Military History Tours Australia The Royal Australian Air Force in the UK 1939 - 1945
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Join this tour to the sites in the UK where our RAAF Squadrons served as they flew those dangerous missions over
Europe in July 2011.
In Australia we commemorate the selfless deeds of our soldiers through the two World Wars as they fought and died for freedom. Places such as Pozieres, Villers-Bretonneux, Passchendaele, Tobruk, Crete and Kokoda are names well known and steeped in history. There was another campaign, well away from Australia’s shores where the casualties were greater than all those well known battles, the RAAF in the UK, 1939-1945 suffered a 51% casualty rate.
With
this tour we ensure that the efforts by the RAAF in that conflict are not forgotten as they are not forgotten by many a French Historian who thank Australia for coming to France’s aid in her hours of need, in 1916-1918 on the ground and in 1939-1945 in the air. Australia had 14 Squadrons operating from UK sites against Germany and also many of our airman flew with RAF Squadrons. A great number of the airfields from where they left on those missions remain to this day. Missions that many failed to return from, and in many cases the airfield from where they had left was the last place known to them.
This is a tour developed for the very special purpose that we hope will, in a small way, ensure that this part of Australia’s history is not forgotten. We visit many of the old airfields that remain, the museums that hold the planes of that period and may even witness the flight of some of those historical planes flown by our airman all those years ago. Together we meet the local dignitaries who maintain that military heritage and pay our respects at the resting places of those of our fallen who are interred in the UK.
Some of the areas that we are programmed to visit include: Elvington, Home-on-Spalding Moor, Ashdon Down, Coningsby, Coddington, Breighton, Sutton Veny, Scampton, Lavenham, St Clement Danes Church and more. The tour is geographically planned that enables us to respond to specific sites and requests from those travelling with us.
Once we have received your booking, we will request from you information concerning any specific areas that may be important for you to visit. This may be an airfield from which you or members of your family had operated from or another site of equal importance.
From past experience, visits to these sites are of significant interest to all members of our touring parties and tend to bring that personal touch to all on tour.
Australia’s most costly single campaign of the war was the air offensive over Europe.
Costs: 14 days/13 nights. Based on share twin or share double
APPROXIMATELY $(AU)4,995 per person.
Single Supplement additional cost APPROXIMATELY $(AU)1,300.
Included in this price:
Accommodation,
Airfield and Museum visitations,
Special memorial services,
air conditioned coaches,
Air Show entrance,
transfers,
Meals as indicated in the itinerary B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner.
Not included in this price:
Air travel to/from Australia,
travel insurance,
laundry and alcohol,
tour extensions, &
personal expenses.
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Please note: This itinerary has been prepared on a geographical basis to cover areas in the UK where the Australian Squadrons were based and from where they set off on their various missions. There were also many RAAF men and women attached to RAF Squadrons and establishments in various other locations in the UK. It is hoped that by having a programme as broad as appears below, there is the flexibility to visit specific sites that are of special interest to those on tour.
Therefore, following information provided by those on tour, prior to us leaving Australia, the actual sites that are currently listed may be replaced by sites as requested by those on tour or even added to those sites already detailed. Military History Tours endeavours to comply with all special location requests and from past experience, visits to these sites are of significant interest to all members of our touring parties and tend to bring that personal touch to all on tour.
Dates of this tour are TO BE CONFIRMED in July 2011.
