Defence of Britain – Kent in Two World Wars
About the tour: Defence of Britain – Kent in Two World Wars
Tour Introduction
On this new tour we look at the key role of Kent during both World Wars, that corner of Britain directly facing occupied Europe and often referred to as ‘Hell Fire Corner’.
Tour Includes
- 4 nights hotel with English breakfast
- 4 evening meals
- 1 lunch
- Specialist Battlefield Guide
- Convenient regional joining points
We offer flexible payment options
Once you have booked your battlefield tour either online, or by telephone (), you have the flexibility of how you pay off the remainder of your balance. You can -
- Use our balance payment facility online to make and track your card payments. You can pay as much as you want up until your final due date or pay it all, the choice is yours.
- Send payments via online banking.
- Send payments via cheque.
- Call us and make a card payment, either a small amount or as lump sum until your final due date.
Our contact and online banking payment details will be on your confirmation invoice to remind you of your choices.
Tour Itinerary
For customers living outside of the UK, if you want to make a booking you will need to provide a UK postcode on our online booking system. If you are not able to provide a relevant UK postcode then you can enter the postcode for London Victoria Coach Station – SW1W 9TP. You should then be able to proceed to complete your booking.
If you do encounter a problem then you can speak to one of our friendly advisors who will be happy to help.
Please Note : After completing your booking, a member of our Customer Service team will be in touch to make sure everything is okay.
Either e-mail our Reservations Department or call on 01709 830 333 and they will check to see whether you can visit a particular cemetery on any of our Battlefield Tours, if we are not able to fit it into our itinerary then you could take some time out of the tour and do this independently by taxi or public transport.
Day 1
Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to our hotel in Kent for a four-night stay.
Included meals: Dinner
Day 2 - Kent in the Dark Days
Today we look at the role Kent had in the Great War, which one contemporary book described as ‘the Dark Days’. We begin in Folkestone, at the heart of the wartime role of the county, discussing Shornecliffe Camp and visiting the Military Cemetery here with over 500 burials.
We then go down to Folkestone Harbour Station, a main route to and from the trenches on the Western Front and now a memorial space to the thousands of soldiers who passed through here. We also see the ‘Road of Remembrance’, a route to the harbour used in WW1 with a memorial built after the war to commemorate those who passed through Folkestone and never returned. After lunch in Hythe, we look at Dover in the Great War, discussing the role of the Dover Patrol at Dover Harbour, visit the Memorial to the Zeebrugge Raid in the town as well as the plaque to the first bomb dropped on Britain in WW1, and then we visit the large British Cemetery with graves from the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918.
On the cliffs above the English Channel, we see the memorial to the Royal Flying Corps, and then return via Ashford where we see on the of the last remaining First World War tanks used as a town war memorial.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Folkestone Harbour (2)
Key Visits
- Folkestone
- Zeebrugge Graves and Memorial
- Folkestone Harbour
Day 3 - The Battle of Britain
Today we follow the story of ‘The Few’ – men from many nations who flew in the skies above Sothern England in the summer of 1940. We start at the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel le Ferne (entrance included) and visit the ‘Scramble Experience’, and then go to Hawkinge, an import airfield in 1940, and see the superb Battle of Britain Museum (with included lunch). In the afternoon we travel up to ‘Biggin on the Bump’ – Biggin Hill. Many famous pilots flew from here in 1940, including Douglas Bader.
We see the site of the airfield and visit the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum (entrance included). We then the day at the Runnymede Memorial, close to London, where the missing of the Battle of Britain are commemorated, including many shot down in combat over Kent.
Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Battle of Britain Memorial (4)
Key Visits
- Biggin Hill Memorial Museum
- Battle of Britain Memorial
- Runnymede Memorial
- Hawkinge Memorial
Day 4 - From Defence to D-Day
We start today at Chatham, one of the main home ports of the Royal Navy in both World Wars. Here we visit the Chatham Memorial to the Missing, which commemorates over 18,000 sailors who died in WW1 and WW2 and were lost at sea.
Many famous battles are represented here, and among the names is talented war artist Eric Ravilious, lost in action in 1942. We then visit the Royal Engineers Museum (entrance included) in Chatham and look at the role of the Royal Engineers on the Home Front and on D-Day. After lunch, we travel to the north Kent coast to Reculver, where some of the bouncing bomb trials took place before they were used in the Dambusters Raid. We end the tour by spending the rest of the day at Dover Castle, now an English Heritage site (entrance included). Here we have plenty of time to explore the castle and its wartime defences, the museum, the wartime tunnels and look at where Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay planned Operation Dynamo in 1940, and then discuss his role in Operation Neptune for D-Day in 1944.
Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Dover Castle (3)
Key Visits
- Dover Castle
- Chatham Memorial
- Reculver Towers
Day 5
Return home.
Specialist Battlefield Guides
All of Leger’s battlefield tours are accompanied by specialist guides. Their individual in-depth knowledge of warfare will be informative, as well as enhance your overall experience, as they recreate a fascinating perception of the history and factual events of each battle. Discover the actual catalysts for war, the strategies employed and the final, inevitable outcomes, as well as experiencing the emotional human side of the front line.
Please note: On certain tours, you may get tour guides other that the ones listed below.
Hotel
If you prefer, then you can join the tour at the hotel. To do this, we will require a copy of your passport for identification purposes and you must advise us at the time of booking.
No reduction will be given if you should choose to do this.
All hotel rooms benefit from private bathroom facilities.
Some hotels have tea and coffee making facilities. Please check the tour pages for more information or call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333
Most hotels have a lift, please call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 for more information.
Some hotels have ground floor rooms. Please email for information on individual hotels or call our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333.
Your hotels will supply towels in your room.
We are unable to guarantee that the hotel will be able to meet your dietary requirements. We find that the majority of European countries do not generally cater for vegetarians and that the meal supplied may well be what everyone else is having minus the meat.
We will of course endeavour to arrange for a vegetarian meal at the hotel. We do however suggest that you advise us of your dietary requests at the time of booking and recommend that you speak to the receptionist on arrival with regard to your request.
Travel Options
Departure times given for each region are approximate. Please check your travel documents to confirm the actual timings.
Front row seats can be reserved for £14pp (up to 6 days duration), £22pp (7 & 8 days duration) and £25pp (9 days duration and over) on all European tours. In addition to this seats on the second row can be reserved for £7pp (up to 6 days duration), £14pp (7 & 8 days duration) and £15pp (9 days duration and over). This offer is only available for bookings of two or four persons on the front row and is subject to availability. Guaranteed front/second row seats cannot be reserved on feeder journeys to/from the U.K. port. Children under 15 years cannot occupy a front row seat due to French Law. Central view seats are free.
Please note: On some coaches the legroom on front seats may be slightly less than that available on other seats due to the presence of a modesty board in front.
If your tour is cancelled for any reason and front/second row seats are not available on your new tour you will be refunded the supplement. No other compensation will be payable.
Alternatively, we can take seating requests on your booking. However, requests are not guaranteed. All seat numbers are confirmed on travel documents approximately 7-10 days prior to departure.
We guarantee that all passengers on the same booking will be seated together on the main tour coach. Seats on the transfer coaches to and from the U.K. port are not allocated.
Hot and cold drinks are served on the main tour coaches. Prices are approximately £1 or 1.25 Euro per drink. Prices will be confirmed by the driver. Drinks may also be served on the transfer coaches but this is not guaranteed.
Transfer vehicles are routed approximately 2-3 weeks before departure and will depend on where passengers are booked to travel from on any particular date as to which route is taken. If you require further detailed information regarding the route to the port you can contact our Customer Service Department on 01709 830333 two weeks before you are due to travel.
With regard to the route taken by the main tour coach, this is determined by the driver.
All main tour coaches have on-board toilets. Transfer vehicles to and from the U.K. port may not have on-board toilets. When non-British coaches are used on transfers and tours (air holidays only) an on-board toilet may not be available. However, comfort stops will be made during long journeys.
All coaches feature air-conditioning. Should the air-conditioning system break down for a period exceeding 12 hours, compensation will be awarded up to a maximum of £10 per fare-paying passenger per tour.
Depending on the location of your pickup point, you may be picked up by coach (not necessarily the on you are touring on), minibus, taxi, National Express or Megabus service. You may then be taken to another centralised pickup location or service station. We operate a passenger interchange at Stop 24 Services, where you will meet the tour coach you are holidaying on and then continue on with your outbound journey. Similarly, on the way home, you may also change transfer vehicles at another location, to take you to your final drop off point.
One medium sized suitcase per person, which should weigh no more than 20kg when full. We may refuse to carry larger or heavier cases. Hand luggage can be stored in the overhead racks aboard the coach.
It could be either - This will be confirmed in your travel documents.
When it comes to getting to the Battlefields, Leger Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you choose from.
Travel Extras
With an overnight stay or the option to meet us at the interchange, our travel extras allow you to create a travel experience to suit your needs...
Join coach at Interchange
+ Find out moreJoin your tour coach at the interchange.
On most tours if you’d prefer to join your tour coach at Stop 24 services, you can park your car in the car park which is accredited by the Park Mark safer parking scheme and is monitored 24 hours a day by CCTV. Payment for the parking is made on arrival using the self-service machines.
Excludes tours to Ireland and the U.K. and tours travelling via Brittany Ferries.
