I'm now at Dover waiting to board a ferry to France to pick up my guests for a battlefield tour to the French and American sites around Verdun. This is on a tour arranged by @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social #WW1 #FWW #Verdun #history

1/2: Our next departure is out today, with Nick leading a father and daughter making their first journey to the Western Front together.

1/2: On this day in 1915, the Lusitania is sunk. In 18 minutes, one of the great ocean liners was gone. At 14:10 off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland (then part of the United Kingdom) a single torpedo fired from German U-boat U-20 struck RMS Lusitania.

1/3: What you see here is one guest standing in the French 1914 trench line, the others in the German trenches. Two sides of No Man's Land just metres apart.

1/2: April you were amazing! SGWT took guests from around the world to the beaches of Normandy, trenches in Verdun, even all the way to Lake Como. To every guest who trusted us with their travel, time & family stories, thank you. It means everything.

1/2: Tour #10 of the month is out this week. This time Sophie is alongside a former 3* General & a veteran of Afghanistan. We are exploring Verdun, Saint-Mihiel & the Meuse Argonne campaigns.

1/2: Today we commemorate ANZAC Day. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian & New Zealand forces during the First World War.

In the footsteps of Grandad. Our next tour is out & Sophie is leading two lovely American guests across the St Mihiel Salient and the Meuse Argonne, following the 58th Infantry Regiment. These personal tours are highly emotional but an honour to be a part of. #BattlefieldTours #OnTourWithSGWT

Tour #8 of April is complete. Two guests on two wheels across the Ypres Salient. What a lovely way to explore this sacred land. #BattlefieldTours #OnTourWithSGWT

I'm currently on my 1st battlefield tour of the season where I'm showing guests around sites in France & Flanders looking at where 2 grandfathers served in the infantry & Royal Engineer railway troops between 1916 & 1918. This is on a tour arranged by @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social #WW1 #FWW #history

Our latest tour departed today with 2 guests who are no strangers to Great War battlefields but who chose SGWT to help them make sense of a region entirely new to them: Verdun & Saint-Mihiel. Sophie will be guiding them through some of the most strategically significant ground of the 1WW.

What do you do when you have just run the Paris marathon...come on tour with us of course! Kudos to our next set of guests who have today spent their time in Normandy uncovering stories of the American sector.

Last week Sophie and Paul headed to a sunny Portsmouth to meet returning guests. In store for them was Normandy, Dieppe and now they are in Ypres. We've been a little quiet on here, but only because we've been far too busy having fun on tour! Photos, videos and stories to share soon!

He is risen! To all those who celebrate this most holy of days, wishing you a joyous and peaceful Easter.

Our next tour has been out today. Sophie has guided a family of eight across the Somme, grandparents, parents and grandchildren, brought together by a shared desire to learn and to honour. Tomorrow we walk in the footsteps of their relative who gave his all in 1918.

Next stop...The Somme! Sophie will be following in the footsteps of a 4th Bedfords man, showing his relatives where he fought and fell.

Do I know anyone heading to the National Archives before the end of the month at all? If so I have a little favour to ask pretty please.

1/4: To our Canadian friends, you know that landmark on your $20 bill? Here it is in real life. Taken from our last private tour, here are 3 generations of a Canadian family standing proudly together at the Vimy Ridge Memorial & honestly, it doesn't get more powerful than that.

1/2: Our 3rd tour of the week heads out today, this time with 2 British guests exploring Ypres in the brilliant company of Eugenie. That makes 18 guests & 4 expert guides out across Europe this fine spring.

1/2: Today we have guests exploring the British sector of Normandy, including time at Arromanches, standing before the remains of one of the most remarkable engineering feats of the war.

We have another special tour out today. Two British guests are following in the footsteps of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. They'll be looking at key sites in Normandy to set the scene before diving into the detail of Operation Epsom, Bluecoat and more!

1/4: Today we welcome a family of 14 guests travelling from Canada, embarking on a European journey that blends discovery, remembrance & time together across 3 generations. Their adventure begins with 3 days in Paris.

Each #IWD makes me think of women whom I find inspiring. Each year I am continuously drawn to Sophie Scholl. If you are hearing Sophie's name for the first time, please do read on for a short insight into an incredibly brave young woman: tinyurl.com/529eraw5

#OTD 110 Years Ago, Operation Gericht expands onto the Left Bank of Verdun. Few places on the Western Front sum up the brutal strategy and nature of warfare quite like Mort Homme and Cote 304. Read more here: tinyurl.com/b5akf89c

1/3: My Darling Vera, By this you will know that I have been killed. I meant to ask you to be engaged to me but when I was on leave I was too frightened to say anything. I loved you very very much and would have done anything for you. However we may meet in another life.

