Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · 2d

2/2:

In #Ypres, it is very easy to stand on '14 ground, and see exactly where the German offensives came from, and precisely where bold bloody resistance leapt from too.

Get in touch with the team, we'd love to share our knowledge and their stories.

#WeWillRememberThem

1 2

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · 2d

1/2:

#OTD in 1914, the First Battle of Ypres opens.

'Favourite' is a difficult term to use sometimes when it comes to battlefields. What I mean by that in this case is, that I love taking guests to these early Great War engagements.

1 1 9

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · 12d

Nice work mate. Congratulations.

1

Reposted by Sophie's Great War Tours

Bill Dawson @homesickpenguin.bsky.social · 13d

Amazing work that you and the team do Sophie and you are right, this photo absolutely captures it. Thank you for keeping the stories and memories alive...

1 1

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · 15d

3/3: It’s these moments, hugs, tears, and quiet reflection that remind us why we do what we do.

3

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · 15d

2/3: Our guides don’t just share history; they help bring it home. The bond that forms between guest & guide is built on sincerity, empathy & a shared determination to understand what really happened on the battlefield.

1 3

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · 15d

1/3: This epitomises what we do here at Sophie's Great War Tours. A tour is so much more than a journey through history. This photo captures one of those powerful moments, when hours of research, heartfelt storytelling & the uncovering of a family’s wartime story come together.

3 1 11

Reposted by Sophie's Great War Tours

Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 18d

Storm Amy has just passed & it's now a lovely breezy day on the Salient. The day started with my usual truth & myth of the Christmas Truce stands & then it was onto Talbot House. This is on a tour arranged by @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social #WW1 #FWW #Ypres #Wipers #history

3 11

Reposted by Sophie's Great War Tours

Paul Durham 🇺🇦 ⚫️⚪️ @milhistdiddy.bsky.social · 18d

Special day retracing the FWW footsteps of the grandfather of these Aussie clients, on behalf of @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social.

He served with 58th AIF in & around Villers-Bretonneux in 1918 & was promoted as a direct replacement for Cpl Ernest Gladstone, KIA 2/9/1918, aged just 20.

#SGWT #FWW #WW1

1 11

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · 19d

Wow!

1

Reposted by Sophie's Great War Tours

Paul Durham 🇺🇦 ⚫️⚪️ @milhistdiddy.bsky.social · 20d

Guiding a Maori client in the footsteps of his Gt Grandfather, who was wounded on 7/6/17 at Messines.

Took him to the NZ memorial there, and - in an otherwise cloudless sky - this fern shaped cloud appeared above where we were.

Hairs standing on back of neck moment.

#SGWT #NZ #FWW #WW1

1 1 8

Reposted by Sophie's Great War Tours

Paul Durham 🇺🇦 ⚫️⚪️ @milhistdiddy.bsky.social · 20d

First full day in and around #Ypres, guiding two Australians and a New Zealander in the footsteps of their respective ancestors, on behalf of @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social

#SGWT #FWW #WW1

1 15

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Sep 6

2/2: Chris is with an Australian family on a personal pilgrimage, tracing the footsteps of their relative who faced intense action around Poziers, Somme. Each tour is unique, each story personal, but both share the same mission: to keep history alive & honour those who served.

1

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Sep 6

1/2: We have two more special tours out today.

The first with Nick sees 3 generations of a British family undercover the key sites of #Ypres, before following in the footsteps of their relative on the Somme.

1 2

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Aug 4

4/4
When you walk with us, you honour those who gave everything. You connect the past with the present. And you carry their memory into the future.
➡️Check out our site here:

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Aug 4

3/4
Their story, our history is shared on the battlefields where it happened. We walk the ground where young men once stood. We tell their stories, not just of how they died, but how they lived, hoped, wrote home, laughed with comrades & faced unimaginable fear.

1

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Aug 4

2/4
The war would reshape borders, see nations disappear & sow the seeds for another global conflict. More than 100 years on, those men & women who were shaken from their ordinary lives & asked to do the unimaginable, deserve to be remembered. That’s where SGWT comes in.

1

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Aug 4

1/4
#OTD in 1914, Britain declares war on Germany.
What began as a European crisis quickly became a global catastrophe. Over the next 4 years, more than 16 million people would be killed, including almost 1 million from Britain & her empire.

1 1 1

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Jul 27

Grit. Determination. Teamwork. Congratulations ⁦‪@Lionesses‬⁩

4

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Jul 3

2/2: Another group begins their journey into the town, following in the footsteps of soldiers who arrived over a century ago. Rupert Brooke so poignantly wrote in The Soldier, “there’s some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England.” We walk those corners. We remember.

1 7

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Jul 3

1/2: This morning, one group of guests wakes in Ypres, ready to see the ground where the British held firm in 1914, where gas was released in 1915 & where troops relentlessly attacked towards Passchendaele in 1917.

1 2 6

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Jul 2

Our second tour is out this week, with Paul starting his journey in #Verdun with four American guests. Today they wind their way through the Meuse-Argonne before settling into the stunning little town of Bouillon in the #Ardennes.

5

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Jul 2

Our next tour departs. Nick leads 4 Americans on a moving journey through Ypres & the Somme. Today they follow the same route the troops took, driving towards their billets & a taste of Belgian hospitality. Stay tuned as we explore the landscapes that shaped history.
#1WW

2

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Jul 1

1st July is a day that will always be remembered as Britain's darkest day in military history.

Over the top, waves of young men went into battle on the Somme.

At the close of eve, 19,242 would lose their lives, a truly staggering number.

We must never forget their sacrafice.

3

Sophie's Great War Tours @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social · Jun 27

As a non military mate said today… “they built them like Toblerone”!?

1