Our tour involved two days on the WW I battlefields in France and Belgium and one day exploring WWII battlefields from Juno beach to Caen.

Jim Smithson, our guide for the WWI battlefields, was very knowledgeable and entertaining. We had two very full and busy days and learned a great deal about the experiences and sacrifices of the soldiers of the Canadian corps. We spent the first day touring the Somme battlefields, memorials and graveyards, including Vimy Ridge and the Newfoundland memorial at Beaumont-Hamel. The next day we went to Flanders in Belgium and explored the Passchendaele battlefields and witnessed the last post ceremony held every night at 8:00 pm in Ypres, which was a very moving experience.  Jim has a wealth of information on WWI and gave us many insights into the battles and the experiences of Canadian and Commonwealth soldiers.

Robin Burrows-Ellis, our guide for the tour of the WWII battlefields, was also very knowledgeable and entertaining. My wife’s uncle Philip (who died before she was born) was killed on July 21^st in battle around Mondeville, south of Caen only two weeks after landing in Normandy. He was a private with The Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada. Robin did a great job of researching and tracing Philip’s steps from Juno beach to the area where he was killed. We visited the various locations where his battalion engaged the Germans in battle, including the location where he died.  Robin was very well prepared with battle maps and was able to obtain transcripts of radio communications by Philip’s battalion on the day he was killed which gave a blow by blow account of the battle. You could close your eyes and almost imagine the terror of being in this situation. We finished our tour at the Bretteville-sur-Laize  Canadian War Cemetery near Caen where Robin located Philip’s gravestone. We placed a small Canadian flag and some flowers near his gravestone and Robin read a poem. It was a very moving experience for us, even though we had never met Philip.

I have no hesitation in recommending your company and Jim and Robin as great guides for those wishing to visit WWI and WWII battlefields and memorials with a focus on the Canadian and Commonwealth wartime experience.