battle guide virtual tours review

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Reviews 4.2.

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A brilliant new format

A brilliant new format. Even better than traditional "walking the ground" tours, of which I have done many. This way you get to see and understand more, without having to leave your home - and once purchased, you have the tour to re-visit as often as you like. I have bought five so far and plan to get more.

Date of experience : January 08, 2023

You’ll be absolutely hooked!

This is perhaps one of the greatest innovations in the history of battlefield touring. The combination of highly knowledgeable guides, detailed maps, photographs and superior drone footage, from almost any battlefield in the world, carried right into your living room, office, or wherever you may be make these tours simply amazing! The choice of tours is incredible as is flexibility of when and where you watch them. If you haven’t tried one, you really should. After the first one, you’ll be absolutely hooked! Great work by a great team.

Date of experience : April 24, 2022

Innovative, knowledgeable and interesting.

This was such an excellent idea during lockdown and has developed really well beyond. There are some really innovative methods being used here which can’t be done on a real tour. The team know their stuff and bring events together in a way that documentaries just don’t always manage. I’ve been really impressed and will be ‘touring’ again with the team!

Date of experience : April 23, 2022

Incredible experience

The combination of the most knowledgeable sources commentating and the incredible IT skills make these tours simply amazing! The detail and incredible knowledge shared demonstrates the respect they have for what they are talking about! Keep up the incredible work

Great Tours!

I have been following Battle Guide Virtual Tours for over a year now! Each tour is unique and always very educational. They always keep improving the tours, so it's worth joining a tour several times! The Tour Guides are great, and the Community is amazing. :)

Date of experience : April 22, 2022

A great way to explore military history

A great way to explore military history from your own home and very easy to access. So impressed with the professional historians who have so much knowledge to share. I loved the technology that enhanced the whole experience. All in all fabulous value.

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Battle Guide Virtual Tours

By Skipman 27 June , 2021 in Other Great War Chat

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Saw this on twitter and this looks a fantastic way to use modern technology to view battlefields. May be well known to many but I have not seen it before. Interested in what you think. Looks fantastic.

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Well don't knock me over in the rush. Is this old news to everyone. Is this not the future? Anyway have booked a catchup tour look forward to watching it.

This is certainly news to me, so thanks for posting.

I have just watched the introductory 5-min demo, and since I am never going to be able to take a live, feet-on-the-ground tour I certainly would call it a fantastic application of technology.

Thanks JMB. It looks great and I  will watch one shortly (Kohima WW2) actually, but am sure the WW1 tours will be very useful. Looks like something other guides could do.

There's another video here that shows what a tour would be like. Not sure if you have to register to see this but it shows just how useful this format can be. This video on the battle at Nimey and the retreat from Mons is really helpful in explaining the battle. Great stuff.

https://battleguide.co.uk/military-tours/

thanks Mike, 

on a week off this week otherwise  would have been over for our third visit this year. will give me something to watch next week on nights.

3 hours ago, chaz said: thanks Mike,  on a week off this week otherwise  would have been over for our third visit this year. will give me something to watch next week on nights.

Can you watch them "on demand?" I got the impression they were just at set times, typically mid-a.m. or p.m.

7 hours ago, sassenach said: Can you watch them "on demand?" I got the impression they were just at set times, typically mid-a.m. or p.m.

I'm not up to speed on it all yet. I wanted to watch one on Kohima but it was apparently a private tour. I think you choose a time to view and they give a few options. I have one in the bank as it were so will let you know when choose a tour. It looks a fantastic way to study though.

10 minutes ago, Skipman said: I'm not up to speed on it all yet. I wanted to watch one on Kohima but it was apparently a private tour. I think you choose a time to view and they give a few options. I have one in the bak as it were so will let you know when choose a tour. It looks a fantastic way to study though.   Mike

Reading a bit more it does seem to suggest that after completing the "tour" you can watch again for a limited time. But it's not entirely clear. I'd certainly be interested to know what you think if you use them.

Malcolm Linham

There are six archived editions,, all of WW1 interest in the members section of the WFA website.

Harveyfletch

I believe there are a limited amount of spaces if you wish to watch " live " . You have to register via the WFA , these have to be paid for . They are available to watch for free a couple of days later on the WFA website if you are a member

Just to say that I had an email from the tour company advising that from 11 July they would operate one tour per week instead of two. It will be on a Sunday at 1930.

They also state that any tour that you book is accessible for a month, a point on which I, at least, wasn't clear. 

