The Pals Battalions were a WW1 phenomenon; men who joined up together and fought together on the Somme. We study the Somme and their story in depth.
This tour focuses on the ‘Pals’ Battalions raised across Britain in 1914. It was said of them that they were “Two years in the making, ten minutes in the destruction”. During this two-day tour, we travel to their anvil of sacrifice in 1916 – the haunting Somme battlefields in Northern France.
KS3 National Curriculum – The First World War and the Peace Settlement
OCR GCSE Syllabus – War and British Society 1790-2010
OCR GCSE Syllabus – Depth Study – Britain in Peace and War 1900-1918
EdExcel GCSE Syllabus – Thematic Study and Historic Environment – Medicine in Britain and the British Sector of the Western Front 1914-1918: Injuries, Treatment and the Trenches
EdExcel A-Level Syllabus – Themes in Breadth with Aspects in Depth – The British Experience of Warfare, c1790-1918
EdExcel A-Level Syllabus – Themes in Breadth with Aspects of Depth – The Changing Nature of Warfare, 1859-1991
Specialist Battlefield Guide. For larger groups we have two guides per booking.
Entrance to all museums and trenches.
1 breakfast, 1 lunch and 1 dinner.
Travel by coach from your school.
Channel crossings.
This tour focuses on the ‘Pals’ Battalions raised across Britain in 1914. It was said of them that they were “Two years in the making, ten minutes in the destruction”. We travel to their anvil of sacrifice in 1916 – the haunting Somme battlefields in Northern France.
After departing early from the school, we proceed to the Channel Tunnel and travel to France.
We then drive down into Northern France and begin on the battlefield at Serre, where the Northern Pals battalions from places like Accrington, Barnsley, Leeds and Sheffield went into battle on 1st July 1916.
We see the battlefield cemeteries and visit the Sheffield Memorial Park with its WW1 trenches and shell holes. This evocative battlefield is a place where you can almost see the events of the First Day of the Battle of the Somme unfold more than a century later.
In the afternoon, we visit the Ulster Tower to look at one of the battlefields fought over on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme by ‘Pals’ units from Northern Ireland.
Here we also go into Thiepval Wood and see trenches and positions uncovered by a team of archaeologists and have the opportunity to safely handle some real WW1 artefacts.
In the battlefield cemeteries, we look at the commemoration of the dead and the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and on the high ground above the Ancre Valley look at landscape and memory, and the importance of high ground on a battlefield.
From here we check in to our accommodation in the Somme area and have an evening meal.
Included meals: Dinner
Thiepval
Serre Battlefield
Sheffield Memorial Park
We start today at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, looking at the subject of missing soldiers, the architecture of memorials, and see whole panels on the memorial, covered with the names of ‘Pals’ visually explaining the effect of casualties on a local community.
We see the Thiepval Centre Museum and walk to the high point of the Thiepval Ridge to see where Pals battalions from Salford were wiped out at the beginning of the Battle of the Somme.
At Mametz, we visit the Devonshire Cemetery and see the ground where these men fought on 1st July 1916, viewing the battlefield from the German perspective and looking at the war poetry of William Noel Hodgson.
At Montauban and Trones Wood we look at the story of the men from Liverpool and Manchester Pals who fought in this area in July 1916. We finish at Delville Wood, where many Pals battalions fought.We will then begin our return home via the Channel Tunnel, with arrival back at the school expected in the late evening.
Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Thiepval Museum
Devonshire Cemetery
Trones Wood
If you would like more information or would like to customise this tour to suit your needs, get in touch today.
Each of our tours are tailor made to suit your school’s specific requirements.
Our team of experienced specialist guides are both passionate and knowledgeable.
Our tours are carefully designed to meet the aims of the National Curriculum.
You can rest assured that your school trips are safe and financially secured.
