I emailed Phil Hora at Sacred Ground Tours a few weeks before leaving Australia, to see if they had any tour available that would suit with our desire to visit the grave site of my great uncle who was killed in France during World War 1.

Mr Hora promptly replied and provided us with a personalised tour itinerary that not only took us to the grave site, but also to the battlefields where he was killed by German machine guns on the Hindenburg Line. With the itinerary, he also supplied us with detailed records from the Red Cross about my great uncle’s involvement in the war.

On the day of the tour, we were picked up at our hotel by wonderful tour guides Mathilde and Ian at 9am and returned at 6:30pm. Both were full of knowledge on the WW1 battlefields and significant dates of various battles. Their attention to detail and research they had undertaken on my great uncle’s war involvement was unbelievable.

Words cannot really express our gratitude to Sacred Ground Tours in helping us walk in the steps of my great uncle’s last few days in the war before his death.

We have travelled the world extensively and undertaken hundreds of tours. However, this would have been the best tour we have ever done.

We thank everyone at Sacred Ground Tours for this absolutely marvellous tour.

We did the one day tour of the Somme and found Phil to be extremely helpful in organising our visit to Arras, with suggestions for accommodation etc.
We were picked up in a comfortable van with 5 other people and given a brief explanation of WW1 in this area on our way out to the various sites. This was expanded upon at each site during the day. It was good to hear the information from an Australian perspective but we also visited other sites, including the British and Canadian memorials. Phil had also researched relatives of people on our tour and showed them possible areas through which they may have passed. His knowledge of past events was amazing.
The included lunch was excellent and the tour was well paced. It was a long day, ending back in Arras around 6.30, but so worthwhile. Staying in Arras to do the tour is an added bonus as it is a beautiful small town. Definitely worth doing!

Phil and his team excelled themselves again. With hospitality, knowledge, friendship and appropriate humour they bring the experience to life. A special mention to Jeffery for his dedication to the Aussie contribution to the defence of his home land, Belgium.

Led by Mathilda, a French historian with exceptional knowledge of the Australian battlefields, we visited the main sites of the Western Front. She researched our grandfathers’ records on the go, took us to where one was wounded, brought to life what happened in the fields before us and could answer all our questions with her detailed knowledge of battles and the sites. We were staying in Lille and our request for a pick up/drop off was readily accommodated. A fascinating day with a very professional organisation.

We were guided by Phil the tour guide, he is a French speaking Aussie who has lived in the area for about ten years. He is not just a text book tour guide, he lives and breathes the history of the battlefields and he has tremendous insight and interesting little anecdotes about the area. What a day we had!! A great lunch was provided and nothing was too much trouble for him. I can’t recommend him more highly, especially if you are an Aussie. Great tour!!

We had the privilege of visiting The Somme and being guided by Phil. It was an amazing day, facilitated by Phil’s incredible knowledge, enthusiasm and obvious passion. The tour was fascinating as the locations we visited were relevant, interesting and treated with the reverence that is deserved. Now, I am much more educated in the role Sir John Monash played in the First World War and understand why there is so much respect felt towards the Australian soldiers in Pozieres and Villers-Bretonneux in particular. I would highly recommend Phil and Sacred Ground Tours as his attention to detail, unique perspective and presentation of information made this a most memorable and highly valuable experience. Heart felt thanks.

We found this tour company via google. We did the one day Out of the Somme tour. It was amazing, my wife thought it was the highlight of our London and Paris trip. Phil Hora was our guide and was knowledgeable and insightful. We really gained a deep appreciation for the Australian involvement in WW1. As an Australian Phil gave a uniquely Australian perspective which was ideal for us.

We spent one whole day with Phil Hora and we learnt SO MUCH about the First World War. He is such a knowledgeable guy, very professional and took us to all the important places in the region in his comfortable car. He made us realise what a hell on earth this war was.
We also met a fascinating Belgian man, Johan, who has a small restaurant where we had a good, but simple lunch. Johan has excavated and identified 262 bodies of soldiers who were lost during the war. He is also an expert in tunnels.
A tour with Phil is to be recommended to everybody !

We went on 2 one day tours with Mathilda and Phil in Dec 17 and it was the highlight of our month in Europe. We sent some information to them on my Grandfather and where he served during the war and they did a lot of research to pin point the exact location where he was awarded his MM. It was during the Battle of Bullecourt and whilst this was not on either of our day tours (but was on their 3rd day tour), they adapted the first day to show us his locations. They are extremely friendly and knowledgeable, used very comfortable vehicles, had great lunch and evening meal locations and were very flexible. Would highly recommend Sacred Ground Tours.

We spent 3 days with Sacred Ground Tours on the Western Front in October, 2017.
We had the pleasure of having Bruce as our tour guide for the Somme (2 days) and Phil for our full day in Belgium. We can honestly say that their knowledge of the battlefields and battles was outstanding. Phil has modern comfortable vehicles and the included lunches were an experience in themselves. Our tour was very good value for money and was the highlight of our 2 months travel in Europe. The tours cover all the major involvements of the Australian Divisions in the Great War including the towns and villages when the Australians were based or passed through. We would recommend Sacred Ground Tours to anybody wanting to experience first hand Australia’s involvement in WW1.