Sacred Ground Tours in Arras, France | Tour guide

Sacred Ground Tours

Locality: Arras, France

Phone: +33 6 75 66 59 02

Address: 6 bis Petite Rue St Gery 62000 Arras, France

Website: http://sacredgroundtours.com.au

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25.01.2022 Wreath laying by Frédéric Leturque, Mayor of Arras at the Memorial Wall of the Wellington Tunnels with the performance of the British mezzo-soprano Emma Brown: Amazing Grace. Readings of the Act of Remembrance in French and in English.

25.01.2022 Plenty of WWI trophies are shown in the villages, towns and cities all across Australia.. I’m currently in Melbourne, this beauty, a German 8 inch Howitzer was captured by the 1st & 4th Divisions in the Monash led advance of August - September 1918... It is proudly showcased outside of the Melbourne Army Barracks, just down the road from the Shrine..

25.01.2022 A DAY RETRACING THE FOOTSTEPS OF A VICTORIA CROSS WINNER Queenslander Harry Dalzeil VC fought at Gallipoli, Pozières, Mouquet Farm Messines and Polygon Wood during the Battle of Passchendaele. He survived and lived until 1965. We took his granddaughter and daughter-in-law to Le Hamel where he became the 1000th VC winner for his act of valour on July 4, 1918. Here they are at the information board at the Australian Memorial with Le Hamel in the background where Harry features.... The local Mayor Stephane Chevin also joined us at the site and presented them with gifts and a flag at a pub in nearby Corbie. They also visited the Australian Memorial and Victoria School at Villers-Bretonneux, Lochnagar Crater, Beaumont-Hamel and Bullecourt A podcast coming soon about an amazing day. See more

24.01.2022 Interesting footage of veterans returning to the battlefields & meeting the former enemy. https://www.facebook.com/100865096953196/posts/926695354370162/?vh=e

23.01.2022 FROMELLES: AUSTRALIA’S DARKEST DAY It’s the 104th anniversary of Australia’s bloody initiation on the battlefields of the Western Front during the First World War. In 24 hours on July 19 & 20, 1916 the 5th Australian Division fought a senseless encounter with the Germans at Fromelles. Of the more than 5,500 casualties, more than 1300 were never found. That’s until almost 100 years later when Melbourne man, Lambis Englezos, uncovered the missing Diggers of Fromelles. ... Australians can’t fly to France at the moment due to coronavirus so we thought we’d send Bruce Atkinson out to the Museum of the Battle of Fromelles to provide an insight into this remarkable story. CLICK ON THE LINK TO LISTEN TO OUR LATEST PODCAST https://soundcloud.com/user8/geoffrey-bouillet-historian-at It’s one of the must see sites and that’s why it is included in Sacred Ground Tours itinerary. http://www.sacredgroundtours.com.au Musée de la Bataille de Fromelles Fromelles Association of Australia RSL National

23.01.2022 THE ANNIVERSARY OF ONE OF THE BLOODIEST BATTLES IN HISTORY Listen to the podcast by clicking on the link below. https://soundcloud.com/user880147624/dawn-drouin-at-thiepval Today is the 104th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme during the First World War.... The Battle started on July the 1st, 1916 and it wasn’t long before Australian soldiers were drawn into the conflict. This time of year would be the perfect time to visit the Western Front battlefields in France and Belgium but due to coronavirus nothing is normal. Bruce Atkinson visited the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, on the Somme, before Covid-19 struck. Here’s an insight into what to expect at the Memorial, Museum and Visitor Centre when things return to normal and you can once again visit on one of our tours. There are some useful links below if you want to learn more about the Thiepval Memorial and the Battle of the Somme. http://www.sacredgroundtours.com.au https://www.historial.fr https://www.cwgc.org//find-cemeter/80800/thiepval-memorial https://www.iwm.org.uk//5-things-you-need-to-know-about-th Historial de la Grande Guerre - Musées de Péronne & Thiepval RSL South Australia RSL National RSL Queensland

23.01.2022 This impressive art work on display at Musee Franco-Australien at the Victoria School in Villers-Bretonneux is by students at Aspley State School in Brisbane. Musée Franco-Australien

22.01.2022 Due to the coronavirus and until further notice, the Last Post Ceremony will take place each evening without public. / Omwille van het coronavirus zal de Last Postplechtigheid tot nader bericht plaats hebben zonder publiek.

21.01.2022 TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR OF FROMELLES CEMETERY Our battlefield guide Aurore Descamps-Ronsin tells us why the opening of the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery in 2010 inspired her. You can visit Fromelles and nearby VC Corner Cemetery and Australian Memorial Park on our day tour to Ypres.... http://www.sacredgroundtours.com.au/western-front-day-to// On July 19, 1916, near the village of Fromelles, in northern France, the 5th Australian division attacked the German frontline centred on a notorious strongpoint called the "Sugar Loaf". The action turned into a bloody catastrophe - the Australians had over 5,500 killed, wounded and missing. It remains the worst day in Australian military history. Completed in July 2010, Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery is the first new war cemetery to be built by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in fifty years. The cemetery contains a total of 250 Australian and British soldiers. 225 are Australians, of which 59 are unidentified, 2 are unidentified British soldiers and 23 are entirely unidentified Commonwealth soldiers. The 250 were recovered in 2009 from a number of mass graves located behind nearby Pheasant Wood, where they had been buried by the Germans following the disastrous battle of Fromelles on 19 and 20 July 1916. The cemetery was officially dedicated on 19 July 2010 and was designed by Barry Edwards. Info courtesy of CWGC. Aurore Descamps-Ronsin Rouffelaers Fromelles Military Cemetery

21.01.2022 Located in Beaurains, near Arras, The CWGC Experience, is a new visitor centre that highlights the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The CWGC Expe...rience gives visitors an intimate look behind the scenes at the teams who work to commemorate the fallen. Discover the work of carpenters, engravers, blacksmiths, masons, mechanics and gardeners and learn about the recovery and reburial of missing servicemen and the Commission’s role in honouring and commemorating the fallen. Please follow this link for more information : https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/the-cwgc-experience/ Commonwealth War Graves Commission

20.01.2022 HAPPY EASTER For everyone who likes chocolate we thought this would be the perfect time to find out how Belgian chocolates are made. Bruce Atkinson went to Belgium recently and ventured away from the battlefields, lured by the temptation to try the world renowned creations. He visited Ledoux Chocolaterie, near Ypres, to learn some secrets from Delfien de Tavernier. Listen to Delfien on the link below. https://soundcloud.com/user880147624/delfien-de-tavernier-at... You can sample some Belgian chocolates on our day tour to Ypres http://www.sacredgroundtours.com.au Visit Flanders Toerisme Ieper

20.01.2022 GET TO KNOW OUR GUIDES With International Women's Day this Sunday we are profiling our French guide, Aurore Decamps-Ronsin. Aurore wouldn't have been born if it wasn't for World War One. Listen to her fascinating story on the Soundcloud link below. https://soundcloud.com/user880147/aurore-descamps-ronsin-at You can join Aurore on one of our tours. Check it out here ... http://www.sacredgroundtours.com.au Aurore Descamps-Ronsin Rouffelaers RSL South Australia

20.01.2022 The fields behind Polygon Wood blossomed with poppies this October. 100 years ago it was Australians on the same ground giving their all. The advance was crater to crater, a couple of hundred thousand shells had mulched all the trees, there was no Polygon Wood . SACRED GROUND TOURS... Three simple Day Tours that cover Australia's major action across the Western Front. For singles, couples and small groups. Out in the Somme Day Tour Fromelles - Ypres Day Tour Bullecourt - Peronne Day Tour Tours can be booked individually or together for a 2 or 3 day Western Front visit. sacredgroundtours.com.au

19.01.2022 This Sunday, the clock changes for Summertime! A look back in photos at the enlightened monument dedicated to the New Zealand Tunnellers! The Earth remembers by New Zealand artist Marian Fountain. #4seasons #DST #BST

19.01.2022 The Last Post Ceremony to resume at the Menin Gate from July. https://www.facebook.com/221069647954772/posts/3010593885668987/?d=n

19.01.2022 Australians are souveniers.. When the Red Baron was shot down by an Australian Machine Gunner it was the Australians that held the ground where he crash landed, on the ridge above Corbie, just north of Villers-Bretonneux. Plenty of Diggers raced over, pulled the Red Baron from the plane.. Apparently his last words were Kaput..... finished..... Quickly the Australians on the spot started stripping the plane for souvenirs... The scene is shown here at Peter Jackson’s exhibition at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in NZ. Manfred von Richthofen... forever remembered..

19.01.2022 Great infographic about the chemical warfare during Word War I.

18.01.2022 The bond between Australia & France is strong. #LestWeForget #AnzacDay

18.01.2022 Throwback to April en oktober 2017 when the ‘Wood of Peace’ was inaugurated. Each tree in the forest commemorates a known, fallen soldier who has a final restin...g place in one of the two cemeteries of Polygon Wood: 523 men. A peace monument was erected in the center of the forest. The Polygon Wood Legacy walking trail, which starts in front of Zonnebeke chateau, passes through this forest. #tbt #throwbackthursday See more

18.01.2022 Live coverage of a special Anzac Day ceremony at the Brothers In Arms Memorial Project - Australia at Polygon Wood, Belgium. It’s on at 8pm AEST. Here’s some info about the project in a podcast from late last year. https://www.facebook.com/485479101610294/posts/1406462426178619/?d=n

15.01.2022 https://www.facebook.com/BeyondtheBrickTV/videos/778315442689689/

15.01.2022 OUR LATEST PODCAST: THE LAST POST CEREMONY AT THE MENIN GATE Bruce Atkinson visited the Belgian city of Ypres recently to attend one of the most remarkable remembrance ceremonies on the Western Front. He spoke with the chairman of the Last Post Association, Benoit Mottrie. Here’s his report. https://soundcloud.com/user8801/last-post-ceremony-at-menin We’d love to see your pics or videos of your trip to the ceremony. Post them in comments below.... We have dinner in Ypres on our day trip to the city before attending the Last Post Ceremony. http://www.sacredgroundtours.com.au Pics: some supplied by The Last Post Association The Menin Gate, Ypres Last Post Ieper Australian War Memorial

14.01.2022 Site Development! A sacred duty. These remarkable set of photographs show the evolution of the rifle butte at Zonnebeke in Belgium to become the location... of an Imperial War Graves Commission cemetery and the memorial of the 5th Australian Division AIF memorial. They come from postcards and images in the collection of the Western Australian Army Museum. The terrain had been battered by the ravages of artillery fire and other destructive forces in the the great battles of 1917, such as at Polygon Wood. The first photographs show a temporary wooden memorial planted on top of the miss-shapened man-made butte (an earthen mound built to restrict small arms ammunition from flying beyond the end of this pre-war rifle range). Later photographs show the restoration and improvement of the mound, the initial war cemetery graves, and the construction of of the divisional memorial and its access steps by British army and German POW staff. A lorry is seen loading stone blocks from a train (in the middle of nowhere!) for conveyance to the cemetery. All these pictures date from after the war, 1919. The final side-view photographs show the pristine 5th Division memorial after completion, with the final image depicting new IWGC headstones in place. Buttes New British Cemetery, at Zonnebeke, contains the remains of 2,108 Allied soldiers, the majority of whom are unknown. Over half of the burials are British; 564 are soldiers of the Australian Imperial Force, 162 soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and five were from Canada. A New Zealand memorial to its missing is also in the cemetery. Lest we Forget

12.01.2022 AN AUDIO TOUR OF THE IN FLANDERS FIELDS MUSEUM FOR REMEMBRANCE DAY The In Flanders Fields Museum in the Belgian city of Ieper or Ypres is one of the best on the Western Front. The museum is inside the city's Cloth Hall which was destroyed in World War One. The museum's content director, Piet Chielens, joined Bruce Atkinson for a guided tour which you can listen to by clicking on this link. https://soundcloud.com/user880/piet-chielens-at-in-flanders Lest We Forget... The museum is currently closed due to the coronavirus lockdown in Belgium. All pics supplied by the museum. In Flanders Fields Museum Flanders Fields 14-18 RSL National RSL South Australia RSL Victoria RSL Queensland See more

12.01.2022 No words needed / Geen woorden nodig - Last Post Ieper, 07/04/2020 #Blijfinuwkot / #StayAtHome - www.lastpost.be

12.01.2022 The Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre is a must visit... Located on on the tip of the South Island in New Zealand.. Here Sir Peter Jackson has the ultimate collection of WWI planes and these are amazingly presented in the Knights of the Sky exhibition. I was lucky enough to visit last February, totally in awe.... Here is a quick walk through the whole museum....

11.01.2022 Hello all, NEW episode: Chapter 1 - 'The Great Adventure' (PART 1), & (PART 2 also available). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fal7KCPQNmw&t=4s... Hope you enjoy and feel free to share, 'Like' and 'Subscribe'. Next episode: Chapter 2 - 'Farewell Australia'.

