Consumer Feedback

Battlefield Tours Feedback

 

Here are just a few of the emails we received from 2006, 2007 and 2008 tours. We hope you'll be joining us in 2009 (tours re-start mid March when the weather improves and day light hours lengthen). We can't be beaten for enthusiasm, knowledge and commitment to making these tours work for YOU.

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2010 Feedback

 

Hi Anya & Nora

Just a brief e-mail to thank you both so much for arranging our recent one day trip to the the Somme Battlefields.
It was a memorable day and one of the highlights of our trip overseas.

The weather on the day was perfect, our guide Geoff. was witty, informative and nothing was a trouble. ( I got the impression that he gets on well with the Aussies? But who doesn't?)

The countryside was beautiful and the memorials immaculate. A glorious tribute to people of all nationalities.
But saddened by the fact that so many people died in the conflict. However I felt that there was a wonderful feeling of peace and tranquility surrounding the area.


But was again thank you both for all your extra efforts in arranging the trip. It was greatly appreciated by both of us.

Best Regards
~ Richard Bates - The Somme 2010

2009 Season Feedback

 

Please pass on to Jeff our heart felt thanks for giving us a most memorable and heart stirring tour of the WW1 Battlefields.  It was for us a tough insight into what went on during 1914-1918, made even better by Jeff who certainly knew his history. Thanks once again, it is a trip that will live with us always.
Karen and David Pollack 2009.  The Somme Battlefields Tour.

"My nephew and I did your Forging the Nation Tour in July and had a wonderful time! It was a living history lesson. I especially appreciated Barry taking the time to relate history etc. to my 15 year old nephew. We would recommend your tours to everyone."
~ Sharon Kerr, email July 2005

 

Regarding our tour on the 16th & 17th September we would like to express a big thanks to Jeff for his very capable and knowledgeable tour of the WW1 battlefields. Our trip was comfortable and interesting and gave us an overview of the terrible conditions suffered by the troops If this is a sample of all your tours I will heartily recommend your organisation to any acquaintance who may be contemplating travel to Britain.
~ Jann & Hilton Prideaux, email September 2006

 

Just returned from our tours of Ypres and the Somme. Thank you all for your help to me in setting up the trip and for your excellent organisation with the hotel and Eurostar. Everyone enjoyed the experiences immensely. Please pass on to Tony our thanks and appreciation - he was the ideal guide and companion for the group. Maybe I will have the opportunity to use you again but in any case I will have no hesitation in recommending your company. Thanks again.
~ Victor Whyte

 

Apologies for the delay in writing to you; we were on a battlefields tour on 10-12 November with Nora. This is to thank you and the company staff who facilitated this tour. It was absolutely magnificent and the high point of our trip from Australia to UK so far as Val and I are concerned. Our group of seven were unanimous in our observations we could not have selected a better company to visit the Western Front with. Of course, as the representative of the company and our guide, Nora must take the lion's share of the credit. We found her attitude, knowledge, enthusiasm and thoughtfulness to be first class. Her ability to convey reality and atmosphere, her descriptive skills and uncanny sense of keeping quiet to allow us to absorb the enormity of the historical events and locations and her encyclopaedic knowledge kept us all enthralled (and at times deeply moved) from start to finish.
~ Jeff Owen

 

Travelling with Back Roads in May of this year on the "Forging of a Nation" Tour was a wonderfully educational, pleasurable and moving experience. Thanks to Barrie and Back-Roads I was privileged to be the first in my family to visit the grave of my great uncle, Hubert Fidile Poirier, who was killed at age 19 in the Great War and is buried in Bullecourt Military Cemetery in Riviere, France. Belated thanks for making this possible. It was a life changing experience.
~ Dola AuCoin

 

