The Somme was deeply marked by the battles of the First World War: the August invasion and the race to the sea in September 1914, the battle of the Somme from July to November 1916, the German spring offensive in March 1918 and the consequent Allied counter-offensives in Picardy from August to September 1918. In 1916, in contrast to the Franco-German dual at Verdun, the Somme became a world arena: a meeting point for more than 20 nationalities and where three million soldiers fought on the 45-kilometre front line.
Nowadays the Somme is amazingly quiet and peaceful, hard to imagine the human tragedy which took place 100 years ago. Every year some 300,000 visitors from the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, South Africa and many other countries come to the battlefields for remembrance and to pay respect to the men who fought and gave their lives during the Great War but also to have a better understanding of this terrible page of our history. By walking in the footsteps of these men and visiting the numerous cemeteries, memorials and traces of the battlefields, visitors can nearly imagine the scale of the disaster.
You now have in hand the most helpful, practical and detailed battlefield guide to make the best of your visit in the Somme. This battlefield guide, written and regularly updated by Major and Mrs. Holt, will be needed to prepare and organise your journey whether you are a first time visitor or a frequent visitor to the area. You will be able to choose between three approach routes and six recommended itineraries depending on your interest and time availability. Because Major and Mrs Holt have been touring, travelling and exploring the Somme for well over 35 years they are able to talk like locals (or even better!) and share with us through this guidebook their own moving experience of the battlefields. Knowing each country road, trail, cemetery, memorial and site perfectly, they have chosen not to write another academic history book on the Somme but have developed their own and efficient way to help you visit and experience the battlefields by revealing, not only the battles and action, but also by giving human, historical and literary information which depict an essential dimension of the Great War.
When reading and using this great guide book you will come across personal, family or regimental stories, it will take you from the largest and most well-known memorials to the smallest and well-hidden ones in the country side. Major and Mrs Holt have kept the secret of making it very informative and yet pleasant reading.
Interest in remembrance and history will undoubtedly increase during the centenary. Media coverage, new books, movies, conferences and ceremonies will definitely help to bring a better understanding of each aspect of the Great War, including its causes and consequences. However, information and knowledge of this world war would be insufficient if not completed by a trip to see landscapes, remains of the battlefields, British and Commonwealth, French and German cemeteries, memorials and museums.
François Bergez, Director Somme Tourism
When I was a child, I had always wondered when seeing French WWI veterans at the Monument aux Morts on November 11th, what they had lived through, seen and endured during the Great War. I was just a kid and never had the mind to question them and still regret it.
Years later, I moved to the Somme region and one of my British friends gave me a tour on the battlefields. We visited many WWI sites and cemeteries such as Serre N°1 and N°2 Cemeteries, the small Railway Hollow cemetery located further up the hill and close to the Accrington Pals memorial. As I was looking at the graves, I stopped a bit longer in front of the grave stone of Private A. Goodlad from the York and Lancaster Regiment. The engraved message read “The French are a grand nation worth fighting for”. He was 23 and died on July 1st 1916. I felt very moved by his message and since then my desire that the sacrifice of these men never be forgotten has grown stronger each day.
No veterans of the Great War will be with us to share the Centenary, so we must make this period an opportunity to pass on the message of remembrance to the younger generations who will be the link so that this worldwide tragedy will never be forgotten.
For many years Major and Mrs. Holt have highly contributed to promoting and showing the true value of the battlefields of the Somme through their guidebook but also as tour operators on the battlefields. They have always been dedicated to keeping l’esprit des lieux and the flame of remembrance alight. Their aim is to provide accurate information about the battles and battlefield sites to help visitors understand what occurred in the Somme 100 years ago. I should say that I have learned and understood so much about the Somme thanks to this battlefield guide which is not only about military facts or battles but also depicts the courage, the fear, the hardships, the brotherly love as well as the art and literature that the war inspired in men in both sides who took part in the war
With this new and updated edition of their guide, I would like, as a friend, to take this opportunity to thank Tonie and Valmai Holt for the incredible quality of their work which mixes a unique approach with an original outlook on the many different facets of the Great War in the Somme.
They have truly provided a wealth of information for the thousands of visitors who will come to the Somme and use their guidebook to follow the marks left by the Great War and experience the emotions of the battlefields. Finally, I would also like to thank them for their perfect knowledge and understanding of our region, its history, its memories and the local people all of which have enabled them to recount this moment in history as a part of our common heritage.
François Bergez
Director of Somme Tourism