Wartime History

Of course Dunkirk is synonymous with the war and there are plenty of museums, cemeteries, battlefields and forts within easy reach.

It’s really a matter of how far you want to travel as there are places like the Etaples Military Cemetery, which is free of charge, in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, right on your doorstep.

Or, there’s Flanders. At Ypres you’ll find the Menin Gate, where the names of those un-recovered bodies are remembered forever. Also at Ypres you’ll find the St George’s Memorial Church, also free to enter.

Explore the site of the Normandy landings or travel down to Champagne-Ardenne where you can explore forts such as Fort de la Pompelle in Reims, or take the guided tour around the Fort de Villy-la-Ferté.

The Historial of the Great War at Péronne is in the Somme, and is the historic heart of the battlefields of the Great War.

And, in Belgium there’s Waterloo where, in 1815 the combined forces of Prussia and the United Kingdom over threw Napoleon.