"We have recently returned from a tour of the battlefields. We were thirteen friends who met your Guide Mark, instantly we were fourteen friends. Mark was courteous, friendly and very knowledgeable. . .if he did not know he made a point of finding out the answers to our questions. We felt that he 'honed the tour' to our requirements. Especially with one of our friends who had a specific request to visit a certain cemetery. This he did. . .even providing a cross! He was always punctual and was always very cheerful, even at 5.30am. He is a credit to your company. Your coach was very comfortable and very clean. Please pass on to Mark with all our best wishes I wish I had the brain to soak up all that knowledge and facts. . "
~ Michael Forrest, April 2008 (British)

 

"This is to thank you and the company staff who facilitated this tour. It was absolutely magnificent and the high point of our trip from Australia to UK so far as Val and I are concerned. Our group of seven were unanimous in our observations we could not have selected a better company to visit the Western Front with. Of course, as the representative of the company and our guide, Nora must take the lion's share of the credit. We found her attitude, knowledge, enthusiasm and thoughtfulness to be first class. Her ability to convey reality and atmosphere, her descriptive skills and uncanny sense of keeping quiet to allow us to absorb the enormity of the historical events and locations and her encyclopedic knowledge kept us all enthralled (and at times deeply moved) from start to finish. Thank you for providing such an excellent tour opportunity. "
~ Mick & Val Richardson, 2007 (Australians)

 

"Just thanking you for a fantastic Somme Tour. It was one of the highlights of our trip and we will never forget it. It was exactly what we wanted. We loved the hotel and the tour guide was so amazing. She had so much knowledge and stories to tell. We all learnt so much! She was amazing and we all enjoyed her company! All the best and hope to be back soon. "
~ Natasha and Trevor Carr, 2007 (Australians)

 

"Some feed back from us on our recent tour with your company. It was my father who served four years with first Cdn Division WW 1. He was seriously wounded at Ypres, slightly a year later at the Somme and on a list "not expected to live" after Vimy. I was the first of his siblings to have the opportunity to visit the region where the actions took place. Upon meeting your guide Jon Halperin at Harwich you can imagine our surprise and pleasure to be handed a large sheaf of papers documenting my fathers regiment's struggle, attacks, counter attacks and losses during this war. Jon had in his own personal time gathered all this information for us It was not, however, until we returned home that we had the time to thoroughly read all the material. It described in detail comments and incidents mentioned in my fathers journal which he wrote from memory when in his eighties. It was only then we fully realized Jon's effort on our behalf and are very grateful to him and from this came to more fully appreciate his knowledge,, dedication, humor and even his much needed assistance in handling the luggage. "
~ Dave and Jean (Marion) McGowan, 2007 (Canadians)

 

"I am writing to thank you very much for organizing such a memorable trip for us. Geoff and Nora, our guides, took us on a journey of the battlefields which was very informative, sad and moving and re-evoked the history of the First World War very vividly. Both Geoff and Nora looked after us very well , and their knowledge of the historical details was quite amazing, -they are a real credit to your company! Please pass on our grateful thanks to them both. We are busy recommending the trip to our friends and hope to join you again in the New year. "
~ Zarina and Shaed, 2007 (British)

 

"Just a brief note to thank you and your wonderful team of Jeff and Norma for the great day we had in Flanders. . . it was everything we had hoped for. Having visited the area in which my Dad was wounded and heard the stories of the fighting in that area, and , I suppose, having visited the War Cemeteries (which I found to be a quite emotional experience) I somehow or other feel that I know my dad better than at anytime in my life. As I may have already told you, he never talked of his experiences during the Great War, so there was always a part of his background missing. And, in addition, I now have an even greater understanding of the sheer futility of war - so many young lives lost for what? Maybe we should demand that if there is to be a war, the politicians who want to wage the war should be the first ones into the front lines. Anyway, thanks for a very memorable day and please convey our thanks to Jeff and Nora as well. "
~ Terry Cole, 2007

 

