Full Day Private Canadian Battlefields Tour from Arras

Arras is blessed with a very rich architectural heritage as its two Flemish Baroque style squares : « La Place des Heroes » and « La Grand Place » will confirm. It is also a place full of history going from Roman times and across the centuries. During the hour long visit the guide will tell you some of its story walking along its paved street

With 4000 artifacts. this museum is one of the largest private collections in Europe. This is the 50 years' passion of one man: David Bardiaux who spent his childhood browsing the fields of Arras area for WW1 memorabilia. David will be happy to take you around to tell the stories behind some of those objects.

Originally created by the French authority between 1919 and 1923, Neuville-Saint- Vaast is the largest German war cemetery in France. It is the final resting place for 44,833 casualties from the Battles of Artois, Vimy, and Lorette which took place between 1914 and 1917. On this site, we will discuss how each country dealt with the aftermath of WW1 and organized the creation of cemeteries and memorials to honor their dead.

Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery was established near the site of a small café called Cabaret Rouge used by soldiers in the early days of the First World war. It contains 7,655 Commonwealth burials from WWI from 100 other cemeteries and WWII. On the 25th of May 2000, the CWGC exhumed the remains of an unidentified Canadian Soldier. His ashes were returned to Canada and laid to rest at the foot of the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

There is a legend that says that in any war whoever wins will be the army that captures the range of the hills where Notre Dame de Lorette stands. At 165 meters high and overlooking the whole of the Douai plain, Notre Dame de Lorette is the largest French military cemetery in the world and is the resting place of over 40,000 soldiers who died in action in 1914 and 1915 in the battles of Artois. This site also includes the beautiful Neo-Byzantine Basilica Notre Dame de Lorette, the lantern tower, and seven ossuaries.

L'Estaminet de Lorette We will have an hour for lunch in this very quirky place by Notre Dame de Lorette

The first Canadian troops arrived in France in December 1914 in the largest convoy ever to cross the Atlantic. Respected and feared by the ennemy their courage led to Victory in the Battle of Vimy Ridge which later became the marker of Canadian nationhood and identity. In this tour we will visit the «Canadian National Vimy Memorial» and the battlefield on which it stands. Walk in the trenches, use one of the tunnels dug before the battle and see what happened here between the 9th and 12th of April 1917.

This is an optional stop and will depend on the weather. We will go to Farbus wood, to have a look at German bunkers and look for WW1 memorabilia in the surrounding fields.

Roclincourt was within the British frontline in the battle of Arras in 1917. It is from this village that the 51st Highland Division and 34th division left on the 9th of April 1917. It is also the French sector during the 3rd battle of Artois. In 2015 the remains of the body of a French soldier were recovered as workers were digging the pavement, rue de Douai. His name was Rene Grenier. Your guide will tell you the story of this particular soldier.