.
Feeling more at home, where I one day wish to reside, I was much more confident on the battlefields of the Somme, doing presentations at La Boisselle and Beaumont-Hamel. Presenting the events of 1916 to some of the descendants of the victims of this most gargantuan of battles was an absolute dream come true. A dream which I sometimes doubted would ever come to fruition, but which has done so before my 16th year. My dream, however, would not have been achievable if the opportunity had not been provided by Leger and its guides. To talk about the disastrous first day of the battle of the Somme was an honour and a privilege; something I will forever look fondly upon, to be able to share the stories of heroism and blunder and bear witness to the sacrifices made in the name of the British Empire.
On the Somme, it was a great surprise to be met by Paul Reed; the head Leger battlefield guide. I have previously met Paul a couple of times and he arranged my work experience, so I thought it was very nice of him to take time out of his holiday to see how I was getting on. Paul has continued to support me throughout my development and education into The Great War and is always willing to give me support and advice. He inquired as to how I was finding the experience and I gleefully explained what I had done and how brilliant I was finding it all. I even got him to sign my copy of his book “Walking the Somme”. Although I could have chatted to Paul all day, the tour beckoned and I had to adhere to battlefield guide rule number one; the customer is your number one priority – another moral I learnt as a result of my time spent with the great staff at Leger holidays!

Connor and Paul
Paul and Conor

We finished the day at the Thiepval memorial to the missing of the Somme. An appropriate ending to the day, putting the size of the battle into context with its 72,000 names, each one “denied the known and honoured burial” given to their comrades.
Earlier in the day, I had agreed to help a lady find her Grandfather on the memorial. One, amongst the endless names. To aid her in finding the relative’s name, which was the sole purpose of her pilgrimage, was an experience that I will never forget.
Aside from the historical and factual information gained from the trip, I gained a great amount of experience in public speaking and presentation which will help greatly in the future. Working with Leger has made me even more set on pursuing a career in military history which I will continue to work towards over the next few years. The ultimate goal at the end of my education is to be able to submerse myself in the history of the Great War and live on the battlefields, permanently, working for a company like Leger.
Until then!
Conor Reeves