Knee Deep Into History, LLC is pleased to announce its 2024 WW1 and WW2 battlefield tour schedule. It is currently anticipated that the season will include eight battlefield tours—five WW1 tours and three WW2 tours in Western Europe. The 2024 season will include two unique tours and two tours in a new format.
Researchers and historians Graham Gaulke and Patrick Brion will share their knowledge of the Third Reich’s efforts to move key armaments production underground to avoid Allied bombardment in a Third Reich Underground—Rockets, Aircraft and More Tour. This is a side of Third Reich History in Thuringia, Germany that is not often covered by a battlefield tour, and it will feature considerable time underground in quarries and mines. It will also examine the issue of concentration camp labor.
The reburial ceremony for well-known U.S. Air Service Aviator, Captain Hamilton Coolidge, 94th Aero Squadron, will be the catalyst for the September 2024 Hamilton Coolidge Reburial: WW1 Airfield and Battlefield Tour. It is rare that WW1 soldiers are reburied, but the erosion caused by the Aire River near his current grave is relentless. This tour will also explore how the Air Service supported the ground war by including a mix of airfield and battlefield sites.
Knee Deep Into History is offering two overview tours, which cover more battlefields in less depth. The “Over There”: WW1 Doughboy Overview Tour will cover all major WW1 American Expeditionary Forces battlefields, including Cantigny, the Hindenburg Line, the Marne, the St. Mihiel Salient and the Meuse-Argonne, while The American GI 80th Anniversary Tour: Normandy to the Ardennes will cover key WW2 battlefields, including Normandy, Arnhem, the Hürtgen Forest and the Ardennes.
With the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings, KDIH is offering a June ’44 Normandy Landings and Airborne Tour just after the June anniversary. KDIH rarely offers tours during key anniversaries because crowds and VIP travel restrictions limit access to historic sites.
Standard WW1 tours will include a “They Shall Not Pass”: Verdun 1916-17 Tour and “A Rendezvous with Death”: The Somme and Flanders Fields Tour.
In addition, KDIH is tentatively planning a 102nd Infantry Regiment / Yankee Division Tour that will focus on this storied division and the friction between its leaders and other AEF leaders. We plan to run this tour, if the Connecticut Heritage Foundation organizes another Digging Into History student exchange in Seicheprey, France in July 2024. We won’t know that until later in 2024. Interested? Please let us know via email.
Our full schedule can be viewed below.
| 5 – 7 May |
“They Shall Not Pass”: Verdun 1916-17 Tour (WW1)–3 days / 2 nights Visit one of the most infamous battlefields of WW1, synonymous with the horrors of trench warfare. |
| 13 – 18 May |
***NEW*** Third Reich Underground–Rockets, Aircraft and More Tour (WW2)–6 days / 5 nights Explore the Third Reich’s efforts to move key armaments production underground to avoid Allied bombing. |
| 21 – 28 May |
***NEW*** “Over There”: WW1 Doughboy Overview Tour (WW1)–8 days / 7 nights |
| 10 – 15 June |
June ’44: Normandy Landings and Airborne Tour (WW2)–6 days / 5 nights Hit all five beaches and airborne landing sites in Normandy on this 7-day tour. |
| 13 – 19 July |
Tentative: 102nd Infantry Regiment / Yankee Division Tour (WW1)–7 days / 6 nights Walk in the footsteps of the Yankee Division soldiers during WW1 and explore the love / hate relationship between General Edwards and other AEF Leaders. We plan to run this tour, if the Connecticut Heritage Foundation runs another Digging Into History student exchange in July 2024. We won’t know that until later in 2024. Interested? Please let us know via email and we’ll keep you informed. |
| 22 – 30 July |
***NEW*** The American GI 80th Anniversary Tour: Normandy to the Ardennes (WW2)–8 days / nights Visit Normandy, Arnhem, the Huertgen Forest and the Ardennes during this survey tour. |
| 4 – 7 Sept. |
“A Rendezvous with Death”: The Somme and Flanders Fields Tour (WW1)–4 days / 3 nights Experience two of the best-known and bloodiest British battlefields of the Western Front |
| 10 – 16 Sept. |
***NEW*** Hamilton Coolidge Reburial: WW1 Airfield and Battlefield Tour (WW1)–7 days / 6 nights Attend the (extremely rare) reburial ceremony for Capt. Hamilton Coolidge, 94th Aero Squadron, and explore how the Air Service supported the ground war in this mix of airfields and battlefields. |
Private Tours for Your Family or Group—College, Veterans Association, etc.
Do you have a relative who fought in WW1 or WW2 and in whose footsteps you would like to walk? Are you part of an association interested in military history? Setting up a tour is a major logistical exercise. Subject to our schedules and availability, we are happy to work with you to set up a meaningful private tour for your family or group. We can arrange tours for most budget, interest and physical ability levels. We can also build the tour as a fundraiser, where a certain portion of each participant’s payment is donated to your organization! We raised $3,100 for the Connecticut Heritage Foundation’s Digging Into History program as a result of our 2023 102nd Infantry Regiment / Yankee Division tour.
Please contact Randy to start the discussion at kneedeepintohistory@gmail.com or 908.451.0252.
Header photo courtesy of the American Battle Monuments Commission.