Hi all, Lad and I want to go and spend a weekend running around the sites of France/Belgium and possibly Germany if we get time. I', not being lazy, honest, its more ignorance of history. Can anyone let me have a good itinerary or (in a perfect world) gpx file? Plan is Calais, local sites at Dunkirk, head to Belgium then if we can I'd like ti get to a camp or two in W Germany... Thanks in advance
Not done any of the WW1 sites myself but my mates have been and talked about it. There are a few areas of trench left and the various memorials. They visited a few huge holes from the explosive mines they dug under the lines and they even found out about a rusty old Churchill tank in a wood somewhere. WW2 - Depends if you want to just visit areas of WW2 battles or see remaining structures etc. There is very little to see either at Calais or Dunkirk these days structure wise since the ports were re developed. In the center of Calais there is a communications bunker that is now a museum and there is the TODT museum that is in a big gun battery just south of Calais. There are also a couple of V2 sites inland a bit. If you venture to the Hurtgen forest you can still see the US and German positions and some museums (one of which has a King Tiger with a nice shell hole up it's jacksy which disabled it). We even found bits of boots and mess tins etc still lying in old fox holes. Parts of the Siegfried and maginot lines are also still there and worth a look. Normandy is still the best in terms of concentration of sites in France particularly around Ouistriem - Le Grand Bunker, Pegasus Bridge, Merville Battery, radar base at Douvres and the Hillman battery. plus the beaches and the fantastic war museum at Bayeaux and the various landing beaches. Normandy can be a trip in itself.
I've only got Fri-Mon so can't go too far, was thinking off the ferry, up the coast and across to Belgium. Sites and museums and memorials would be top of the list, although I think my lad may find an old concentration camp a bit sobering in this day of wanton need Have been looking to do this a while and searched a bit, and am sure when I posted before had some suggestions... may have a search for an old thread later
You won't find any concentration camps that close to home. Most were East Germany or Poland. There was a holding camp for deported Jews in Holland but I would imagine that is long gone. What is left of Belsen is the nearest to Belgium/France I would think. The WW1 battlefields and the WW2 regions of the Hurtgen forest and Bastogne etc are all fairly close together and the best bet of covering both bases.
The trench site here is pretty interesting. Newfoundland soldiers' stories are fascinating and it's a beautiful site within easy reach of Thiepval also. We were similarly in the dark when we visited but it was a very good first site to see, and led to a lot of Googling. Coincidentally it was 1st July when we were there and some veterans (not of WW1) were there parading and it was rather moving. Enjoy your trip!
We visited Auschwitz last month... it stays with you, and when you learn more about how precise and planned it all was, how massive the German ambition was and how scared of recriminations they were when they knew that the war was lost and the extermination camps would be found... mind-boggling stuff. Definitely worth a trip, and sobering is putting it mildly. We did a quick calculation and of our whole families only three would have even made it off the train and into the camp without qualifying for instant termination (under 14, over 40, disabled, pregnant and so on). That was a staggering realisation.
Thinking this may work... Fort Breedonk Friday Ypres battle sites Saturday Vimy memorial park/musee vibrant 1914-18 Sunday Preserved trenches at Ocean Vialls, Auchonvillers Monday on way back to Chunnel Find hotels as and when.
My Dad went to Aushwitz in the 60's and he said the pine forests around were still devoid of birds as if even animals sensed it was a place of death 20 years later.
It is a strange place. Life has grown back around and through it, but it retains something you can't quantify with words.
Did a tour of the Ypres cemetery sites from a cruise ship at Xmas - very worthwhile, but having a guide probably made it, pointing out the VC graves and battle lines etc. St Georges Memorial Church and the Menin Gate (Ypres)are also unmissable.
I`d like to see The Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, Ypres. A friend went in 2015 and he said it was one of the most emotional things he`s ever seen. It`s on my list. http://www.greatwar.co.uk/events/menin-gate-last-post-ceremony.htm
As above really. For WW1, Ypres is your best bet from the places I have been. Hill 62 is just up the road and well worth seeing. As @wroughtironron says, you have to do the Menin Gate, make sure you see the ceremony at 8pm each night, it brings a lump to your throat. It's a nice little town to stay in for a night too and a 2 - 3 day trip seems about right. The best WWII stuff I have seen is around the Normandy beaches, You could spend a week there and not even scratch the surface, there is so much to see. I have to admit, I enjoyed this more, but I think this is because I understand the history a lot more. Auschwitz is on the bucket list.
Major and Mrs Holt's battlefield guides are a good resource once you've decided on the area you're headed for.
Haven't done it myself but would like to Check out the Italian Austrian battles during WWI. A war of stalemate at times but also movement and mountains, mainly north of Trieste and also in the Trentino, North East of Garda Ossuary on Mt Grappa
Bradders, that's a coincidence; I am taking my son over to Belgium in August for his 1st intro trip on a bike in Europe. Great to read everyone's experiences and will have to come up with a cunning plan....
I used to live quite close to Belsen and went there in the 60s as a kid and then again in the 70s and 80s. Just like your dad found, there were no birds.
