SECOND WORLD WAR - Ardennes
The Battle of the Ardennes
By the autumn of 1944, the Allies in the West had pushed the Germans back to
the very borders of Germany along a 1,000 mile front but supplies remained an
Allied problem and the port of Antwerp was not yet open. Hitler saw an
opportunity. If he could strike a daring blow, split the Allied line and capture
Antwerp, the British would be cut off and might even be forced in to another
Dunkirk style evacuation............but where to strike?
The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Eisenhower, had to
spread his forces thinly in places in order to cover the entire front. One
place where American forces were particularly weak was the Ardennes; the
same Ardennes of 1940 that held a 'magical, mystical memory for Hitler'.
This tour is available as a five day or four day package. The four day package visits the same sites as the five day but time is compressed in certain locations to fit within the timeframe of the four days.
Day One: UK - Bastogne via Calais, Mons and Dinant.
We will begin this tour by travelling through France and Belgium to our first stop at Mons, where the Allies ended the First World War - and where the stage was set for the Second World War.
A further stop on this outbound leg will be made at the strikingly picturesque town of Dinant. Here we will look at the places where the Germans crossed the Meuse River in 1940 having advanced through the 'impassable' Ardennes Forest.
After this we will travel to Bastogne, the key strategic site in the Battle of the Bulge, and move into the hotel. After dinner there will be a talk from Phil about the battlefield situation prior to the Germans launching ‘Wacht am Rhein' or ‘Watch on the Rhine' - the deliberately defensive sounding codename used by the Germans for their forthcoming onslaught.
Day Two: Winter Thunderclap.
From our starting point at the Losheim Gap, we shall follow the route of the 1st SS Panzer Corps and visit the sites where the American troops were overwhelmed by the advance of the German tanks at Bucholz Station, Malmedy, Ligneiville, Stavelot, and where the onslaught was gradually brought to a halt as the American defence stiffened at locations such as Trois Ponts, La Gliese and the Elsenborne Ridge.
Day Three: Americans and Germans in Crisis.
Today we follow and explore the actions on Schnee Eifel, the high ground east of St Vith, which saw the second greatest capitulation of US troops in history. The rugged nature of the Ardennes terrain dictated that the Battle of the Bulge was all about crossroads and because of this, St Vith was a major German objective. However, mistakes in German planning combined with the stubbornness of the American defenders meant that the German attackers had to fight for every inch.
We shall explore this area in detail and follow the action as it unfolded.
Day Four: ‘Nuts!'
This is a day spent around our base of operations that was the key to the Battle of the Bulge, Bastogne. This town is the hub of a network of roads that spread out like the spokes of a wagon wheel through the Ardennes and this network of roads and tracks meant that in order for the Germans to succeed with their plan, Bastogne had to be captured. Unfortunately for the Germans, the veteran and elite US 101st Airborne Division had been rushed to bolster the Bastogne garrison and despite being stretched painfully thin and under-equipped and fighting in cripplingly cold conditions, the ‘Battered Bastards of Bastogne' held out against repeated and determined German attacks.
We shall start the day at two museums; the small but fascinating ‘Musee original au pays d'Ardenne' just off Place McAuliffe, named in honour of the Artillery Commander of the 101st Airborne Division who unexpectedly found himself commanding the defence of Bastogne, followed by the more modern Bastogne Historical Centre with its outstanding collection of uniforms and equipment and the very distinctive Mardasson Memorial to the defenders of Bastogne, the top of which provides a good view of Bastogne.
We then travel out to explore where the German attack initially fell on the American line before returning to spend the rest of the day around the Bastogne perimeter visiting the scenes of actions such as at Champs where the Germans launched a concerted attack on Christmas Day and Assenois where Private James Hendrix earned his Medal of Honor during the relief of Bastogne (although it should be remembered that no member of the beleaguered but fiercely proud 101st Airborne has ever admitted that they actually needed relieving!).
Once Bastogne had been relieved, the battle continued. We shall visit where E Company, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment held the line for the duration of the siege. Their experience was made famous when the book by the American historian Stephen Ambrose was made into the television series, ‘Band of Brothers'. We shall visit the memorial to E Company and the pine woods in which the company reached breaking point, before following their attack on the village of Foy that the Company liberated in January 1945.
There will be an after dinner talk about Patton and Montgomery's involvement in the Battle of the Bulge.
Day Five: Return to the UK.
5 DAY TOUR
Price - £990 per person
£1450 per couple sharing
4 DAY TOUR
Price - £649 per person
£995 per couple sharing
The tour begins and finishes at Victoria Bus Station, London.
Spaces are limited to 12 so we would advise to enquire and book early to avoid missing out.
We fully comply with the provisions of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 (EEC Directive 90/314). In accordance with these regulations, all payments made to us, either as deposit or final settlement (including all credit card payments), are held in a separate trust account (HSBC Bank PLC, 76 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1EL. Account Number: 93672638) and as such your payment cannot be released to us until the relevant Tour has taken place. This regulation guarantees a full refund of all monies paid in the most unlikely event of us failing to provide the Tour booked.