Audio tours

Flanders - Ypres WWI Battlefield Tour

‘Can you forget those days of undiluted hell?
That scared your soul and made you doubt your God.
When Wipers though a rat infested shell,
Seemed a heaven when the mud of Hooge you trod?’

World War I marked a violent turning point in history, and the war on the Western Front was a prolonged and titanic struggle, often for limited or no gain. The British and Britain’s empire partners from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland and South Africa, held doggedly to the small mediaeval town of Ypres from 1914 until the end of the war. The sacrifice and courage required was quite foreign to us today: over half a million men were killed in the Battle of Passchendaele alone. Yet famously, through this experience and suffering shone nevertheless poetry and humour, and stories of gallantry and honour.

'Intelligence Summary…1250pm Enemy fired 80 Minnies.
Seventy of these exploded in our front line. No damage was

done. Our heavy artillery at once replied by bombarding our

own support line for two hours. At the finish of the

bombardment our support line was completely obliterated.
This proves the superiority of our ammunition’

Ypres is a huge subject to condense into a meaningful experience. We select 24 points of particular interest, and divide the task into four short excursions, each lasting between two and four hours, and marked clearly on a hand-illustrated map. We weave into the story a broader explanation of the nature of the war, together with poetry, and contemporary extracts from memoirs and journals, much of which has never been published before.

'I felt a heavy blow on my forehead and everything went black.

I put my hand to my face and felt a hole between the eyes

which seemed to be about the size of a cricket ball.

I felt nothing, no pain or anything like that.'

Listen to the tour in one sitting to help plan your visit at home, or follow along in real time on the ground. And then take the player and map home as a souvenir or gift for a friend.

We are proud with this tour to support the excellent and vital work of the Army Benevolent Fund. For every tour sold a proportion of the sale price goes to support the ABF, also known as The Soldiers’ Charity. You can find out more about their work here: www.armybenfund.org.

There are two ways to purchase this product:

Ypres WWI Battlefield Audiotour and Map Package
Audio tour with pre-recorded and re-usable player, ready to play out of the box. The package contains: