Full Day Private Battle of the Somme Tour from Albert

Your tour starts with a visit to the "Museum Somme 1916" in the little town of Albert. This 230-meter-long tunnel dug in the Middle Ages is home to a fantastic museum holding over 4000 WW1 artifacts. It retraces the different events leading to the Battle of the Somme and allows you to experience life in the trenches during the First World War.

The “Basilica Notre Dame de Brebières”, is of Neo-Byzantine style and was built at the end of the 19th Century. Its unusual architecture makes it one of the most important edifices in Picardy. Destroyed during the Great War, she was reconstructed identically by the son of the original architect: Edmond Duthoit. Its dome is covered with gold sheets bearing the statue of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. Your guide will tell you the story attached to this statue which happened during WW1

You are now in the sector of the Battle of the Somme of 1916. «Lochnagar Crater » was created by a large mine placed beneath the German front lines on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, it was one of 19 mines that were placed beneath the German lines from the British section of the Somme front, to assist the infantry advance at the start of the battle. This impressive site is 70 feet deep and 330 feet wide which makes it the largest crater in the Somme.

2 758 soldiers are rather buried or commemorated here. Your guide will tell you how the main belligerents dealt with their dead after the war, the scandals linked to this task, the birth of the CWGC, and the philosophy behind the design

Australian official historian Charles Bean would say about Pozières that it "is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth." Pozières, sadly is well known to the Australians. Almost 7000 men lost their lives here. The “1st Australian Memorial” site will be where your guide will tell you all about this terrible battle which took place between the 23rd of July and the 3rd of September 1916.

This is a must-see exhibition, not only does it have a little cafe/bar it also has a wonderful museum created by its owner Dominique and his son, It is a labour of love with a wonderful reconstruction of the Trenches of WW1. you will really get the idea of what it was like to be fighting in those conditions.

The “Memorial of the Missing” is the largest British War Memorial in the world. This imposing monument overlooks the surrounding rolling countryside. On its walls are engraved the names of over 72,000 soldiers who are rather missing or whose bodies were found but not identified. Here we will talk about military tactics and also about the notion of being “missing” and what it meant for all the families of those soldiers.

The Newfoundland Memorial Park is the largest battlefield site in the Somme and a memorial dedicated to all Newfoundlanders who served during the First World War. The Battle of the Somme was the first major engagement of the regiment where they suffered staggering losses on the 1st of July 1916. The ground, purchased in 1921 by the women of Newfoundland and their government has become the symbol of sacrifice and a source of identity for the island.

This impressive crater is the result of the explosion of two mines during the Battle of the Somme; one of them, on the 1st of July 1916 was the first action of the battle. We will then cross the road and enter Sunken Lane, the lane from which the Lancashire Fusiliers went over the top, famously filmed by Geoffrey Malins. We will see what happened here both in July and November 1916 as well as talking about filming the war.

The 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Memorial is a reminder of the action of the Scots who fought on this ground. This memorial was unveiled by the Duke of Argyll. This stop will be the occasion to see the participation of Scotland in WW1.

Mailly-Maillet is a picturesque little village in the county of the Somme. Its history dates back to the Roman times. During WW1, the village which was only 4 km away from the frontline of the Battle of the Somme, was used constantly for billeting troops from every corner of the world. Many houses in the village still bear the scars of shelling. Here we will talk about life at the rear of the frontline and the"Shot at Dawn".