I'm watching the 2nd Ypres one at 19.30 on Sunday. I wonder if they might make them available on DVD for future study. I will put it to them.

Watched the Second Battle of Ypres virtual tour. Excellent, really enjoyed it and certainly helped to see the bigger picture. Well worth the £20 and I will definitely join other tours. Hopefully other WW1 experts can take up this new version of touring battlefields, using drones, google street view, Linesman etc

• 1 year later...

There are quite a number of Great War tours available on demand now,

https://battleguide.co.uk/product-category/on-demand-tour/

ianjonesncl

On 04/07/2021 at 21:51, Skipman said: Watched the Second Battle of Ypres virtual tour. Excellent, really enjoyed it and certainly helped to see the bigger picture. Well worth the £20 and I will definitely join other tours. Hopefully other WW1 experts can take up this new version of touring battlefields, using drones, google street view, Linesman etc

Thanks for the recommendation.

I missed the original post so great that have brought it back to prominence. 

• 7 months later...

“Good news from Battle Guide Virtual Tours "From June 19 th all their public content is going to be delivered for free via their YouTube platform ( www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT ). If you have not visited, please do so and subscribe to that channel.”

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Home » Welcoming Battle Guide Virtual Tours

Welcoming Battle Guide Virtual Tours

Today I welcome a new sponsor/advertiser to the site, in the form of Battle Guide Virtual Tours. This has come through my friend Dan Hill, who I first met some years ago through Battle Honours Tours. My thanks to them for supporting the Long, Long Trail this way.

Battle Guide Virtual Tours combine the very latest in technology with leading military historians to virtually explore the world’s most iconic battlefields. Watch and listen to expert battlefield guides as they take you around Great War and other battlefields while you are in the comfort of your own home. New live tours are frequently broadcast and added to the site for later viewing. Give it a go!

See Battle Guide Virtual Tours

Privacy Overview

Commonwealth war graves Foundation  Our charity site

Commonwealth war graves commission Caring for the fallen

Create your own bespoke virtual battlefield tour

28 March 2022

Have you ever wanted to follow in the footsteps of your relatives who made the ultimate sacrifice during the World Wars?

Due to the scope of World War One and Two, getting to their iconic global battlefields can prove difficult in terms of time and distance.

It can also be hard to track exactly where your relatives fought and what they got up to if you’re low on the details.

Explore your personal history

Our brand-new virtual tours are tailored to your exact requirements, helping you explore the areas of interest that matter most – all from the comfort of your own home.

Battle Guide Virtual Tours team of history researchers and genealogists do a deep dive into your relative’s background and service. They track and trace your relative’s movements too to give a fuller picture of their wartime experience.

Image: © IWM B 6758

The result is something totally unique and bespoke to you – and yours to keep forever.

These virtual tours can also be used as powerful educational tools and are also great for organisations looking to trace the wartime exploits of former members.

Whatever your requirements, we can create a personal film that’s totally unique to you.

Each film you create help us continue our important work in commemorating those who fell and bringing history to life. All the proceeds (excluding costs) from virtual tours are used to support the Foundation and our work.

Please contact us at [email protected] to learn more.

• Virtual Battlefield tours - details of tours announced!
• Latest News
• November 2020

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.

For more background and a short video demo click  here .

At the bottom of this page there is more information about how you will be able to register for one of these tours. The tours are only available to Western Front Association members and each tour will cost £5. Recordings of all tours will be freely available after the event in the members-only area of the website.

Please note that the following tours are now FULLY BOOKED . You may still register your interest in them but will be placed on a waiting list in case anyone drops out. If you are already registered on these Tours but will be unable to attend, please let us know straight away so that we can offer your place to the next person on the waiting list. Thank you

7th January - 1914 The Rearguard Affair at Etreux

21st January - 1915 The Battle for Scimitar Hill

4th February - 1916 - A Lousy Wood on the Somme

18th February - 1917 - The First Battle of the Scarpe

4th March - 1918 The Spring Offensive

Here, for the first time, is a synopsis of each tour which we will be bringing to you, fortnightly, from 7th January 2021. Each of these will commence at 7.30pm (UK time).