#OTD 110 years ago, hero of France Colonel Emile Driant is killed in battle. He & his men have miraculously held off thousands of German troops at the Bois des Caures. Their resistance delayed the German timetable & bought precious hours for Verdun’s inner defences to be manned. #Verdun

#OTD 110 years ago, the First World War's longest battle began. Today the battlefields of Verdun are a haunting reminder of the brutality of all-out mechanised war. Read more about what you can see on a visit to #Verdun: tinyurl.com/ezkaskm5

I love seeing parents bring their children to the battlefields. It’s hands-on learning at its very best & hopefully the spark that becomes a lifelong fascination with history. Today we have 3 British guests exploring #Verdun, a landscape that never fails to leave an impression.

1/2: Back from a magical 6 days with some of the SGWT team exploring Verdun & the Meuse-Argonne. Trenches were walked, bunkers explored, stories uncovered, steak enjoyed & perhaps the odd beer along the way.

First full day of the #Verdun recce with @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social. Began at a German concrete experimentation site, well behind the front lines, then moved on to some more familiar, but extremely moving, battlefields. This place is truly mesmerising. #FWW #WW1

Just arrived in Verdun for a weekend’s recce / training with @sophie1wwtours.bsky.social. #FWW #WW1 #SGWT #Verdun

Travel News: 1/2: From 25th February 2026, the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) requirement will be strictly enforced. ETA is a legal requirement & carriers will not board eligible visitors without one.

81 years ago today, Auschwitz was liberated. More than ever, we must remember. Remembrance is a responsibility. On Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember the victims, honour the survivors, and reflect on what happens when good people do nothing. #HMD26

Our first guests of the year are on their way to the exquisite Parisi Udvar Hotel, Budapest. At SGWT, we’re able to open the doors to exceptional Virtuoso luxury properties, with preferred rates & exclusive perks you won’t find booking elsewhere.

The 2026 #TravelTrend. One of the most meaningful travel trends we’re seeing this year is the rise of multi-generational journeys. Grandparents, parents & children choosing to explore the world together. Some stories are best experienced together. tinyurl.com/bdxamv7u

2026: Our private battlefield tours are designed for travellers who want more than surface history, blending Europe’s battlefields, cities, and stories into journeys with real purpose. Read on: tinyurl.com/3sz8ys6f

1/2: OTD in 1879, the Anglo-Zulu War begins. Visiting the battlefields of Isandlwana & Rorke’s Drift is without doubt one of the best things I have ever done. Amazing history, beautiful scenery, exquisite food and sunsets you never forget - what's not to love!?

1/5: Happy New Year! What a year 2025 has been. We’ve had the honour of guiding guests from Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia & New Zealand across Europe’s battlefields. From Napoleon’s great campaigns, the horrors of the Holocaust to the final brutal chapters of Germany '45.

1/2: Our next tour is out today! 2 British guests are following in the footsteps of their relative, a man that went all the way through the war, from its opening months in 1914 to the final days of 1918.

1/3: OTN in 1940, the Luftwaffe unleashed its most devastating raid on the City of London. For hours, incendiary & high-explosive bombs ravaged streets & buildings in what became known as the Second Great Fire of London. More than 160 civilians lost their lives.

Just seen my Christmas post never made it through...🤦‍♀️ It said:🎄Merry Christmas Everyone!🎄 Thank you for following along with our Advent calendar. Whether we’ve shared stories from 1WW, 2WW or more recent conflict, the heart of it has always been the same, remembrance & respect. Sophie & the team.

24th December 2025. 1/4: We often imagine the First World War as silence punctured by gunfire. But on Christmas 1914, along certain parts of the Western Front, the night sounded very different. Corporal Robert Renton of the Seaforth Highlanders wrote home:

Some Christmas decorations at Chez Shrubsole. Which 2WW film does this remind you of…?

23rd December 2025. 1/4: Sometimes I hesistate about posting graphic lines, but we cannot sugar-coat war. This advent series is about sharing the real voices of those who served and suffered. Cyril Hoodless, writing in August 1915 from Cairo says:

22nd December 2025. 1/5: War effects everyone differently. Some carry physical scars, others mental scars, some just carry that weight, every single day. What an incredibly moving letter this is from American soldier Richard Luttrell.

21st December 2025. 1/3: The most extraordinary moments in war can be described in the plainest language, language that allows us to visualise what's happening. Reading these words whilst standing on the spot where it happened is one of the reasons I love battlefield tours.

20th December 2025. 1/3: In 1946 John Meades, stationed near Hamburg as Europe rebuilt itself, wrote home with a different kind of longing: “Let us look forward to some day when it won’t be necessary to have to write, and I am a settled down City Business Man.”

19th December 2025. 1/5: Today’s letter captures a crucial point about war & it's end, what is left behind when the guns fall silent. In 1918, US soldier Frank Striker wrote of an encounter with a French civlian.

18th December 2025. 1/6: Some letters don't soften what war was like. 2nd Lt Wilfred Stanford wrote: “A shell came along & landed about two or three yards away. The result was the man just in front of me was heard to call out ‘Oh!’ & has never been seen or heard of since.”

17th December 2025. 1/3: Some letters feel unnervingly modern, like this one from Louis Barthas, a French cooper turned infantryman. “May the new year bring reason to men.” It could have been written yesterday.