Defence of Britain – Kent in Two World Wars


About the tour: Defence of Britain – Kent in Two World Wars


Tour Introduction

On this new tour we look at the key role of Kent during both World Wars, that corner of Britain directly facing occupied Europe and often referred to as ‘Hell Fire Corner’.

Tour Includes


  • 4 nights hotel with English breakfast
  • 4 evening meals
  • 1 lunch
  • Specialist Battlefield Guide
  • Convenient regional joining points
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Once you have booked your battlefield tour either online, or by telephone (), you have the flexibility of how you pay off the remainder of your balance. You can -

  1. Use our balance payment facility online to make and track your card payments. You can pay as much as you want up until your final due date or pay it all, the choice is yours.
  2. Send payments via online banking.
  3. Send payments via cheque.
  4. Call us and make a card payment, either a small amount or as lump sum until your final due date.

Our contact and online banking payment details will be on your confirmation invoice to remind you of your choices.

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Tour Itinerary

Day 1

Local departure by coach or Door-to-Door service, then to our hotel in Kent for a four-night stay.

Included meals: Dinner

Day 2 - Kent in the Dark Days

Today we look at the role Kent had in the Great War, which one contemporary book described as ‘the Dark Days’. We begin in Folkestone, at the heart of the wartime role of the county, discussing Shornecliffe Camp and visiting the Military Cemetery here with over 500 burials.

We then go down to Folkestone Harbour Station, a main route to and from the trenches on the Western Front and now a memorial space to the thousands of soldiers who passed through here. We also see the ‘Road of Remembrance’, a route to the harbour used in WW1 with a memorial built after the war to commemorate those who passed through Folkestone and never returned. After lunch in Hythe, we look at Dover in the Great War, discussing the role of the Dover Patrol at Dover Harbour, visit the Memorial to the Zeebrugge Raid in the town as well as the plaque to the first bomb dropped on Britain in WW1, and then we visit the large British Cemetery with graves from the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918.

On the cliffs above the English Channel, we see the memorial to the Royal Flying Corps, and then return via Ashford where we see on the of the last remaining First World War tanks used as a town war memorial.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Folkestone Harbour

Folkestone Harbour (2)

Key Visits

  • Folkestone
  • Zeebrugge Graves and Memorial
  • Folkestone Harbour

Day 3 - The Battle of Britain

Today we follow the story of ‘The Few’ – men from many nations who flew in the skies above Sothern England in the summer of 1940. We start at the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel le Ferne (entrance included) and visit the ‘Scramble Experience’, and then go to Hawkinge, an import airfield in 1940, and see the superb Battle of Britain Museum (with included lunch). In the afternoon we travel up to ‘Biggin on the Bump’ – Biggin Hill. Many famous pilots flew from here in 1940, including Douglas Bader.

We see the site of the airfield and visit the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum (entrance included). We then the day at the Runnymede Memorial, close to London, where the missing of the Battle of Britain are commemorated, including many shot down in combat over Kent.

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Battle of Britain Memorial

Battle of Britain Memorial (4)

Key Visits

  • Biggin Hill Memorial Museum
  • Battle of Britain Memorial
  • Runnymede Memorial
  • Hawkinge Memorial

Day 4 - From Defence to D-Day

We start today at Chatham, one of the main home ports of the Royal Navy in both World Wars. Here we visit the Chatham Memorial to the Missing, which commemorates over 18,000 sailors who died in WW1 and WW2 and were lost at sea.

Many famous battles are represented here, and among the names is talented war artist Eric Ravilious, lost in action in 1942. We then visit the Royal Engineers Museum (entrance included) in Chatham and look at the role of the Royal Engineers on the Home Front and on D-Day. After lunch, we travel to the north Kent coast to Reculver, where some of the bouncing bomb trials took place before they were used in the Dambusters Raid. We end the tour by spending the rest of the day at Dover Castle, now an English Heritage site (entrance included). Here we have plenty of time to explore the castle and its wartime defences, the museum, the wartime tunnels and look at where Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay planned Operation Dynamo in 1940, and then discuss his role in Operation Neptune for D-Day in 1944.

Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Dover Castle

Dover Castle (3)

Key Visits

  • Dover Castle
  • Chatham Memorial
  • Reculver Towers

Day 5

Return home.

Specialist Battlefield Guides

All of Leger’s battlefield tours are accompanied by specialist guides. Their individual in-depth knowledge of warfare will be informative, as well as enhance your overall experience, as they recreate a fascinating perception of the history and factual events of each battle. Discover the actual catalysts for war, the strategies employed and the final, inevitable outcomes, as well as experiencing the emotional human side of the front line.

Please note: On certain tours, you may get tour guides other that the ones listed below.

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Hotel

You will stay for four nights at the 4-star Mercure Maidstone Great Danes Hotel.

Travel Options

All our coaches and transfer vehicles operate a 'no smoking on board policy'. The use of electronic cigarettes is strictly forbidden.
In the interest of fellow guests, do not take hot food or ice cream on board.
alcohol can only be taken on board our vehicles at the discretion of your driver.

When it comes to getting to the Battlefields, Leger Holidays make it easy, with a selection of travel options for you choose from.

Travel Extras

With an overnight stay or the option to meet us at the interchange, our travel extras allow you to create a travel experience to suit your needs...

Join coach at Interchange

Join your tour coach at the interchange.

On most tours if you’d prefer to join your tour coach at Stop 24 services, you can park your car in the car park which is accredited by the Park Mark safer parking scheme and is monitored 24 hours a day by CCTV. Payment for the parking is made on arrival using the self-service machines.

Excludes tours to Ireland and the U.K. and tours travelling via Brittany Ferries.

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