Trip of a Lifetime

One of the projects Mishi Morath was looking into before his untimely death was a tour of the battlefields of the Western Front where a number of Dulwich Hamlet players and clubmen gave their lives in the First World War. Of whom, Frank Hagger, Tom Rose and 'Pop' Popple are pictured below.

With the Hamlet’s war expert Steve Hunnisett preliminary plans were being put into place to arrange a trip for Dulwich fans to visit the renowned battlefields and memorials in northern France and Belgium. Thiepval Memorial and the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres, sites dedicated to the tens of thousands of ‘missing’ soldiers with no known graves, will be visited.

Clive Harris of the highly respected Battle Honour Tours was approached to lead the tour. A programme of events was being set up when Mishi sadly passed away and plans were put on hold.

In the last few weeks, however, Steve has been working hard to finalise details of the tour which it is hoped will take place following the 2020/21 football season – possibly May or June 2021.

Steve says:

“As it stands, we have two options for this - firstly (my own preferred) is a 3 nights/4 days visit. This would cost approximately £600 per person and includes the cost of all coach travel, ferry/tunnel crossing and hotel (B&B) based on twin room sharing (about £130 single room supplement) and of course our guide, who is basically donating his time to us. This would enable us to visit pretty much all of the DHFC players from the Great War and use their stories as the ‘golden thread’ which would tell the wider story of the war as a whole.

Obviously, Clive (our guide) and I would work out a proper itinerary that we would advise nearer the time but this would entail visiting, Arras, the Thiepval Memorial and Ypres amongst others - and we would also get the chance to take part in the wreath laying ceremony at the Menin Gate, which is a huge honour. The cheaper option would be to do a 2 night/3 day trip, which would be roughly £150 cheaper but which would of course, be more rushed and would mean that we would not be able to visit as many places and possibly not take part in the Menin Gate ceremony. We need a minimum of 25 people to make this viable and would have to limit it to 40 people.

Once we have the commitment, we can start planning in earnest and finding a suitable date, although I would anticipate this being in late May, or June of 2021. A firm and final price would be available around 12 months ahead of our departure. The tour would be organised by Battle Honours Limited Tours, who are market leaders in this area and who are ATOL protected, so all legit and above board.”

If you are interested in this adventure email steve@blitzwalkers.co.uk as soon as possible so Steve can get an idea of numbers.

Steve Hunnisett (pictured) is the author of For Freedom –Dulwich Hamlet: Second World War Roll of Honour, a book published by the Hamlet Historian in 2017. He also leads walks around London telling stories of the Blitz.