After the group’s morning arrival in Paris, we will begin your journey with a tour of the French Resistance in Paris and Arras, followed by a visit to the French Resistance Memorial and a drive to Cambrai to study early tank battles.

The Group will depart early in the morning for a short city tour of the French Resistance followed by a visit to the French Resistance Memorial in Arras. The group will then drive to Cambrai, discussing the early May tank Battles around Arras and Cambrai.

You will explore the BEF retreat from Bethune to the coast. Your stops include the BEF’s epic 60-mile fighting retreat and the stand made by six very badly depleted British battalions as they attempted to stop four German divisions. Your battlefield visits will include the important fortified town of Bergues, heavily bombarded by the Luftwaffe before its 450 defenders succumbed to assaults by overwhelming numbers of German troops. You will also study the Gloucester Regiment’s rear-guard action at Cassel, the village of Esquelbecq, where members of the 1st SS murdered some 80-plus British prisoners in a terrible foretaste of the SS’s later crimes throughout the war and the Canal de Bergues where Ervine Andrews earned the Victoria Cross.

Today you will tour the sites in and around the 25-mile long Dunkirk Perimeter including the battle-scarred walls of Saint Eloi Church, Dunkirk Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, the Museum Dunkirk 1940, the Bray dunes and the famous Mole, the jetty from which the bulk of British and French soldiers evacuated during Operation Dynamo. This afternoon, you will take the ferry across the English Channel; your first view of England will be the famous White Cliffs of Dover.

After breakfast you will travel a short distance to Dover Castle, which has stood sentinel over Britain’s coast for centuries. Your visit will include a tour of the underground bunker complex that became Admiral Bertram Ramsay’s headquarters during Operation Dynamo. It was from here that Ramsay, who would later command Allied landing forces in Normandy, would organize the evacuation of more than 300,000 French and British troops that kept Great Britain in the fight.

From the castle it is a short drive to the splendid Battle of Britain Memorial, perched atop the White Cliffs. While there you will take part in the new “Scramble Experience.” This will give you a sense of what it was like to climb into a waiting aircraft such as a Spitfire or Hurricane at the height of the Battle of Britain. You will finish the day with a visit to the Kent Battle of Britain Museum and its vast collection of artifacts from over 700 crashed aircraft.

This morning, you will visit the Cambridge American Battle Monuments Commission Cemetery and Memorial, where you will have an opportunity to pay your respects to the 3,811 Americans buried there.

The rest of the day is devoted to enjoying the Duxford Flying Finale Air Show.

You will start the day at IWM Duxford, where you will have an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the many museums on site as well as the remaining facilities in the most well-preserved World War II airfield in Europe. Built in 1918 by German POWs, Duxford is one of the most historic Battle of Britain airfields. In 1938, it saw 19 Squadron receive the first operational Spitfire Aircraft, and it was from this airstrip that the 19, 242, and 310 (Czech) Squadrons operated as 12 Group under the command of the legendary Douglas Bader. These three groups were eventually joined by 302 (Polish) and 611 Squadrons.

You will travel to Uxbridge, which is home to the Battle of Britain Bunker. The fighters of 11 Group embarked from the Uxbridge Bunker for their operational missions during the most desperate days of the Battle of Britain. Your exclusive tour will take you deep underground to the heart of this previously top-secret facility to see the plotting board, restored to its exact appearance on September 15, 1940, Battle of Britain Day. Churchill was a frequent visitor to the bunker during the battle, and it was after a visit on August 16, 1940, that he first uttered his famous phrase, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed, by so many, to so few.”

Then you will travel to Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar for an exclusive tour. Located on the site of one of the Battle of Britain’s most active airfields, the Heritage Center is a restoration facility dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the famous Spitfire fighter aircraft. You will witness restoration work in progress on several of the historic fighter planes, as well as the equally important Hawker Hurricane and an incredibly rare Messerschmitt ME 109 German fighter.

Having spent your time studying the stories of individual airmen, this morning you will shift focus to the higher levels of command during the Battle of Britain. From London, the first stop will be the Bentley Priory Museum. It was from Bentley Priory, the headquarters of Fighter Command, that Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding commanded and, eventually, became the victor. From the Priory Museum

Then, you will travel to the Royal Air Force Museum, the former site of the Hendon Aerodrome. This state-of-the-art museum traces the history of the RAF from its founding in April 1918 as well as the history of aerial warfare. It has more than 100 rare and beautifully restored aircraft on display as well as other unique artifacts.

From Hendon, you will return to central London to take in many of the sites associated with the wartime British prime minister, including the Cabinet War Rooms, Parliament, and Churchill’s favorite cigar and wine shop.

There will be one morning transfer provided to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) to catch your flight home.