Wednesday 4th to Friday 6th June 2025
This 3-day tour covers the Battle of the Lys, the second phase of Germany’s do-or-die effort to finish off the Great War in the spring of 1918, forcing the British Army into heroic defensive actions while at its absolute limits.
Named after the River Lys which meanders through this little known part of Flanders, the Battle began on 9th April 1918 when the first phase of the overall German effort, initially hugely successful in advancing many miles across the old Somme battlefields, had ground to a halt due to exhaustion of men and supplies.
In a push at the “soft” area south of heavily defended Ypres, the Germans next aimed to isolate the town’s British defenders by capturing the transport hub at Hazebrouck, threatening the Channel ports. A full 35 German divisions, over 600,000 men with supporting artillery, had been assembled for the offensive, headed by stormtroopers, newly devised formations of assault soldiers specially trained in infiltration tactics.
The stress put on the BEF shows in the drastic measures it either considered (flooding countryside near Dunkirk) or actually adopted: Douglas Haig’s “Backs to the Wall” Special Order issued on Day 3, and vacating ground so hard won recently at Passchendaele, as troops were rushed off to support beleaguered comrades on the Lys.
We shall visit sites of extraordinary defensive actions, such as those of the Grenadier Guards at Vieux Berquin, the Worcesters at Neuve Église, the Royal West Surreys at Méteren (among them, Private Cyril Batchelor of Goudhurst), and at Messines where a Victoria Cross was won by Major Eric Dougall of Tunbridge Wells. We also cover the role of the much-maligned Portuguese Expeditionary Force, their fate evidenced by a striking memorial at La Couture and 1,831 graves in their dedicated cemetery at Neuve Chapelle.
Our two nights spent at Talbot House, the authentic location in Poperinge where British troops enjoyed brief respite from the turmoil and brutality of battle, include a talk on its history and a visit to its museum.
Cost: £600 (includes guides, handbook, all travel, hotel, two dinners, two breakfasts and three lunches) plus £100 single room supplement.