The Battle Of The Bulge

The Battle Of The Bulge

The Ardennes Offensive 1944-45

Military History and Battlefield Tours

11th - 15th December 2024
(5 Days)

Expert Historian : Major Gordon Corrigan MBE FRHistS

Tour price: £2,195

click here to book

The Battle Of The Bulge

The Ardennes Offensive 1944-45

Military History and Battlefield Tours

Your Holiday Essentials

11th - 15th December 2024
(5 Days)

Return Standard Premier Eurostar travel between London and Brussels (optional), four-star hotels, expert historian and tour manager, entrance fees and meals as indicated.

Activity Level: 2

Expert Historian: Major Gordon Corrigan MBE FRHistS

Prices:

Standard price: : £1,975

Incl. travel from UK: £2,195
Room sole occupancy supplement: £195
Non-refundable deposit: £400

Booking open

click here to book

Interested in this tour but not ready to book? Register your interest using the link below and we will keep you updated on the progress of the tour.

click here to register your interest

Tour Introduction

This tour brings to life the decisions of commanders under extreme pressure and the experiences of soldiers and civilians in desperate circumstances. How did American infantrymen halt Waffen SS armour at Elsenborn Ridge? Why did Kampfgruppe Peiper turn Baugnez into a killing field for POWs? What were the consequences of the fall of St. Vith and how did American and British troops halt the German tide? Why did the airborne Band of Brothers prevail in Bastogne and what happened to the civilians in this cauldron? While looking for answers, we will reflect also on the cost of Hitler’s last gamble at American, British, and German cemeteries. The tour is timed to coincide with the annual ‘Nuts’ weekend when we expect there to be plenty of reenactors recreating camps, defensive positions and providing demonstrations of skirmishes alongside working period vehicles, all of which will contribute to a truly atmospheric tour.

Background

In the summer of 1944, the Allied momentum appeared unstoppable as troops broke out of Normandy, captured Paris, and raced through Belgium. In early autumn, however, the advance lost steam when logistical lines snapped and Operation Market Garden failed. Allied troops prepared for a hard slog at the Siegfried Line. Meanwhile, Hitler, under pressure on two fronts, decided on a last gamble in the west. On 16 December 1944, he launched a major counteroffensive through the Ardennes, a forested area thinly held by exhausted American veterans and green troops. Hitler wanted to capture the crucial logistical hub of Antwerp and tear apart the seam between American and British forces. The Führer hoped that, combined, this would make the Western Front collapse, thus dramatically changing the course of the war at a time when all seemed lost for Nazi Germany.

Highlights

  • Explore a wealth of extant trenches and dugouts
  • Follow the Kampfgruppe Peiper Trail to Le Gleize
  • See the Malmedy Massacre site
  • Enjoy the spectacle of uniformed reenactors and period vehicles
  • Discuss Patton’s relief force at Assenois
  • Explore the Bastogne War Museum and Mardasson Memorial
  • Visit American, British and German cemeteries

What's Included

  • Return Standard Premier Eurostar from London (optional)
  • 4 Star Hotels
  • Expert historian throughout providing a daily variety of talks, presentations and Q&A
  • Dedicated Tour Manager
  • Dinner parties hosted by your expert historian and tour manager
  • The company of like-minded travelers
  • Helpful and friendly travel advice
  • Meals as indicated in the itinerary
  • Two drinks i,e wine or beer at each dinner and a welcome drink on first evening
  • Entrance fees for sites included in itinerary
  • Tour information booklet
  • Modern, comfortable, air-conditioned coach
  • All taxes and gratuities

Itinerary

Day 1 – The Ultimate Price
Eurostar from London to Brussels. Drive to the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery on the northern shoulder of the Bulge to discuss the main German effort there and how American forces managed to block it. Check-in to our hotel in Spa for two nights. (D)

Day 2 – The Waffen SS Unleashed
Follow the trajectory of the Sixth Panzer Army’s Waffen SS spearheads, discuss the massacre of American POWs at Baugnez, and analyse the destruction of Kampfgruppe Peiper at Stoumont and La Gleize. (B,D)