"Seeing the white cliffs of Dover was an unexpected extra added bonus of the trip. I have been reading about and watching film of the Great War for fifty years but seeing the ground where the fighting occurred, the towns destroyed by it (and the amazing rebuilding of these towns, the Ypres Cathedral, etc. ) and the many cemeteries gave me a feeling for the Great War that you just cannot get from books, film and photographs. I very highly recommend this tour to people who are seriously interested in learning about the war. Your highly informed and experienced tour guides and small group format are the only way to see these sites. Those taking such tours in the big touring buses cannot get the high quality experience that Back-Roads tours delivers. And my own experience as a Yellowstone Park driver and tour guide, I know that there are many places those big buses cannot go. "
~ Jeff Ward, 2007 (American)

 

"Barb and I have been home a week now and have been reflecting on our recent trip. We both agree that the trip, as a whole, was probably the best time away that we have ever had. While the Vimy Tour could not be described as "fun" it was certainly an enjoyable learning experience. From the very first day in Amsterdam till the final day in London we thoroughly enjoyed our interaction with Barrie and the other members of our group. The fact that Barrie was open to finding sites of special interest to each individual member of the group ( and was actually able to find the location of some out of the way spots) was very special. "
~ Dr David and Barbara Keating, 2007 (Canadians)

 

"The tour was everything I had hoped it would be. The remembrance celebration at Vimy Ridge was life changing. With the help of Back Roads' office in the UK, Barrie, our guide and driver located the cemetery where my uncle, a casualty of World War 1, was buried. The whole busload helped me commemorate his death. I was the first in our family to visit his grave. It was a memorable experience. "
~ Ken Reeves, 2007 (Canadian)

 

"Just wanted to say what a great tour we had with Jeff on the Ypres and Somme tours in September. I came on the tour with my son, 16, and we both learned a lot and enjoyed it. Jeff was very knowledgeable and gave a great idea of what it was like to be there in battle and did not bombard us with facts and figures. I am so glad we chose to do a tour as opposed to doing something self guided as we just covered so much in the two days that we would never have done on our own. "
~ Mairi and Alistair Simpson, 2007 (British)

 

"Just a short message to say how very much we enjoyed our tour on 3-5 June, and to say thanks very much to our very obliging and helpful guide Jeff. "
~ Mary, Sonia, Meghann Lilley and Pam Carleton 7 June 2006 (Australian)

 

"What a great weekend! Exhausting but worth every moment despite the weather. Thank you so much for giving us an insight into the Western Front, or a bit of it. I will certainly try to remember what you told us and now try and add to my knowledge. Once again many thanks!"
Ros Barron, 3 June 2006 (British)

 

"Just wanted to say how much my father and I enjoyed yesterday. David was an excellent guide and really helped bringing everything to life. Being able to lay our wreath on my grandfather's grave was very special to us. It has now wetted our appetite and we are thinking about doing a similar trip with you to the Somme before we go back home "
~ Ivor Otley, 24 April 2006 (Australian)

 

"My son, Malcolm and I recently travelled through the WW1 battlefields with your guide Bob. We would like you to know how very much we enjoyed the trip and how knowledgeable we found Bob to be. He went out of his way to make the days appropriate for us as Australians and in particular sought out places mentioned by my father in his diary written during the war. With thanks," Elizabeth Adams 29 July 2006 (Australian)

 

"I'd swear you know where every bit of barbed wire on the Western Front is! Great couple of days. Unbelievable knowledge you have. I was impressed by the way you managed to ensure both the Canadians and the English on board exactly what they wanted to see. "
~ Peter James, September 2006 (Canadian)"

 

"I would just like to say a massive thank you to you for a fantastic weekend. Brad and I had the best time and it will be a weekend we will never forget. Thanks again. "
~ Caroline and Brad, August 2006 (British)

 

"Just wanted to say what a great tour we had with Jeff on the Ypres and Somme tours in September. I came on the tour with my son, 16, and we both learned a lot and enjoyed it. Jeff was very knowledgeable and gave a great idea of what it was like to be there in battle and did not just bombard us with facts and figures. I am so glad we chose to do a tour as opposed to doing something self guided as we just covered so much in the two days that we would never have done on our own. Please, thank Jeff very much. "
~ Mairi and Alistair Simpson, September 2006 (British)