World War 1 & World War
2 Tours
Ancestor Travel specialises in arranging general or research
tours to any of the WW1 or WW2 battle sites or areas of interest
in either Great Britain or Europe. For Europe, for both WW1
and WW2, we use carefully chosen battlefield tour specialists
that only take small groups or couples.
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World War 2 in Great Britain
Great Britain is rich in history with WW2 museums, areas of
interest and the history of the US in WW2, including the US
8th, 9th, & 15th Air Forces (Italy), and Fighter and Bomber
Commands of the Royal Air Force. The annual WW2 commemorative
air-show in July, at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, near
Cambridge, (which also houses the US 8th Air Force Museum)
is a once in a lifetime "must see" experience. With the largest
collection in the world of "warbirds", it is now an annual
pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of visitors, young and
old, from all over the world. Watching a squadron of original
WW2 Spitfires at full throttle, Merlin engines screaming,
300 ft above the original Duxford airstrip on a clear summer's
day as they would have in the dark days of 1942, is a spine
tingling experience.
Ancestor Travel knows all the special places of interest
both historical and family research related for WW2 in Great
Britain & Ireland. And, if you have a special request
to find a disused airfield, a special pub or a relative from
WW2, we can research this for you also, and incorporate it
into a tailor made itinerary for you.
Other Battles...
From standing on the historic field at the township of Battle
(yes, that's where the word "battle" originated from!) where
William the Conqueror defeated Harold in 1066 ending the reign
forever of the Saxon kings, to researching Cromwell & the
War of the Roses, Elizabeth the First, Mary Queen of Scots
and Bonny Prince Charlie's march on London, the Irish Uprisings,
even back to famous Celtic and Roman battles, we are here
to put you there.
Whether it is family research for these periods where you
have an actual ancestor involved in battles from long ago,
or you want to experience and or research the rich and powerful
history of ancient battles, Ancestor Travel can do this with
a personalised itinerary, tailor made and researched to your
exact needs.
Battlefields remembered - through Ancestor Travel.
World War 1 - The Western Front
At Fromelles on the Somme, on a day in July 1916 to be remembered
forever, the 'flower of Britain and the empire's youth' rose
from the trenches along an eighteen-mile stretch of the Western
Front, supposedly in the final assault for the 'war to end
all wars'. By the close of that horrific day, nearly 60,000
British & 5,500 Australian soldiers, each a son or a father,
all a loved one, lay dead and wounded, near a small river
called the Somme.
The battle of the Somme raged on until late November 1916.
During those terrible 142 days, more than 1.2 million soldiers
from all sides were killed or wounded in actions to take countryside
which, by the end of the battle, was reduced to blasted tree
stumps, rubble, raw dirt and a horrific lunar landscape of
total destruction.
By the end of the year 42,270 Australians had been killed
or wounded on the Western Front. In 1917 a further 76,836
Australians became casualties in battles such as those at
Bullecourt, Messines and the four-month long campaign around
Ypres, known as the battle of Passchendaele.
For Australia, the First World War remains the most costly
conflict ever in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population
of fewer than five million, 300,000 men enlisted, of which
over 60,000 were killed and 156,000 were wounded, gassed or
taken prisoner.
It is calculated that New Zealand lost nearly one third of
its entire male population to World War 1, taking the country
over two generations to recover, and seriously impacting on
the economy of the country for the next 30 years. During the
Great War, New Zealand raised 110,368 troops for active service
overseas, of which number 100,444 actually proceeded overseas
for service. The number of New Zealand men killed, directly
and indirectly in the Great War was over 17,500.
It is estimated that over 10 million men lost their lives
in World War 1. Less than 30 per cent of French soldiers escaped
the war without injury, Britain 58 per cent, the Serbs lost
35 per cent of their men, and Turkey 30 per cent. The figures
are very difficult to grasp - two million German dead, 1.3
million French dead, 1 million British Commonwealth and Empire
dead.
800 New Zealand pilots, air gunners, and navigators lost
their lives during the world wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945.
136,516 Americans lost their lives during World War I, with
4,452 Missing in Action
World War 2
405,399 Americans lost their lives during World War II, with
78,976 Missing in Action.
Almost a million Australians, both men and women, served
in the Second World War; with over 30,000 Australian servicemen
taken prisoner and 39,000 killed in action.
The US 8th Air Force (The "Mighty Eighth") arrived in England
in 1942, and was the main strike group of the US Air Force
from Great Britain in WW2 along with the later formed US 9th
Air Force and the 15th Air Force, based in Italy. The US Air
Force suffered horrendous casualties in WW2, especially in
early unescorted daylight bombing raids during 1943 over occupied
Europe and Germany. One third of the total B-17 bomber (Flying
Fortress) production of 12,731 went down during the war, and
the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces' men killed in action
totalled almost one hundred thousand men. At the Norfolk and
Suffolk US air bases alone, over 6700 young Americans of the
Second Air Division were killed in action.
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55,573 young men made the ultimate sacrifice during WW2 in
Bomber Command with the Royal Air Force. In the 2,074 days
and nights between 3rd September 1939 and 7th - 8th August
1945, a total of 387,416 sorties were flown, over 955,000
tons of bombs were dropped and 8953 aircraft were lost. Australians
and New Zealanders were particularly prominent in Bomber Command's
offensive against occupied Europe, with some 3,500 Australians
killed in this campaign, making it the costliest of the war.
RAF Fighter Command, forever gloriously enshrined in history
for its epic struggle during the grim dark days of the Battle
of Britain in the summer of 1940, fared no better with an
appalling loss of young men, with many of them from Australia
& NZ, and other British empire countries.
No matter the service or the nationality, no matter the job
or the rank, millions of the free worlds youth answered the
call and were stationed in Great Britain between 1940-1945.
What deeply impacts any family researcher with their own family
looking for loved ones from this period, is the very young
age of these men and women, in particular the young men who
flew in the heavy bombers and fighter aircraft. So young,
so brave, such a horrific responsibility, and so young to
die.
Lest we forget.
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