• Australian National Memorial - The Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux serves as the primary tribute to Australian military personnel who lost their lives on the Western Front during World War I. Situated on Route Villiers-Bretonneux (D 23) in the Somme département, France, it honors 10,773 soldiers of the Australian Imperial Force with no known grave, who perished between 1916, when Australian forces arrived in France and Belgium, and the war’s conclusion. The site was selected to honor the significant contribution of Australian soldiers in the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux (24–27 April 1918).

Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the memorial features a tower within the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, which also includes a Cross of Sacrifice. The tower is encircled by walls and panels displaying the names of the missing. The main inscription is presented in both French and English, flanking the tower’s entrance. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains the memorial and cemetery.

• Australian Corps Memorial - This memorial commemorates and interprets the Battle of Le Hamel, which occurred on 4 July 1918. With American support, General Monash launched a highly successful attack by integrating infantry, artillery, air forces, and tanks for the first time, pioneering modern warfare tactics.

The memorial park was established in the village of Le Hamel by the Australian state and was inaugurated on 7 August 1998. The site features panoramic displays and informative panels that help visitors grasp the strategic significance of the battle. Several trenches have been preserved.

• Lochnagar Crater - The Lochnagar mine, located south of the village of La Boisselle in the Somme département, was an underground explosive charge secretly planted by the British during World War I, set to detonate on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The mine was dug by the Tunnelling Companies of the Royal Engineers beneath a German fortification known as Schwabenhöhe (Swabian Height).

The British named the mine after Lochnagar Street, the trench from which the gallery was driven. The charge at Lochnagar was one of 19 mines placed beneath German lines on the British section of the Somme front to aid the infantry advance at the battle’s onset.

The mine was detonated at 7:28 a.m. on 1 July 1916, creating a crater 98 ft (30 m) deep and 330 ft (100 m) wide, which was captured and held by British troops. The attack on either flank was repelled by German small-arms and artillery fire, except on the extreme right flank and just south of La Boisselle, north of the Lochnagar Crater. The crater has been preserved as a memorial, and a religious service is held there each 1 July.

• Windmill Memorial - The Windmill site at Pozières was established as an Australian memorial in the 1930s, following a suggestion by Australia’s official war historian, Charles Bean, because “The Windmill site marks a ridge more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth.” Over seven weeks in 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, the Australian Imperial Force suffered 23,000 casualties, with more than 6,700 fatalities, in the area surrounding the Windmill. On 11 November 1993, soil from the Windmill site was placed over the coffin of Australia’s Unknown Soldier during his funeral at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
• 2nd Australian Division Memorial - The Mont Saint-Quentin Australian war memorial, located in the Mont Saint-Quentin region of Picardy, is an Australian World War I memorial.

The Australian Second Division has a war memorial on the road from Bapaume to Péronne. It is the only one of the five Australian division memorials initiated by members of the division. The base was erected in 1925 and features bronze bas-reliefs by May Butler-George depicting men hauling and pushing a gun, and men advancing with bayoneted rifles and hand grenades. Originally, it had an Australian soldier thrusting his bayonet through a German eagle on top, sculpted by Charles Web Gilbert.

However, in 1940, German soldiers destroyed the memorial. A replacement statue by Stanley Hammond, depicting a thoughtful Australian soldier looking down, was erected in 1971.

• Historial de la Grande Guerre - After lunch, to conclude a very moving day, visitors will have free access to explore the “Great War Historial and Museum” in Péronne. Housed in a 13th-century medieval castle, the WWI museum showcases a vast collection of uniforms and weapons worn, designed, and used by soldiers during the conflict.

The Historial of Péronne museum also offers a permanent collection of Trench Artists, such as “Otto Dix,” who documented the war’s atrocities through graphic etchings.

• Admission to the Historial of the Great War in P�ronne
• In-vehicle air conditioning
• Driver Guide

• Hotel pick-up and drop-off
• Lunch

FEATURES

Embark on a day-long journey from Paris to the Somme, situated in the Picardy region of France.

Trace the path of the courageous Australian soldiers who battled in the Somme during the First World War.

Visit the graves and offer your tribute to the missing Australian servicemen at the Australian Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux.

Explore the ‘Sir John Monash Centre’ located in Villers-Bretonneux.

Witness the massive landmine, the ‘Lochnagar Crater’.

Examine numerous wartime artefacts gathered and exhibited at the Historial of Peronne.

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.