Bespoke Battlefield Tours

A year ago I was on a recce to Monte Cassino in preparation for a battlefield tour, little did I know that in the next 12 months I’d visit Cassino 5 times! In addition we have also squeezed in a trip to the Falkland Islands and a few days in Ypres. a busy but enjoyable 2023 now looking forward to what 2024 might bring.

Back on the Salient for a tour!

Final day of our tour seeing the sights of Rome before heading home.

Monte Cassino. A great day walking in the hills around the Monastery. Exploring on foot gives a very different perspective.

Beautiful weather on our current tour. Day 1 visited the ruins of Herculaneum at the foot of Vesuvius and Day 2 took us to Monte Cassino. The warm but pleasant temperatures (28 degrees) are a real contrast to the baking heat on our last trip in the summer.

Bridging 1917!

📷 - Royal Engineers bridging the Yser Canal north of Ypres, 3 August 1917. The foundation consists of two barges at right angles. © IWM Q 5858

Cassino War Cemetery visit before our return to uk after another successful trip.

Another great day at Cassino. Despite the heat, 36 degrees today we had a great day culminating in a visit to the Roman ruins in town.

Another hot but very interesting day at Cassino

A hot day here in Italy, it hit 37 degrees this afternoon. just arrived at hotel to the very welcome air conditioning and a cool shower. Despite a great view from my balcony it’s just too hot to sit outside at the moment. I think I can hear a cold beer calling before dinner!

Izzy Smith VC served with the Manchester Regiment and took part in the Indian army’s counter attack near Ypres.

Issy Smith, originally known as Ishroulch Shmeilowitz, was born in 1890 in Egypt. However, he changed his name when he came to the UK as a child stowaway. In 1904 he joined the Army and spent time in South Africa and India during his service.

After being discharged from the army he moved to Australia until 1914 when the First World War began. He enlisted as a corporal as part of the 1st Battalion, The Manchester Regiment and was posted to the Second Battle of Ypres.

On 26 April 1915, Smith was part of an attack on a German trench during the battle when, upon his own initiative, he went to recover wounded soldiers, with complete disregard for his own safety. For his actions he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Smith was later wounded in a gas attack and send to Ireland to recover. Smith was also Jewish and after he received his Victoria Cross the British Government asked him to help recruit others to join, he conducted a number of visits to Jewish communities to generate interest.

Sadly, post-war, like many others, Smith struggled and he ended up pawning his medal. He returned to Australia in 1925 with his wife. His medals were later recovered by the Jewish Historical Society and he was reunited withy them.

Issy Smith died in 1940 and was buried with full military honours.

📷 - Two Melbourne schoolboys wearing their father's medals, probably in some form of patriotic parade during the Second World War. The boy in front is Maurice Smith, the son of Issy Smith, a well known and respected member of the Melbourne Jewish community. © AWM 044296

Always something new. At Cassino cemetery I stumbled across the grave of Mr MacDonald, an Australian war correspondent.

Day three of our Recce brought us back to Monte Cassino (and the rain has stopped!!)

Interesting ‘Then and Now’ of Cassino war cemetery. Next week we will be in Italy on a recce for another Bespoke Battlefield Tours

By April 1915 there were significant numbers of Indian troops on the Western front. The battle of Neuve Chapelle had recently ended and the post below shows how the need to recognise religious differences was identified and first met in this memo to GHQ.

On this day, 1915, our founder Fabian Ware developed our policy that all religious groups amongst the war dead should be represented appropriately.

'It seems to me to raise an important question of principle.'

At the Commission, an ‘Indian Graves Committee’ was established to ensure proper consultation on the distinct requirements for different religious groups; issues of exhumation and cremation were particularly debated. Then, as now, we commemorate religious groups in accordance with their beliefs.

Our last day in Italy spent looking at the AMAZON Bridge crossing by 4th Division.

Came across a series of graves commemorating men of the Cyprus Regiment at Monte Cassino- a new one for me

On tour at Monte Cassino

Final preparations this weekend for our forthcoming Bespoke Battlefield Tours tour to Monte Cassino..

The photograph shows the planned crossing area forXIII corps in preparation for OP HONKER, May 1945.

Preparations for the 80th Anniversary are underway at Cassino War Cemetery

We have just completed a wonderful tour to the visiting several sites of the and admiring the remarkable scenery and wildlife on the islands in this remote corner of the world!

A great second day at Cassino on our recce for a tour in 2023.

Very misty today looking across to Monte Cassino in the distance.

Privates W.D. Dewar (left) and J.A. Mackenzie, both of The Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders, displaying their bagpipes to Dutch children in Nijmegen, Netherlands, 15 November 1944 🎶😍

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