Day 1 - LONDON: Tour guests will be met at Heathrow Airport by our staff and transferred to their hotel in the airport precinct. The remainder of the day and evening is free to relax and meet other guests. Dinner in our hotel. D
Day 2 – LONDON to SALISBURY: After breakfast at the hotel, coaches will depart for Salisbury, the first of our location bases. We will stay two nights here as we cover the general area as there were quite a few airfields in the vicinity. On the way we will visit Brighton. This was the area where every airman going into the UK were staged through and most wounded also found their way to Brighton. B/D
Day 3 - SALISBURY: Today we stay in the vicinity of Salisbury and we will visit Middle Wallop(456 Sqn), Mere and Sutton Veny where there were airfields during the war. The tower and concrete holding area at Mere is still in place. B/D
Day 4 – SALISBURY to WOLVERHAMPTON: On the way to Wolverhampton we will have lunch at a hotel in Coventry that was an Officers Mess during the War attended by men from 457 Squadron. We will also visit Leighterton, where our WW1 airman trained and a few remain in the Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery here. The church in the village conducts an ANZAC Day Service each year. Ashdon Down at Minchinhampton and Baginton (457 Sqn) will be visited as we head north. B/D
Day 5 – WOLVERHAMPTON to YORK: Heading towards York we will visit Shifnal and the RAF Cosford Museum before moving on to RAF Breighton (462 Sqn). At Breighton we may have a BBQ on the actual tarmac from where so many of our men left and did not return. On arrival in York we have a free afternoon to visit this special town. B/D
Day 6 - YORK: Today we visit Elvington where there is a good museum collection on an old WW2 airfield that has been preserved as it was when the war ended. The rest of the day is reserved for special visits should it be needed. B/D
Day
7 – YORK to LINCOLN: Turning south towards Lincoln we will pass through Home on Spalding Moor where there is a special memorial to 458 Sqn and we will conduct a small service at the memorial. Also here we have a complete runway with original hangers still in good condition. Following lunch in a small village pub we will call in to
Scampton near Brattleby which was the departure point for the famous Dambusters Raid. B/D
Day 8 - LINCOLN: Much to see in this area. Coningsby (home of Battle of Britain Memorial Flight) Swinderby (455 Sqn), Coddington, East Kirkby (Lancaster) and RAF Cranwell where there is a small Aviation Heritage Museum and across the road the RAF Staff College. B/D
Day 9 – LINCOLN to LETCHWORTH: After breakfast at the hotel, coaches will depart for Letchworth, We will stay three nights here as we cover the general Cambridge area and Duxford. On the way to Letchworth we will view the Shuttleworth Collection at Biggleswade. B/D
Day 10 – LETCHWORTH: Orford (Butley), runway still present, buildings in use as an industrial park and a museum is being established. At the end of the day we will head off to Lavenham where we will be able to walk on the tarmac of the old airfield and then venture into the historical town. At this stage we plan to have dinner this evening in the Swan Hotel in Lavenham. This hotel still has the signatures preserved on the walls of a lot of airmen who visited the pub from the base. B/D
Day 11 – LETCHWORTH: Today is a very full day for us as we venture down to Duxford for the airshow and visit to that special museum. This is the day where we hope to see many of those old planes flying including the Lancaster Bomber, Spitfires and Hurricanes. Following this excellent day we will return to our hotel for a well deserved drink before dinner in our hotel. B/D
Day 12 - LETCHWORTH to LONDON: Following a leisurely breakfast, we head down towards London and call into our last excellent Museum, RAF Hendon. This will be a fitting conclusion to our specialized museum visitation programme and we will sere aircraft from 1900 up to present times. The display of First World War machines is very extensive and has all of those old combat aircraft.
Tonight we stay in London and that will allow an evening to relax, maybe in one of London’s old pubs or even attend one of the shows in the East End for the time is yours to enjoy. B
Day 13 – LONDON: After breakfast in our hotel we will visit St Clement Danes Church, the RAF Church, to view the new Memorial to the Spitfire. We will then move to Hyde Park and conduct a small Memorial Service at the Australian Memorial. This will be our last official activity and the rest of the day is yours to enjoy. B
Day 14 – LONDON: Today, after breakfast, your tour ends. B
Please Note: Due to matters outside our control, there may be times when we will change from our proposed itinerary. It is our intention to conduct a briefing each evening to set in place the following day’s visitation programme.
Use the buttons above to request more information, or download the registration form for this tour.
