Steve Smith

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

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.

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.

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

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

He died in an assault on Ginchy ...

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

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

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

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.

Newfoundland Memorial Park ...

We then moved onto Newfoundland Memorial Park ...

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

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.

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...

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

My next book tackles the truth & myth of the alleged disappearance of the 1/5th Battalion Norfolk Regiment during the advance on Kuckuk Anafarta Ova on 12th August 1915 during the Gallipoli Campaign.

The book will be published in November.

#WW1 #Norfolk #FWW #Gallipoli #history

He was KIA during the 2nd Battle of the Somme on the day Albert was recaptured.

Both will be in my next book on the alleged disappearance of the 5th Battalion which is out in November

Both will be in my next book on the alleged disappearance of the 5th Battalion which is out in November

They were alleged to have disappeared & there are lots of myths surrounding that which are covered in the book