Their name
liveth
for evermore
54,577missing named on the Menin Gate
72,311missing named at Thiepval
Self-guided First World War tours
Private, self-guided tours of the Ypres Salient and the Somme, planned by a former Army Sergeant Major and built around the men who served there. If someone in your family fought, Peter will try to find where they are buried or remembered, and build the visit into your days.
Their name liveth
for evermore
54,577missing named on the Menin Gate
72,311missing named at Thiepval
What we do
You travel independently, in your own car and at your own speed. We do the planning, the research and the local knowledge.
A print-ready PDF with every stop, how long to stay, directions and what you are looking at when you get there.
Tell Peter what you know about a relative who served. He will search the records and, where they allow, find where they are buried or commemorated, then build the visit into your tour with a map marking the grave. Included with a custom tour.
Comfortable, well-placed hotels and honest local restaurants and bars, chosen with good parking, easy access and a decent night’s sleep in mind. They are listed together at the end of every itinerary, so you are not hunting through the day plan for them.
Each day is ordered to try to put you at the big memorials before the coach parties arrive, and at the quiet cemeteries when they are at their most peaceful. Nobody can promise an empty cemetery, but the timings are built to give you the best chance of one.
Away from the crowds
Group tours follow the same route at the same times as everyone else. Our itineraries go the other way round.
Choose your tour
Prices are per household. A ready-made tour is yours the moment you pay and the PDF arrives by email; the four-day tour is £100 less than both standard tours bought separately. A custom tour is quoted by Peter. You book and pay for your own travel, hotels and meals.
Belgium · 2 days
£300 per household
The Menin Gate and the Last Post, Tyne Cot and the ground at Passchendaele, based in the rebuilt town of Ypres.
France · 2 days
£300 per household
Vimy Ridge and the Arras tunnels on the way down, then the ground of 1 July 1916: Beaumont-Hamel, Thiepval and the Lochnagar Crater.
Belgium & France · 4 days
£500 per household
Both sectors in one trip: two nights in Ypres, then the drive south into France and two more on the Somme.
Your choice of length
Personal quote
Following one soldier’s war from start to finish, combining Ypres and the Somme over longer, or just a long weekend? Tell Peter how many days you have and he will build the tour around you.
How it works
Ypres or the Somme over two days, or both over four. Everything that is in the pack is listed on the card.
Payment is taken by Stripe on their own secure page. We never see your card details.
A link to your PDF is emailed straight away, ready to print or keep on your tablet. The link lasts a week and we can always send you a fresh one.
Tell Peter how many days you have and what you would like to see. Share anything you know about a family member who served.
He emails you personally, researches your relative and shapes the itinerary around what you asked for.
There is nothing to pay until you are happy with the plan.
Written for you, and emailed as a PDF once it is finished.
About us
Front Line Battlefield Tours was founded by Peter Jefferies, who served twenty-four years in the British Army, from 1979 to 2005, and left as a Warrant Officer Class 2 — a Sergeant Major. He joined the Gloucestershire Regiment and stayed with it through the 1994 amalgamation that made it the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment.
He was posted to Munster in the early 1980s and to Berlin in the middle of the decade, where he was among those guarding Rudolf Hess at Spandau Prison on several occasions, and he left the city not long before the Wall came down. There were several tours of Northern Ireland across his career, and postings to Canada, Kenya, Gibraltar, the United States, Cyprus, the Falklands, Spain, Denmark, Belize, Kosovo and Bosnia.
A soldier reads ground differently: where the line ran, why a ridge mattered, what it meant to cross a hundred yards of open field. Peter brings that understanding to every itinerary he writes.
He volunteers for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and has spent the last fifteen years walking these battlefields with friends and family. He started writing itineraries for other people because so many want to come and have no idea where to begin.
“Nothing compares to standing at the grave of a man from your own family, with time to say what you came to say.”
Peter Jefferies, founder
Reviews
These are from travellers Peter has guided in person. The packs are the same itineraries, written up so you can drive them yourself.
“Pete Jefferies delivers a professional WW1 tour. He has a great passion for the subject and his knowledge is very in depth. He organised an excellent itinerary which covered all the main topics and sites of WW1. His choice of hotels and authentic Flemish restaurants were great. The whole experience was unforgettable.”
“I have been on a tour organised by Pete Jefferies and thoroughly enjoyed it — I am booked again for 2027. The itineraries have been well organised and could be changed if required but never rushed. Visits were well planned, whether it was a museum, a graveyard, the Menin Gate or the Thiepval Memorial.”
“I have been on several WW1 battlefield and cemetery tours with Pete Jefferies, covering areas in Belgium and France. The tours are well organised with itineraries that fill the days perfectly, including stops for lunch, and they can be adapted to take any weather or traffic issues on board at short notice. His knowledge and enthusiasm are very obvious too.”
“An excellent battlefield tour of Ypres and the Somme. The itinerary covered an impressive range of sites throughout both of these locations. The whole experience was informative, engaging and thoughtfully put together, bringing the history of these remarkable places to life. Peter knew so much information about each location.”
“I recently paid a visit to the Somme battlefield with Pete’s Battlefield Tours, as I have a relative buried there. Unfortunately, my great uncle is one of the 72,000 with no known grave. Pete did, however, manage to find him commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, which I was able to see — a very personal moment. Pete’s knowledge of the First World War and the Battle of the Somme was excellent and informative. On a lighter note, on Pete’s recommendation we went to an excellent French restaurant in the main square at Arras, where we had a superb meal to finish the day.”
Their name liveth for evermore
Even a name and a regiment is often enough. Tell Peter what you know and he will do the rest.
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