Are you a passionate history buff who wants to explore and discover the battlefields of WW1 and WW2? Join a Knee Deep Into History tour. Our Spring 2024 season was packed, including the 80th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings, two WW2 tours, a documentary filming and two WW1 tours! Here is a photographic recap of highlights from our Spring 2024 tour season. We hope these photos and brief descriptions will convince you to get knee deep into history with us!

The 80th Commemorations:

Normandy American Cemetery, 6 June

One of the almost 200 WW2 veterans being wheeled onto the stage in Normandy American Cemetery

With the help of a friend, Knee Deep Into History was able to get a press pass to attend some of the 80th Anniversary Commemorations, including the Ceremony on 6 June at the Normandy American Cemetery. The clear highlight of the day was the presence of about 200 surviving veterans, some of whom received the French Legion of Honor Medal from President Emmanuel Macron of France. Presidents Biden and Macron and their wives were on hand for the ceremony.

French President Macron embraces a WW2 veteran while awarding him the French Legion of Honor.

Knowing that this is the last time we will see such a large grouping of WW2 veterans assembled made the hassles of VIP-related travel restrictions worthwhile–at least in hindsight. Two big screens, one on each side of the event, aided in viewing the veterans’ entrances and interactions with the VIPs.

Warships off the Normandy Coast, reminiscent of 6 June 1944

Normandy American Cemetery is beautiful and peaceful 80 years onward

The 80th Commemorations:

Pegasus Bridge Ceremony, 5 June

Another moving ceremony was held the day prior at Pegasus Bridge, where British airborne units landed in the very early morning hours of 6 June. Because of its smaller size, it provided an excellent opportunity for the press to interact with many of the veterans!

Three WW2 British veterans were delighted to participate

The WW2 veterans certainly enjoyed their well-deserved attention from the press and participants.

Who says young people don’t grow up learning history?

The 80th Commemorations:

Standing with Giants

Standing with Giants is a UK-registered charity which creates large-scale outdoor remembrance art installations, that provide a meaningful space for people to visit, reflect, grieve, and discuss, bringing individuals together to remember those who fought for freedom, both past and present. To commemorate the fallen under British command on 6 June, the charity has installed 1,475 silhouettes along the British Normandy Memorial on Gold Beach. There were different silhouette templates used to identify service branch and nationality.

This amazingly moving experience will be available for viewing until 31 August 2024. If you’re going to be in Normandy this summer, you should visit it!

The Standing with Giants Exhibit, simple yet moving

For your Tomorrow, the People’s Tribute

Living veterans pay their respect to unit members who died on D-Day

Konrad Adenauer Foundation Tour:

Erinnerung ist Zukunft (Memory is Future)

One of the more unique battlefield tours I have done was a two-day overview of the American D-Day landing sites–in German! The Paris office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation held a conference entitled Erinnerung ist Zukunft. The theme was reconciliation between the two countries, and the seminar was attended by four French and five German university students. Historically, Konrad Adenauer was the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (aka West Germany) and he was a proponent of rebuilding Germany’s post-WW2 relations with its neighbors, especially the French.

The weekend seminar included a commemoration at the former American POW camp at Foucarville that housed German POWs from 1944-47, a visit with two local authors who wrote a book (in French) about the camp, as well as a day and a half of exploring and discovering the American battlefields in Normandy. It was a great challenge and a privilege to be able to do this–in German and French–and to introduce students to the Normandy battlefields.

French and German university students exploring and discovering the Utah Beach landing zone. Photo courtesy of KAS.

Franco-German reconciliation at the former site of the POW camp at Foucarville. Photo courtesy of the KAS.

French book written on the American POW Camp at Foucarville

As a tour guide, one of my favorable moments occurred on the cliffs overlooking Omaha Beach. We started by discussing the German defensive position known as Widerstandsnest 62 and the actions of a German machine gunner named Hein Severloh, aka the “Beast of Omaha.” Stories tell of him killing and wounding more than 1,000 – 2,000 of Americans on Omaha Beach that morning. Luckily, there is a wonderful YouTube Video, The Butcher of Omaha, which examines his limited field of fire and dispels the exaggerations. I then read a German translation of the Medal of Honor citations for the three First Division soldiers who received the medal for their actions on 6 June. The group grew deadly silent, as each participant reflected on what soldiers on both sides must have experienced 80 years ago.