1914 - The Rearguard Affair at Etreux    Thursday 7th January 2021 (tour guide - Clive Harris) 

Whilst most who focus on the early actions of the BEF concentrate, with some justification, on Smith Dorrien's II Corps, the 27 August saw a determined and costly stand by men of the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers, a detachment of the 15th Hussars and a section of 118th Battery RFA. This small force, acting as the rearguard for Haig's I Corps, fought on throughout the day against the overwhelming numbers of the German X Reserve Corps. Despite bridges being blown and their  eventual encirclement, their stoic resistance would earn the respect and admiration of their comrades and opponents in equal measures, this virtual battlefield tour will follow their defence from the initial contact on the crossroads at Chapeau Rouge to the orchard just outside Etreux where they made their fateful, final stand.

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. Thank you

1915 - The Battle for Scimitar Hill   Thursday 21st January 2021 (tour guide - Clive Harris)

As the Gallipoli campaign reached its crescendo in August, the key ground that linked the Anzac and Suvla sectors were a series of low lying hills that overlooked the Salt Lake, dominated North Anzac and protected the Ottoman batteries and their supply lines whilst guarding the quickest route to glimpse and control The Narrows. The battle launched on the 21 August 1915 represented the final throw of the offensive dice for Sir Ian Hamilton on the peninsula, it marked the largest single land battle of the campaign, yet is one seldom studied. This virtual battlefield tour will follow the attack of the 29th Division, the crossing of the Salt Lake by the Yeomanry Divisions and their subsequent assault on Scimitar Hill, Green Hill, W Hills and Hill 60.

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. Thank you

1916 - A Lousy Wood on the Somme     Thursday 4th February 2021 (tour guide - Julian Whippy)

Leuze Wood or Lousy Wood as the British inevitably called it, straddles the Guillemont to Combles road on the high ground that features so much in the 2nd Phase of the Battle of the Somme. Itself being flanked by the infamous Falfemont Farm and the crumbled ruins of Guillemont, dominated views to the North and East and stood in the way of the advance by General Rawlinson’s Fourth Army in early September 1916. Successively fought over by a great many units, it was captured, lost, and finally cleared largely by men of the 5th and 56th Divisions whose actions this virtual tour will concentrate on.  Lousy wood may not hold the same notorious reputation or fable as others such as Delville, Mametz or High Wood but nevertheless its story should be told.

1917 - The First Battle of the Scarpe     Thursday 18th February 2021 (tour guide - Clive Harris)

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.

1918 - The Spring Offensive     Thursday 4th March 2021 (tour guide - Clive Harris)

For the men involved, the 21 March 1918 marked the high water mark of total war, in just over five hours over a million shells were fired before, under the cover of a thick blanket of fog, waves of storm troopers, assaulting and follow up divisions swarmed over the British lines. In the gentle rolling landscape between Villers Guislain and Epehy a number of outstanding last-ditch defensive actions took place and our virtual battlefield tour will study the South African Brigade at Gauche Wood, the Leicester's Brigade of the 21st Division in front of Pigeon Ravine and the eventual defence of the village of Epehy where cemeteries, memorials, bunkers, observation posts and the scars of war remain over a century on.

1918 - Der Schwarze Tag,  Amiens     Thursday 18th March 2021 (tour guide - Julian Whippy)

It was the momentous success that heralded the opening of the doors to victory on the Western Front.  Demonstrating superior tactics, operational resilience and material might, the combined allied forces punched up to 8 miles into German Lines. Engulfing five German Divisions, it was the profound effect on morale, of both sides, that proved even more significant than the geographical gains. British troops were buoyed by the success and felt that the offensive spirit was entirely with them to “get the job done”, while 50,000 German soldiers surrendered with no longer even a dim hope of Victory in their mind. General Erich Ludendorff later described it as “the black day of the German Army” - Der Schwarze Tag. This virtual tour will hope to capture the essence of the first day at Amiens following the leading Australian Battalions and the British Cavalry including the incredible story of one Whippet Tank Crew from 6th Battalion Tank Corps that operated for 9 hours behind enemy line inflicting tremendous losses on the enemy.

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 will be posted on the WFA website on  Sunday  22nd November at 12.00 midday UK time

Make a note of this opening time for the tour registration!

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.

When do I pay?

Full details will be given nearer the time. Approximately two weeks before each tour, the 60 members registered for that tour will be invited to purchase their ticket from The Western Front Association shop online. The only payment methods that can be used will be PayPal and WorldPay - we regret that cheques, phone payments, etc, won't be payment options. Once you have bought your ticket, you will be given a unique password which will allow you to log into the tour on the night.

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I am proud to support Battle Guide Virtual Tours , an innovative new project which combines the world's leading military historians with the very best of modern technology and historic archive material to virtually transport you to some of the world's most iconic battlefields in a live and interactive experience. 