Day 3 – Into the Breach
Reconnoitre the massive gap that opened up when von Manteuffel’s Fifth Panzer Army surrounded the 106th Infantry Division and captured St. Vith. Picnic lunch. Take a closer look at how American troops threw up dams in places like Parker’s Crossroads and British troops joined the fight to push in the Bulge’s nose. Check-in to our hotel in La Roche en Ardennes for two nights. (B,L,D)

Day 4 – Those Who Hold Bastogne
This weekend, Bastogne is sure to be hosting a myriad of re-enactment events, some of which we will incorporate in to our itinerary. Starting at the Mardasson Memorial we discuss the Bastogne siege and visit sites like the iconic Band of Brothers’ Bois Jacques to explain why the Germans failed to capture this crucial Belgian crossroads. After lunch, we walk the streets of Bastogne and then drive southward to Assenois to learn more about how Patton’s Third Army finally came to the rescue. (B,D)

Day 5 – Retracing the Bulge
We visit the Bastogne War Museum and retrace our steps through the Ardennes with a look at unique artefacts, rare photographs, wonderful films and vivid dioramas that detail the campaign from mid-December 1944 to the elimination of the Bulge by late January 1945. After lunch, we return to Brussels and the Eurostar to London.(B)

Recommended Reading List

Major Gordon Corrigan MBE FRHistS

Major Gordon Corrigan MBE FRHistS

Gordon Corrigan was commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1962 and was an officer of the permanent cadre of the Sixth Gurkha Rifles and then the Royal Gurkha Rifles before leaving the army in 1998. He served mainly in the Far East but also in Cyprus, Berlin, Belize and N Ireland. His last posting was as Commanding Officer of the Gurkha Centre, training recruits for the Brigade of Gurkhas and running courses for the Brigade. He is now a professional historian. He is the author of Sepoys in the Trenches, The Indian Corps on the Western Front 1914 – 1915, (Spellmount, 1999); Wellington, A Military Life, (Hambledon & London, 2001); Mud, Blood and Poppycock: Britain and the First World War (Cassell & Co, 2003); Loos 1915, The Unwanted Battle (Spellmount, 2006); Blood, Sweat and Arrogance – And The Myths of Churchill’s War (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006); The Second World War – A Military History (Atlantic Books 2010); A Great and Glorious Adventure – A Military History of the Hundred Years War (Atlantic Books 2013) and Waterloo – A New History of the Battle and its Armies (Atlantic Books 2014) as well as numerous eBooks. His television appearances include The Gurkhas, Napoleon’s Waterloo and Battlefield Detectives, and so far he has presented five series on various aspects of military history. He has conducted military history study tours in France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain, Portugal, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia and is a regular lecturer on expedition ships with and Silver Sea and on rail journeys in Europe and Central Asia with GW Travel. He has lectured in the United States and Canada and is an honorary research fellow of the Universities of Birmingham and Kent, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Member of the British Commission for Military History, and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Farriers. He is married to an Anglo-Saxon and medieval historian and his interests include horses, long lunches and the Times crossword, not necessarily in that order.

Visit his website here for lectures on Military History.

Photo Gallery

  • The monument to the assault on Bastogne
  • The bridge at the Stavelot
  • Our group with a 'captured' Tiger tank
  • Group entering the Henri Chapelle US cemetery, one of the largest in Europe
  • Dugouts looking out of Jack's Wood
  • At Stavelot
  • A Sherman tank in Bastogne
  • A look at the 1st Infantry Memorial

Your Holiday Essentials

11th - 15th December 2024
(5 Days)

Return Standard Premier Eurostar travel between London and Brussels (optional), four-star hotels, expert historian and tour manager, entrance fees and meals as indicated.

Activity Level: 2

Expert Historian: Major Gordon Corrigan MBE FRHistS

Prices:

Standard price: : £1,975

Incl. travel from UK: £2,195
Room sole occupancy supplement: £195
Non-refundable deposit: £400

Booking open

click here to book

Interested in this tour but not ready to book? Register your interest using the link below and we will keep you updated on the progress of the tour.

click here to register your interest

Tour Reviews

View our latest Battle of the Bulge tour images here

Take a look at some independent reviews of this tour by previous participants here

Photo Gallery

tours by datethemesperiodsdestinations

direct link

Subscribe to Our E-Newsletter

For up to date news as well as details about all of our tours please subscribe to our fortnightly e-newsletter

Subscribe