Crimson Coast

The ‘Crimson Coast’ was a name given to the French and Belgian coastline during the First World War when it became a place of sacrifice, with men dying in the hospitals along the French coast and the end of the Western Front seeing heavy fighting in Flanders: the fields here being covered in the crimson of poppy fields. This tour looks at a range of often neglected subjects, from the Etaples Mutiny of 1917 to women in WWI and the use of foreign labour behind the lines; as well as what was going on in the trenches of Flanders. We also visit the grave of John McCrae, and see where he wrote the immortal ‘In Flanders Fields’ poem at Essex Farm near Ypres.

Tour Includes

4 nights hotel with continental breakfast
Specialist Battlefield Guide
Convenient local joining points

0 days from £0^pp

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Local departure by coach, then to Belgium for a four-night stay.

We begin the tour at GHQ – General Headquarters in Montreuil-sur-Mer. The town housed the heart of the British Army on the Western Front and was where Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig directed much of the fighting. We see where GHQ was and visit the Haig Statue. After lunch, in the seaside town of Etaples, we look at its role in WW1 as the main British Base Depot and see the huge Lutyens designed Etaples Military Cemetery, close to the site of the ‘Bull Ring’ where the Etaples Mutiny began in 1917. At Wimereux we see the grave of Colonel John McCrae, who wrote ‘In Flanders Fields’ and end the day at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery visiting the grave of WW1 poet Julien Grenfell who wrote ‘Into Battle’.

Includes Breakfast

General Haig Memorial, Montreuil Etaples Military Cemetery Wimereux Boulogne Eastern Cemetery

Returning to the Crimson Coast in France we look at the role of Dunkirk and De Panne in WW1 before seeing where the end of the Western Front was at Nieuport in Belgium. After lunch, we visit the new Battle of Yser visitors centre with time to see the King Albert Memorial, as well as the British Nieuport Memorial. We then travel to Ostend to see the bow of HMS Vindictive used in ‘commando’ raids on the Belgian coast in 1918 and at Zeebrugge look at one such raid which took place here in April 1918.

Includes Breakfast

Nieuport Memorial De Panne King Albert Memorial, Nieuport Zeebrugge Yser Museum, Nieuport HMS Vindictive Memorial, Ostend

We start the day in Flanders at Poperinghe looking at life behind the lines with a visit to Talbot House. Opened by two army chaplains, the Toc H organisation started here and it is now a ‘living museum’. We also see the Death Cells in Poperinghe and look at the subject of military executions. After lunch we visit the Yser Tower Museum at Diksmuide and the nearby Trenches of Death, where the Belgian Army held the line for four years. Travelling down to Ypres we stop at Essex Farm where John McCrae wrote ‘In Flanders Fields’ in 1915 before attending the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, held each evening at 8pm.

Includes Breakfast