09.01.2022 Imagine being in these conditions during WW1 and fighting the enemy at the same time. Pics by our guide Aurore today at Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, Thiepval Memorial to the Missing and the Windmill site at Pozières Theipval Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial The Western Front Association

09.01.2022 The Commonwealth War Graves Commission engravers hard at work. Here they are restoring headstones at Serre Road Cemetery No 2 today. It takes about an hour to repair a headstone on site which should then last around another 40 years before it needs to be fixed again. https://www.cwgc.org//ceme/67200/serre-road-cemetery-no.2/

09.01.2022 Cérémonie de l'Anzac Day, Fromelles, 24 avril 2020. Comme chaque année, la commune de Fromelles a souhaité rendre hommage de manière anticipée à tous les soldat...s Australiens et Néo-Zéolandais qui ont été présents en 1916 et 1917 sur Fromelles. La cérémonie n'étant pas ouverte au public, j'ai rendu seul cet hommage sur place. Voici le texte lu et les photos. "Cette année est particulière. Du fait des mesures de confinement pour endiguer la propagation du coronavirus, il n’a pas été possible de rendre publique cette cérémonie. J’ai tenu cependant en tant que maire de Fromelles à honorer nos amis Australiens qui ont combattu dans les Weppes les 19 et 20 juillet 1916 et nos amis Néo-Zélandais qui les ont relevés à partir de septembre jusque février 1917. This year is particular. Due to covid restrictions, it’s not possible to open the ceremony to the public. Nevertheless, as mayor of Fromelles, I wish to pay tribute to our Australian friends who have Fighting in the Weppes on 19 and 20 July 1916 and the New Zealand friends, who relieved them from September until February 1917. Même si je suis seul ici present, c’est avec vous tous amis Français et Australiens que je me remémorre tous nos instants de commémoration. A tous ceux qui sont passés honororer la mémoire des combattants Australiens tombés ici à Fromelles. A ceux qui sont partis depuis. Ne les oublions pas Though I was alone today, it’s with all of you, dear French and Australian friends, that I remember all moments of remembrance. To all who came here to pay tribute for the Australians soldiers died here in Fromelles. To those who have left our land. Lest We forget. WREATH LAYING / Dépôt de Gerbe Monsieur Jean-Gabriel Masson, maire de Fromelles, au nom des Fromellois. THE ODE They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. lls ne vieilliront pas comme nous qui leur avons survécu; Ils ne connaîtront jamais l'outrage ni le poids des années. Au coucher du soleil et le matin Nous nous souviendrons d'eux. ONE MINUTE'S SILENCE / Une minute de silence"

07.01.2022 REMEMBERING HARRY DALZIEL V.C. ON ANZAC DAY: A PODCAST SPECIAL Private Henry Dalziel VC, or Harry as he was better known, was the 1000th recipient of the Victoria Cross.....the Commonwealth's highest award for valour. The Far North Queenslander and son of a miner, from the small town of Irvinebank south-west of Cairns, was 25 years old during the game-changing Australian victory at the Battle of Hamel in France on the 4th of July, 1918. For his actions at Hamel he received t...he Victoria Cross and narrowly avoided being killed. We were honoured recently to have Harry's daughter-in-law, Diane Dalziel and his granddaughter Jacqueline Dalziel join us on a tour to follow in his footsteps. In normal times Sacred Ground Tours would be at the commemorative Anzac Day dawn service at the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux but that's not possible this year due to the Corona virus crisis. So we thought we'd shine the spotlight on Harry Dalziel in this special Anzac Day tribute. Bruce Atkinson joined Diane and Jacqueline on the tour to get a special insight into this remarkable man. Click on the Soundcloud link below to learn more about Harry, including how he offered his VC as a gift to Princess Elizabeth. https://soundcloud.com/user-80551125-14486/harry-dalziel-vc Thanks to Harry's eldest son, David Dalziel, who has created a fantastic website about his father and family. An invaluable resource in putting this project together. https://www.harrydalzielvc.org You can find out more about our tours here: http://www.sacredgroundtours.com.au RSL & Services Clubs Association Queensland Australian War Memorial Sir John Monash Centre Musée Franco-Australien Cairns RSL Club ABC Far North Australian Army

07.01.2022 General Sir John Monash, the only person knighted on a battlefield in the last 300 years because he created the tactics that won the war for the Allies.... The only person to have 100 million dollars spent on a remembrance centre in his name on the Western Front. His leadership style was different. The soldier is the one in the heart of the action, shot at, blown up, wounded, dying. It is the officer who serves the soldier. Monash’s view was the opposite of the upperclass m...entality... Along with Don Bradman, arguably the greatest Australians that ever lived... Walk from the Shrine back into the city Melbourne and you can’t miss his magnificent statue..

