Development of Warfare Tour

Who's it for?

  • Educational Guided History, Secondary School, Sixth Form & FE College

Curriculum Included

Key Highlights

  • Expert guide support
  • Agincourt
  • Ypres
  • The Somme
  • Dunkirk
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About this trip

To support thematic studies focusing on Warfare and British Society, Anglia has a range of multi-centre tours which explore the changing nature and experience of warfare

For those comparing medieval and modern warfare our 2-day tour to Agincourt and the Somme starts by exploring how Henry V‘s army used longbows and defensive ground to such great effect, challenging the accepted doctrines of warfare, before moving on to examine how trenches, barbed wire, artillery and machine guns combined in the Great War to Create a situation where the ‘poor bloody infantry' found their task almost impossible to achieve.

If your focus is the twentieth century then we can begin on the Ypres Salient by examining how trench warfare developed on the Western Front, looking in particular at the weapons available to the British Army at the time. This is followed by a day exploring the ground held by the British Army in 1940, where we consider the difference in preparations for this war and how Blitzkrieg theory, born in the final months of the Great War, shaped the conflict that would follow.

If you prefer, we can offer you a programme to a single location, like the Somme, where our expert guides will use the backdrop of the 1916 battlefield to explore how and where weaponry, tactics, communication and the experience of the ordinary fighting man changed during the Great War, through the conflicts of the twentieth century to the modern day.

Trip Details

Study Themes

  • The composition of armies across time
  • The relationship between infantry, cavalry and artillery over time
  • The changing nature of firepower, and its impact on tactics
  • The impact on warfare of developments in technology, including weaponry, transport and communication
  • How recruitment changed over time
  • The impact of war on civilians
  • The nature of trench warfare and Blitzkrieg

Agincourt

Typical key visits included in this itinerary 

  • The Agincourt Visitor Centre and Museum
    The British Army 1415: recruitment, training and composition of a feudal army. The roles of the infantry, archer and the knight. New forms of weaponry: kit demonstration, the longbow.
  • Battlefield Walk
    Understanding the size of the battlefield. How did the army’s commander direct the troops? Tactics & technology: what formations were used on the battlefield and why. Opening moves: French cavalry charge and subsequent advance of Men at Arms. New forms of weaponry: the impact of the longbow.
  • Agincourt Battlefield Memorial
    What was the outcome of the battle for the English army? Plundering the battlefield. The impact of Agincourt on the army and civilians.

More Ypres visits

Typical key visits included in this itinerary 

  • Bayernwald – German trench system
    The development of Trench warfare; Use of ground; Trench construction; Daily routine; Technology; Problems with trench fighting.
  • Hill 60
    New methods of warfare; Mining; The use of Gas.

  • Battlefield walk
    Tactics & technology: What battlefield formations were used and why. The nature of trench warfare and attrition. Industrialised warfare: the development of machine guns and poison gas. The impact of artillery.
  • Auchonvillers – Show and tell with packed Lunches
    New forms of weaponry: kit demonstration: weaponry and equipment of Tommy Atkins on the Western Front.
  • Bazentin Ridge
    Tactics & technology: What tactics were used to overcome deadlock in the trenches. The role of cavalry on the Western Front. Generalship during the Great War.
  • Caterpillar Valley CWGC
    The development and changing nature of aerial warfare.

Dunkirk

A visit to Dunkirk will allow you to compare the First World War and Second World War. Visits that may be included :

  • Cassel
    The Inter War years; developments in tactics and technology; The Invasion of France 1940; Blitzkrieg Theory.
  • Cassel Bunker
    The “Phoney War”; development of static lines of defence; the purpose of the bunker; how was it taken?
  • Wormhout
    The massacre of 2nd Warwickshire. Ethics in warfare; the Geneva Convention and links to modern conflicts.
  • Defence of the Canal
    The real miracle of Dunkirk; the role of Combat Engineers; the use of air power; communications issues; accounts of those who held the line.
  • Bray Dunes
    The Beach; evacuation of the BEF; Victory or Disaster – the British view? What lessons were learned? Final thoughts and summary.

Sample itineraries

4 day - Waterloo, Ypres & Dunkirk
4 day - Ypres, Somme & Normandy
2 day - Ypres & Dunkirk
2 day - Agincourt & Somme

Your price will include

  • Fully guided
  • Tailor-made itinerary
  • Hotel/Hostel accommodation
  • All meals as shown on your itinerary
  • An exclusive coach for your exclusive use
  • Return crossings with ferry or Eurotunnel
  • Pre-tour presentation
  • 1 free teacher place for every 10 paying students
  • All entrance fees associated with your visit

Why choose Anglia for Guided History Trips?

At Anglia we care about our customers, our staff, the places we visit, the stories we tell and the organisations we work with. These key principles define who we are and what we do. We believe they are also the reason why Anglia is the market leader in fully-guided history trips for UK schools. We work with you to design a bespoke tour which meets the specific needs of your school and which supports what you are teaching in class. We start by asking what you want your students to see and what you want them to experience then build the tour around these requirements. A tour which, as the testimonials on our website show, your students will find thought-provoking, engaging and enjoyable.

Please can you pass on my thanks to both John and Sean who did a fantastic job as our guides on Friday. They were engaging and exceptionally knowledgeable which was noted by both staff and pupils. I would thoroughly recommend you as a tour provider, and hope to use you guys again in the future!

We definitely will be looking to re-book with you for next academic year
Etone College
Anglia Tours Partners & Accreditations
Anglia ATOL
STF
ABTA
LOTC
Armed Forces Silver Award 1

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