Resistance & Occupation In Northern France
- Duration: 4 days
- Board Basis: Bed & Breakfast
- Tour Ref: D2TLEG4FRO
Holiday Summary
- Travel Type: Coach
PLEASE NOTE: Price is per person and based on two people sharing a twin/double room. Single room supplements and upgrades are not included.
Itinerary
4 Day Itinerary
Day 1
Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to our hotel in northern France for a three-night stay.
Day 2 - German Secret Weapons – France 1940
This morning, we begin at La Coupole near St. Omer, with an included visit to this massive bunker complex which was designed to be the launch site of the V2 rockets on Britain. We look at the development of the German secret weapons at this period of WW2 and have a full morning here exploring the site. After lunchtime, we look at the fighting in this region of Northern France in May 1940, and examine the Courrières and Oignies Massacre – the largest murder of French civilians by German forces during the Battle of France with over 500 deaths. Here we see the memorial and graves of those killed by the Germans. We then travel to Denain to have an included visit to the Museum of the French Resistance and the Forbidden Zone, which tells the story of resistance and occupation in this area, before visiting the nearby Resistance Memorial. We finish in Arras with a visit to the Citadel and the ‘Mur des Fusillés’, where members of the French Resistance and SOE were executed. Here we look at the work of the Special Operations Executive in Northern France.
Meals - Breakfast
Day 3 - Resistance – Special Operations Executive
We begin today at the Resistance Museum at Bondues near Lille. It tells the story of the French Resistance in this part of France, which was one of the most active during the Second World War. Here we have an included visit to this important museum, and after lunchtime, we visit Lille Southern Cemetery for the story of SOE Agent Michael Trotobas. He worked in occupied France from 1941 until he was killed in a shoot-out with the Germans in 1943 and was recommended for a Victoria Cross for his bravery. We see his grave and memorial here. Later we travel to Ascq, near Lille, when soldiers from the 12th SS Hitlerjugend Division massacred civilians from the town in April 1944. We see the memorial and graves in the local cemetery. We end with the story of the ‘Train of Loos’, a train that left northern France for the Death Camps just as the area was being liberated. Of the 872 sent in that final train, only 284 survived.
Day 4
Return home.
Meals - Breakfast