Rifleman Tours Blog
Anniversary of the Battle of Gheluvelt – First Ypres
It may be said that the First Battle of Ypres began on, or around, 15 October 1914 when the 7th Division fell back from Ghent and reached the medieval Flemish town. First Ypres consisted of many small battles and engagements fought around the ridges of Ypres and the most important of these is the Battle of Gheluvelt. Gheluvelt has been largely forgotten about in the annals of military history but here was fought a battle that was as important as Waterloo and as bloody as Malplaquet. If Gheluvelt fell to the Germans, then the town of Ypres...
read moreThe writing on the CWGC headstones
As a regular visitor to the Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries of the Western Front, I am asked on many occasions about the details found on the headstones of the fallen. For example, how the information is collated and also questions regarding the headstones themselves. Most Commonwealth War Grave headstones are made of Portland Stone. This is a soft stone and mainly white in colour however, on occasion the Commission have used a red Portland stone, which, in my humble opinion, is not as nice. Portland stone tends to weather and, over the...
read moreHistory of military dog tags
Whenever I am conducting a battlefield tour and visit one of the many cemeteries on the Western Front with a high proportion of unknown graves, I am inevitably asked if the soldiers were wearing any identification in the form of dog tags and, if so, when were the tags invented and first used. It’s not surprising to find that the Romans were one of the first armies to issue dog tags to their soldiers. Upon joining a legion they were given a disk made of lead called a signaculum which was worn around the neck on a piece of string. This disk had...
read moreRemembering a different Valentine
Today is Valentine’s Day when you show your feelings of love. But do take a moment to remember a different type of Valentine… Rifleman Valentine Joe Strudwick was aged 15 when he died on 14th January 1916 and is one of the youngest British casualties of the Great War. Valentine Joseph “Joe” Strudwick (No. 5750) was born on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1900, which gave him his name. A major embarrassment to the military authorities during the First World War was the presence of boy soldiers at the Front. Officially,...
read moreA remarkable Rifleman’s story
Earlier this year I was asked by ex-Royal Green Jacket Robert Clarke to take him to visit his father’s grave at Leopoldsburg War Cemetery. I put together a two day tour for him visiting the cemetery in Leopoldsburg as well as a tour of Ypres. On our journey Robert told me the extraordinary story of how his father was killed in action and his subsequent burial and re-interment at Leopoldsburg Cemetery. The British had secured Leopoldsburg and set up supply depots and military hospitals in preparation for Operation Market Garden and XXX Corps...
read moreWelcome to the Rifleman Tours Blog
Hi and welcome to the Rifleman Tours blog. The plan is to keep you updated with World War One and Two news and also stories and findings from our battlefield tours. The coming year 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the Great War later to become known as the First World War and thus proving that it was never ‘The War to End all Wars’. Twenty five years later another conflict began grabbing the title World War Two. However, was this war just the continuation of the first as some historians believe? Rifleman Tours marks the Centenary...
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