Hauts-de-France Tourism has teamed up with historian Mat McLachlan to present an online video event ‘How to visit the Australian battlefields of the Somme’.
In this video, Mat McLachlan explains the region of Hauts-de-France (northern France), highlighting what to see in this fascinating destination just 1.5 hours north of Paris, where to go, what to expect when you get there and where to stay.
For the chance to win one of three bottles of French champagne, coasters and Mat McLachlan’s Western Front guidebook, in this agent-only competition, watch the video and email your answer to one of the below questions to jess@mclachlantours.com.au by Monday 23 September 2024. Winners will be announced on Tuesday 24 September 2024. Answer both questions to receive a bonus entry!
Questions:
1. Where would you most likely accommodate travellers to explore the Australian battlefields of northern France?
2. What 4-day tour allows you to explore the Australian battlefields of the Western Front, with weekly departures April to November?
Email your answers to jess@mclachlantours.com.au
Video contents and timecode:
1:00: Introducing Hauts-de-France and the Somme
4:00: How do I get there, and where can I stay?
6:00: Australian WWI battlefields in northern France (map)
7:30: Introduction to the Somme
11:00: Pozieres – history and what to see today (memorials, Le Tommy’s Café)
19:00: The Sunken Lane and Hawthorne Ridge Crater – original video footage from WWI
21:00: Newfoundland Memorial Park, a full trench system and no-man’s land
23:30: Thiepvel Memorial to the Missing
26:00: Villers-Bretonneux – Anzac Day Dawn Service, Australian National Memorial, Sir John Monash Centre
30:00: Hamel
31:30: The underground tunnels of Naours with original Anzac WWI graffiti
33:30: The village of Vignacourt, with its photographic museum and emotive cemetery
35:30: Amiens, where Jules Verne came from, spectacular Cathedral, restaurants, shops, accommodation, floating gardens
37:30: Organised tours to the battlefields
39:30: Fromelles