Check out a short demo Virtual Tour here...

ROMAIN BRÉGET - FRENCH BATTLEFIELDS GUIDE

Exploring the battlefields of Normandy and France

[email protected]

Battle Guide Virtual Tours

Since 2020, I have been working for Battle Guide Virtual Tours to create new ways to experience the French Battlefields. Both Live tours and On-Demand are available to purchase.

Sainte-Mère-Église

Immortalised in one of the most famous scenes of the movie The Longest Day, the town of Sainte-Mère-Eglise is now one of the main places of interest of the Normandy landings. But beyond the movie, on D-Day, Sainte-Mère-Eglise became one of the most crucial objectives to capture for the men of the 82nd Airborne.

On the early morning of June 6th, 1944, thousands of young British men found themselves heading toward the coast of Normandy. Many of them had already seen years of service and fighting, from the fjords of Norway to the desert sand of Libya. For others, D-Day would be their very first experience of combat. In front of them now lay the coastal towns of Asnelles and Ver-sur-Mer within the landing sector designated by allied planners as ‘Gold Beach’.

Juno Beach - 8th Brigade landing

On the morning of Tuesday 6th June 1944 as the daylight broke, the men of the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division were about to touchdown on to the Normandy coastline. The sands at Courseulles-sur-Mer and Bernieres-sur-Mer will now be forever known as ‘Juno Beach’.

We follow in the footsteps of the 8th Infantry Brigade as the Queens Own Rifles of Canada, Le Regiment de la Chaudiere and the North Shore Regiment push inland liberating villages along the way.

Battle for Carentan

Laying between Utah and Omaha beach, the town of Carentan was one of the crucial objectives to capture for the US Army in the early phases of the Normandy Campaign. Surrounded by marshes and defended by German paratroopers, the town would prove to be one of the toughest tests for the men of the 101st Airborne.  The town itself was ultimately liberated by elements the 506th PIR, including E Company, popularized in the famous HBO show “Band of Brothers”. 

Soon available

Battle for saint-lô.

Following the remarkable success of Operation Overlord in the summer of 1944, allied forces in Normandy began the long awaited advance inland to free Europe. Almost immediately upon leaving the beaches, US forces were to encounter the formidable Normandy ‘bocage’ – or hedgerows landscape. The advance inevitably slowed as German forces made skillful use of the ideal defensive terrain, in what became known as the ‘Battle of the Hedgerows’. In the thick of this fighting en-route to their major objective of St-Lô were American troops of the 29th and 35th Infantry Divisions. 

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battleguide.co.uk   Reviews

In the Historical society category

Visit this website

Company activity See all

Write a review

Reviews 4.2.

Most relevant

A brilliant new format

A brilliant new format. Even better than traditional "walking the ground" tours, of which I have done many. This way you get to see and understand more, without having to leave your home - and once purchased, you have the tour to re-visit as often as you like. I have bought five so far and plan to get more.

Date of experience : 08 January 2023

You’ll be absolutely hooked!

This is perhaps one of the greatest innovations in the history of battlefield touring. The combination of highly knowledgeable guides, detailed maps, photographs and superior drone footage, from almost any battlefield in the world, carried right into your living room, office, or wherever you may be make these tours simply amazing! The choice of tours is incredible as is flexibility of when and where you watch them. If you haven’t tried one, you really should. After the first one, you’ll be absolutely hooked! Great work by a great team.

Date of experience : 24 April 2022

Innovative, knowledgeable and interesting.

This was such an excellent idea during lockdown and has developed really well beyond. There are some really innovative methods being used here which can’t be done on a real tour. The team know their stuff and bring events together in a way that documentaries just don’t always manage. I’ve been really impressed and will be ‘touring’ again with the team!

Date of experience : 23 April 2022

Incredible experience

The combination of the most knowledgeable sources commentating and the incredible IT skills make these tours simply amazing! The detail and incredible knowledge shared demonstrates the respect they have for what they are talking about! Keep up the incredible work

Great Tours!

I have been following Battle Guide Virtual Tours for over a year now! Each tour is unique and always very educational. They always keep improving the tours, so it's worth joining a tour several times! The Tour Guides are great, and the Community is amazing. :)

Date of experience : 22 April 2022

A great way to explore military history

A great way to explore military history from your own home and very easy to access. So impressed with the professional historians who have so much knowledge to share. I loved the technology that enhanced the whole experience. All in all fabulous value.

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