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Steve Smith

@stevesmith1944.bsky.social

680 followers 870 following 410 posts

Accredited battlefield guide, trainer & published author, works for Sophie's Great War Tours & Adaptable Travel co-owner of http://www.battlefieldguidetraining.com

www.battlefieldguidetraining.com

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 1d

Our final visit to pay our respects was for one of my guests whose wife had a relative buried in Cabaret Rouge Cemetery near Souchez. Ernest died in an action at Vimy Ridge on 30 May 16. He had only been in France for a few months @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social #WW1 #FWW #wewillrememberthem #history

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 1d

He was killed in action working on reserve lines near Hersin and had only been in France for a very short while before he died.

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 1d

We finished up at Vimy Ridge where my guests got to see the sacrifice made by Canada during the battle there. It's been quite an emotional visit for all of them.

Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 1d

I'm now home after getting back from my battlefield tour for @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social & yesterday my guests got to see the French cemetery at Notre Dame de Lorette as well as the memorial to all nations that fell in the Nord & Pas de Calais regions in the Great War #WW1 #FWW #history

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 3d

While we were looking at the site where Henry was killed we found an unidentified soldier of the Devonshires in London Road Cemetery & Extension and wondered if it could be Henry

Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 3d

He died in an assault on Ginchy ...

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 3d

And John fell near Delville Wood on 6th September 1916 ...

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 3d

Henry died in the fields close to High Wood on 20th July 1916 ...

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 3d

Guiding for @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social allows me to take our guests to places where their ancestors served. John & Henry Laffoley died served with the 8th Battalion Devonshire Regiment & are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme #WW1 #FWW #Somme #history

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 3d

Further visits were made to the Thiepval Memorial, the site where the 8th East Surreys kicked footballs over no man's land on the 1st July 1916 & we finished up at the Butte de Warlencourt.

Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 3d

Newfoundland Memorial Park ...

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 3d

We then moved onto Newfoundland Memorial Park ...

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 3d

Yesterday's highlights on battlefield tour arranged by @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social the day started at the Sunken Lane & the Hawthorn Mine #WW1 #FWW #Somme #history

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 4d

And we finally ended up at Tyne Cot where we found two casualties that had the same surname as one of my guests which now promotes further research which is something we love doing as part of our service when on tours.

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 4d

Followed by Sanctuary Wood, Vancouver Corner & Langemark, where we saw the preparations for the internment of a number of German casualties that have been found recently...

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 4d

This afternoon it blew a hooley in the Ypres Salient but it didn't dampen our spirits as we looked at a number of sites around the Ypres Salient on a tour arranged by @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social first stops were Hill 60 & the Caterpillar Mine #WW1 #FWW #Ypres #Wipers #history

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 4d

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

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 5d

I visited his grave yesterday. He's one of three officers now buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery who died as a result of gas poisoning.

Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 5d

It was a very wet day travelling to the Ypres Salient on a battlefield tour arranged by @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social but we ignored Storm Amy & went to visit Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery before moving onto Ypres #WW1 #FWW #Ypres #Wipers #history

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 13d

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 13d

Today & tomorrow will see me indexing my next book which looks at the alleged disappearance of the 5th Battalion Norfolk Regiment at Gallipoli on 12th August 1915. It will be out in November this year #WW1 #Norfolk #Gallipoli #history #books

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 19d

It's eleven years today that this book went off to the publisher to be put into print. It came out that year in November and my fourth book will also be published in that month in 2025 #WW1 #Norfolk #history #book

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 20d

The lovely war memorial in the grounds of St Olaf's church, known as the smallest church in England, at Seascale in the Lake District.

It remembers the twenty men of the Fell & Rock Climbing Club who died in the Great War.

#WW1 #FWW #warmemorial #history

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Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · 28d

He was killed in action during the assault & capture of Falfemont Farm

Steve Smith @stevesmith1944.bsky.social · Sep 5

Today will see me finish the editing of the formatted proof of my next book & the Sandringham War Memorial has a major part to play in it relating to the alleged disappearance of the 5th Norfolks at Gallipoli on 12 August 1915, the book is out in November

#WW1 #Norfolk #history

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