Fighting With Pride will be hosting a trip to the WW1 battlefields between Monday 20 and Friday 24 March 2023.
Our group of up to 33 veterans will travel in a luxury coach with the support of a driver, specialist battlefield guides, and a FWP support team.
The tour is fully funded for LGBT+ veterans, through the Afghanistan Veterans Fund with thanks to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (AFCFT) and the Office for Veterans Affairs. Priority on this trip will be given to veterans who have served in Afghanistan (please do not be discouraged from applying if you have not served in Afghanistan) and all veterans who served before 2000. There may be a limited number of places for significant others. Attending previous trips will not affect your eligibility for this trip.
Should the event become oversubscribed, we will be operating a waiting list, in case of illness, or other unforeseen circumstances.
Important: Due to the nature of this trip, it involves sitting on a coach for long periods at a time, and a great deal of getting on and off the coach with tours around battlefields and cemeteries. If you are concerned about mobility or health issues please contact us to discuss and we will try to accommodate and work with people as best we can, however, you do need to be confident that this type of tour is reasonably manageable for you.
The final programme is to be confirmed nearer the time, but here’s a little of what to expect……….
Day One
Picking up in London and Dover, we travel across to France, proceeding to our hotel in Belgium for four nights.
Day Two
Ypres, the preserved trenches at Sanctuary Wood Trench Museum, the Messines Ridge to Ploegsteert to see the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing. Our day ends in Ypres, where we attend the moving Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial.
Day Three
The ‘Forgotten Front’ between Flanders and the Somme. Starting on the Loos Battlefield, we visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Visitor’s Centre, the Arras Memorial to the Missing and see the Air Services Memorial. We end our day at the stunning Vimy Ridge memorial on Hill 145.
Day Four
Today we visit the excellent Historial de la Grande Guerre Museum, the Lochnagar Mine Crater at La Boisselle, the trenches in the Newfoundland Park and hear about LGBT+ War Poet Wilfred Owen.
Day Five
Return home via the moving Lijssenthoek Cemetery and Visitor’s Centre.
REGISTRATION
Please book your place, if you haven’t already done so, by 2 Dec 2022 by following this link:
Fighting With Pride WW1 Battlefield Tour – 20th-24th March 2023 Tickets | Eventbrite
Or if you would like to learn more before booking please email events@fightingwithpride.org.uk