06.01.2022 The Capture of the Amiens Gun (A LEGO animation by Brickmania)

06.01.2022 Tearoom for sale, please share.

05.01.2022 Due to the Coronavirus the Australian Government has today made the difficult decision to cancel all Australian-led overseas Anzac Day services this year. The ...increasing spread of the Coronavirus has serious implications for all travellers. The health and safety of all Australians is paramount to this decision. We would encourage all Australians to continue to mark this important national commemorative date by checking their local guides and watching the televised national service from the Australian War Memorial https://bit.ly/2QrcdPc For more information visit: https://bit.ly/DVAAnzacDay or http://minister.dva.gov.au/media_releases/2020/mar/va027.htm

04.01.2022 This version has got to be one of the best ever, the Pogues singing it live is up there too.

04.01.2022 FRENCH SCHOOL CHILDREN SHOW SUPPORT FOR AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRES This art work has been done by students in the French village of Villers-Bretonneux and is on display at the Musée Franco-Australien at Victoria School there. Australian troops recaptured the village on Anzac Day 1918. After the war Victorian school children helped rebuild the school by raising money. The town hasn’t forgotten and the school children of Villers-Bretonneux have created these amazing drawings to support Australia as it recovers from the bushfires. They are being given to Australians visiting the museum at the school to take home and present to local schools.

03.01.2022 We have registered over 1,000 Australian families who lost two or more immediate family members in WWI. Sadly, there are many more to register. Please comment, message or email names to our research team to investigate and register.

02.01.2022 I would be very grateful if you would consider sharing this. Available from all good book retailers. Big Sky Publishing Dymocks Books QBD Books Harry Hartog Bookseller Booktopia

02.01.2022 THE WWI TUNNEL / DUGOUT NETWORKS KEEP POPPING UP ALL OVER THE WESTERN FRONT. THANKS TO SOME HEAVY RAIN, ANOTHER HAS UST OPENED UP... At the end of February 2020, following heavy rainfall in the department, an owner reported to us that their agricultural land had subsided. Authorized by the latter, a small team from ASAPE 14/18 went to the site to examine this sagging, about 2m in diameter and 1m deep. After two hours of clearing, the team cleared access to a French shelter, p...resumably closed since the end of the conflict. The subsidence seems to be related to the rupture of the roof of the shelter in its center. The structure is located around 2.50m deep in a deep hose. It is composed of a room of 3.50m by 2.40m wide and 1.2m high (unknown initial height) Note also the presence of a 5m long gallery allowing access to the first line and / or a support line to the latter. The maps of 1915 and 1916 allow us to locate this underground structure precisely in a deep gut. Near this shelter, the first French line, called by the Germans "Unterstandsgraben" which can be translated by "shelter trench". The wood adjoining this shelter and meanwhile designated as "SCHÜTZENWALD" On the side of the French shooting canvas, this front-line trench takes the name of the surname of a Lientenant-colonel who died near this sector on May 25, 1915, hit by shrapnel to the head during a mission of recognition. This shelter is part of a complex defensive system constructed by the French army to face a dangerous German salient. Again, we remind you that access to agricultural land is strictly subject to the owner's authorization. The photographic and topographical inventory of this shelter being carried out by the association, the owner closed the access by safety.

02.01.2022 Our Ceremonial Manager Dale shares the moving story that inspired the design of the iconic Cobbers Memorial. Whilst the Shrine Memorial is temporarily closed, there are hundreds of significant sites around the 13-hectare Reserve to explore.

01.01.2022 Vegetarian Sausage Saved Germans from Starvation Before WW1 pigs in Germany were fed with barley, which was purchased from Russia. But then Russia was in the E...ntente, and Germany in the Triple Alliance, so the trade between them halted. As early as in 1915, Germany faced food shortages. The government decided that pigs were too big of a luxury. They had no food to feed people, let alone animals. Five million pigs were killed to make tinned meat, while barley and potatoes were to be used for people only. It was a complete failure. Some meat went bad, and the harvest of barley and potatoes dropped the following year because there wasn’t enough dung to use as fertilizer. That’s why, in the winter of 1917, the entire Germany switched to turnips. It was not very nourishing, and Germans were starving en masse. What saved the day was the vegetarian sausage! Then-mayor of Cologne Konrad Adenauer invented a sausage made from a mixture of soy, wheat flour, corn, barley and rice. Adenauer couldn’t obtain a patent in Germany, but somehow, he managed to secure one in June 1918, when the war was still on, in Britain, Germany’s enemy. \_( )_/ Sanitary pads, teabags, and stainless steel also became popular only during Great War. To know more about these inventions, check our video about WW1 curious patents: https://youtu.be/bGN3OtitCmA

01.01.2022 Hello all, For something to do during these uncertain times, I thought some of you may like to join me as I read Duty Nobly Done in regular instalments as part ...of a good old-fashioned 'Story Time'. Hope you enjoy and feel free to share. This episode: The 'Introduction'. Next episode: Part 1, Chapter 1 - 'The Great Adventure'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS__YqG6fHM Big Sky Publishing Denny Neave