We are absolutely delighted to announce the details of the first six Virtual Battlefield Tours, commissioned exclusively for Western Front Association members from Battle Guide Virtual Tours. As previously described, these are 'immersive', interactive 'virtual' tours combining modern technology with original and current audio and video content to give you the next best thing to actually visiting the battlefields themselves.
Between the 9 - 14 April 1917, as part of Allenby's III Army, the men of the 12th (Eastern) Division, the 3rd Division and the 56th (London) Division attacked the ground east of Arras between Observation Ridge, through Monchy-Le-Preux to Wancourt. This virtual battlefield tour will follow the movements, battlefield innovations and newly learnt tactics that initially offered hope of a long-awaited breakthrough. It features the importance of the air war in the skies above Arras and considers the counterattack actions of the German 6th Army that would lead to the eventual stalemate across the battlefield. The battle of Arras marked the highest attritional period of warfare for the BEF on the Western Front. Through the eyes, words and memories of the men who fought there, our tour will study the fighting on the Scarpe in the first week of the battle.
Please note that this Tour is now fully booked. You may still register your interest in it but will be placed on a waiting list in case anyone drops out. If you are already registered on this Tour, please let us know straight away if you will be unable to attend so that we can offer your place to the next person on the waiting list.
How do I join one of these Virtual Tours?
Due to technical limitations (bandwidth), we are restricted to 60 members per tour. To be fair to all our members who may wish to join a tour, we are initially restricting applications to one tour per member. Depending upon the demand, there may be an opportunity to apply for a further tour later.
Applying to join a tour will be a two stage affair: Registration and then Payment.
Firstly, you'll be invited to register for a tour. This will allow us to allocate places to the first 60 applicants for each tour; to create a waiting list if any tour is over-subscribed; and to invite further applications for any tour which is under-subscribed.
The link to register for your chosen tour is here REGISTRATION OF VIRTUAL TOUR
Remember it will be strictly 'first come first served' with each member only being able to register for one tour, and only the first 60 registrations being taken for each tour. Make sure to use the same email address as the one you are registered with at the WFA.