France

Apart from what is below I can cover just about anywhere in the St. Mihiel salient – following a particular Division, etc. if asked beforehand, but the below are at least a three day trip. The numbers 1 to 7 are my standard trip and take about ten hours in total.

  1. The trenches of Bois le Prêtre (near Pont à Mousson) are in almost pristine condition. You can compare the French and German front line and even learn the difference between their barbed wire. (This is not suitable for people with mobility difficulties). They cannot be visited with any large vehicle, and are only accessible either by car or on foot (about three hours in total).

    Bois Pretre Barbed Wire small

    Barbed Wire Entanglement (Click to enlarge)

  2. The French cemetery of Montauville Le Pétant, which has World War One and World War Two graves as well as Russian.

    Bois le Pretre Memorial small

    Bois le Prêtre Memorial (Click to enlarge)

  3. The ruined villages of Regnieville and Remenauville
  4. The trenches where Ernst Junger wrote Storm of Steel (This is not suitable for people with mobility difficulties).  This is accessible only by smaller buses (up to say 9 seats) or normal cars.

    German fourth line trench Vieville-en-Haye small

    German Fourth Line Trench Vieville-en-haye (Click to enlarge)

  5. The US and German cemeteries at Thiaucourt (the German cemetery has 1870 graves as well as World War One and World War Two. Even a few French graves are to be found.
  6. A German 380mm gun position used to bombard Verdun, and the nearby Camp Maguerre where the Germans experimented with concrete.
  7. Signal de Xon near Pont à Mousson.

    Signal de Xon small

    Trench remains on Signal de Xon (Click to enlarge)

  8. The battlefield of 1870 around Gravelotte and St. Privat.
  9. The remains of a WW2 concentration camp near the Luxembourg border.* (advanced notice required to obtain access to the small museum).
  10. Follow the track that the US army took in September 1918 as they conquered the St. Mihiel salient.
  11. ‘Flirey Quarries’ well known to every volunteer US ambulance driver.
  12. Fort Troyon, a key position in the fighting of 1914 (prior booking, and only when the fort is open to the public; they provide a guide).
  13. Where Patton and Macarthur met for the only time.
  14. Verdun. Whilst I am not a specialist on the battle of Verdun, I can take people on several general interest tours to places that are not covered by the normal tourist office tours. It is not possible to enter forts other than Douaumont and Vaux. The others are in an extremely dangerous condition and access is forbidden. These tours and visits are not suitable for people with mobility problems.

Going into battlefield areas can be dangerous or virtually impossible in or after bad weather. The mud has to be seen to be believed. Knee deep is quite common.

The Ossuary and Memorial museum will be covered in these visits. They are both suitable for wheelchairs, etc.

* see Prices & Booking