MCi TOURS MOTORCYCLE HOLIDAYS WORLDWIDE

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From 1914 to 1918 the north east corner of France and most of Belgium became the battlefield on which the ‘Great War’ was fought. A million soldiers from over 50 countries were killed, wounded or went missing in action over this period, and entire cities and villages were destroyed. It became known as 'The Great War' as they could never imagine such a massive military conflict ever happening again...

Over 4 days this tour covers some of the more significant sites in and around Ypres and the Somme, and will be led by Eugenie Brooks. Eugenie’s father was a WW2 fighter pilot flying Spitfires and Hurricanes, her grandfather served with the Rifle Brigade throughout the Great War, in which two of her great uncles were killed, so military history has been a keen interest of hers from a young age.

She has been a member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides for about 7 years since she retired from the Metropolitan Police, were she was in the traffic division for 10 years as a motorcyclist, and became the first female supervisor on the Special Escort Group of Royalty Protection. She still enjoys riding motorbikes and currently rides a sparkly purple BMW R1200GS (see pic) upon which she has led many tours around Ypres, the Somme and Normandy.

As we are billeted in central Ypres for two nights you will be able attend the incredibly moving Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial, which takes place at 8pm precisely every night. It is difficult to take in, but inscribed on the walls there are the names of 55,000 military casualties whose memory lives on in this simple celebration of Remembrance, as the bugle echoes with the resonance of the Last Post.

From here we will move south to the Somme, staying in a lovely hotel in Cambrai for one night, enabling us to visit many sites all up and down the ‘Western Front’ over this long weekend, including:

• Lijssenthoek Cemetery
• Brandhoek New Military Cemetery
• Hooge Crater Museum & preserved trenches
• Menin Gate & Last Post Ceremony
• Essex Farm Cemetery
• Vancouver Corner
• Langemark German Cemetery
• Passchendaele memorial Museum
• Tyne Cot Cemetery 
• Sheffield Memorial Park
• Newfoundland Memorial Park
• Ulster Tower
• Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme
• Deborah the WW1 tank
• Lochnager Mine Crater
• Delville Wood Cemetery
• Welsh Dragon Memorial

Whether you’re going because you want to learn more about the most significant event of the early 20^_th century, or are on a mission to track down some family history (which Eugenie will be happy to help with) this is an absorbing tour.

For more details on this tour please send an email to 'info@mcitours.com' or just call us on 0800 774 7149.