We ended that day visiting the grave of Leutnant Bernhard Frerking at the Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof La Cambe. Frerking had been Severloh’s commander. Severloh would survive the American landing and the war. Frerking was killed on 6 June when leaving WN62.

Remembering the dead in the German War Cemetery of La Cambe. Photo courtesy of KAS.

Third Reich Underground Tour:

Rockets, Aircraft and More

In Eastern Germany, several hundred kilometers from the Normandy Coast, another KDIH tour introduced participants to the complex story of the Third Reich’s efforts to move key armament production underground in 1944-45 to avoid Allied bombardment. It also examined the role of concentration camp labor and forced labor (Zwangsarbeit) that allowed Nazi Germany to do this.

Tour guide Graham Gaulke selected a mix of above- and below-ground sites that made for a truly unique tour. A partial list of sites visited includes: Buchenwald and Nordhausen concentration camps and museums, including the tunnels build into the Kohnstein; the Heimkehle, underground cave in Thuringia used as a production facility; the Walpersberg production facility for the ME 262; and the Merkers saltmine–site where the Reichsbank gold reserves and other Third Reich treasures were stored a half mile underground.

Main gate at Buchenwald Concentration Camp

An art exhibit at Buchenwald. The story of Germany’s efforts to protect its war machine from Allied bombardment is inextricably linked to forced labor and human suffering.

Guide Graham Gaulke explaining the layout and expansion of Dora Concentration Camp with the Kohnstein in the background.

This chamber, one of the larger ones in the Heimkehle, was used for aircraft parts production.

Exploring and discovering the Besucherbergwerk Kamsdorf, another mine turned into armaments factory in Thuringia

Tour participant, Christina Holstein, wrote: “When Randy sent the 2024 brochure for KDIH tours, I took one look at the 3rd Reich Tour and said I had to do it. Well, it did not disappoint. It was Graham’s first tour and he was a star. Everything was well organized, great hotels, great food and best of all, superb tour and good conversation. Five stars all around and an extra one for Graham. Thanks to Everyone.”

And from Valerie Young: “Seriously–yet another amazing tour, but this time with Graham. I’d never been interested in WW2 tours until I saw this opportunity. BIG, BIG thanks to Graham for having the idea and executing the idea with enthusiasm and professionalism and great spirit. What a treasure you have in your son. Here’s to many more!”

With a decade of exploration and research, Graham was able to put each site into context with the other sites and with the military and political events of late WW2. This truly was a unique battlefield tour that we plan to offer again in 2025.

The Reichsbank gold reserve room in the Merkers saltmine; made famous by The Monuments Men

Summary

We hoped you enjoyed this partial recap of our Spring 2024 tour season.

History is not just a dull recitation of dates, facts and figures. It is alive! History and the battlefields are there for you to discover and explore! Join Knee Deep Into History for one of our small-group WW1 or WW2 battlefield tours and let our team bring history to life for you on your next European vacation! We can also be hired for bespoke battlefield tours.

Our 2025 schedule should be published in October 2024. Why not join our mailing list to get the latest updates by emailing Randy Gaulke at kneedeepintohistory@gmail.com. (We won’t spam your inbox every day–Promise!)

After decades of personal battlefield tours, Randy Gaulke quit his job as a financial analyst in Manhattan and spent eight months in France in 2017-18 as a freelance guide during the World War I Centennial. He subsequently founded Knee Deep Into History, with a philosophy of getting clients into the field on a small-group tour designed for the military history enthusiast. Equally important is the attempt to tell both sides of the story and to help Americans bridge cultures. Most tours are led jointly with European guides, including retired Bundeswehr officer and historian Markus Klauer. The groups enjoy family-owned European hotels and restaurants. Experience a military history tour that brings the battlefield to life! Learn more at www.kneedeepintohistory.com Slow Travel Tours is an affiliation of small-group tour operators who offer personalized trips in Italy, France and other European countries.