Love history? Want to re-trace a relative’s combat experience? Join Knee Deep Into History in 2025 for a WW1 or WW2 battlefield tour in Northern Europe. We’ve published our preliminary schedule below, and we anticipate that all tour brochures will be prepared by the end of November. In 2025 we are running many of our standard battlefield tours, but we have added several new tours that we think you will find intriguing. Here’s a quick run-down of our battlefield tours, in chronological order.

***NEW*** 87^th and 89^th Infantry Division Race Across Germany Tour (WW2), 6 – 14 May

Join guides Randy Gaulke and Patrick Brion on this battlefield tour that focuses on the combat experiences of two American divisions from the Battle of the Bulge to the end of the war deep into Germany. This is a perfect tour for someone whose relative fought in either of these divisions. The tour will also include the tour of famous POW camp Colditz Castle and sight-seeing in Berlin. Patrick Brion is a well-known Belgian historian living in Kahla, Germany. There, he has been instrumental in researching and remembering the fighting in the area.

89th Infantry Division Crossing the Rhine River, March 1945

Doughboy Overview Tour (WW1), 11 – 18 June

In this broad overview tour guides Randy Gaulke and Markus Klauer will cover the First Division’s attack at Cantigny, the 27^th and 30^th Division’s fighting with the British on the St. Quentin Canal, the 2^nd Division’s fighting at Blanc Mont, as well as the Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne battlefields of WW1. Randy and Markus have been studying the WW1 battlefields since the 1980s and they know these battles intimately.

Mouth of the St. Quentin Canal, where the 27th and 30th Divisions fought alongside the British

Verdun Tour (WW1), 21 – 23 June

Guides Markus Klauer and Randy Gaulke provide an in-depth look at this 1916 battle that is synonymous with the horrors of wars of attrition. This tour will focus on key sites on both sides of the Meuse River as well as the role of Verdun as a symbol of reconciliation between Germany and France. In September 2024 the two nations remembered the 40^th Anniversary of the meetings of German Chancelor, Helmut Kohl and French President, Francois Mitterand at Verdun in 1984. In November 2019 Markus Klauer was one of three Germans who received a Bronze Medal from the Mayor of Verdun for his work in preserving the battlefields and remembering the past.

A March 2024 commemoration ceremony and work weekend attended by guides Markus Klauer and Randy Gaulke. Photo by Markus Paulick.

Ardennes “Battle of the Bulge” Tour (WW2), 2 – 8 July

This 7-day tour by Randy Gaulke and Markus Klauer focuses on Hitler’s December 1944 gamble for victory in the West. Topics will include the stories of American units that held up the German advance long enough to allow reinforcements to arrive, the well-known story of the advance and ultimate encirclement of Kampfgruppe Peiper, the fighting around Bastogne and the advance of the (German) 2^nd and 116^th Panzer Divisions towards the Meuse River.

The famous dragon’s teeth anti-tank obstacle of the Westwall

***NEW*** Market Garden and Huertgen Forest Tour (WW2), 11 – 14 July

From an American standpoint, these are two of the lesser-known battles of WW2. Market Garden was Field Marshall Mongomery’s failed attempt to advance rapidly behind German lines to secure bridges across the Rhein River and into the industrial heart of Germany. It involved British troops as well as the 82^nd and 101^st Airborne Divisions. The Huertgen Forest was an American disaster, in which several divisions were sucked into a dense forest that gave all advantages to the German defenders. Starting just weeks before Hitler’s Ardennes Offensive, the Germans needed to hold there in order to prevent the Allies from knowing their December attack plans. This tour is led by Randy Gaulke and Markus Klauer.

One of the German Westwall bunkers in the Huertgen Forest

Normandy Landings Tour, 4 – 9 September

Explore each of the landing beaches in detail as well as the Airborne drop zones in this multi-day tour of the D-Day beaches led by Randy Gaulke and Markus Klauer. There are thousands of stories of bravery and heroism that could be told in Normandy.

Reflecting on the dead of both sides in a German cemetery. Photo courtesy of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

***New*** 1944 Airborne Operations Tour, 16 – 21 September

1944 saw three major Airborne engagements: the Normandy Landings, Operation Market-Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. This tour will focus on the fighting of the 82^nd and 101^st Airborne Divisions in each of those offensives. It is led by Randy Gaulke and Markus Klauer.

82nd Airborne Division Waal River crossing site

Meuse-Argonne and St. Mihiel Tour, 24 – 29 September

First offered in 2018, this is Randy Gaulke’s and Markus Klauer’s signature WW1 tour. This multi-day tour will examine these two American offensives in-depth and it will include walks of moderate length and duration over key portions of the battlefield.

The view from the Montsec American Memorial allows one to see the St. Mihiel battlefield

***NEW*** The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, 2 – 7 October

This will be Graham and Randy Gaulke’s second joint battlefield tour offering. It will cover the rise and fall of the Third Reich through Hitler’s early visions to the demise of the Nazi regime. Geographically, the tour will be exploring sites in Bavaria, Germany and Austria.

Discussing the day’s activities over dinner

Third Reich Underground: Rockets, Aircraft and More, 10 – 15 October

Graham and Randy Gaulke first offered this tour in 2024. It focuses on Germany’s efforts to protect its critical armaments industry by moving production facilities to underground locations. Of course, the story of Nazi Germany’s arms manufacturing is intertwined with the story of forced and concentration camp labor. The geographic location of the tour is Thuringia, Germany.

Exploring Nazi Germany’s underground manufacturing in Thuringia, Germany

What can you expect from a Knee Deep Into History battlefield tour?

Knee Deep Into History LLC was founded by Randy Gaulke in 2020 after he spent eight months in 2017-18 as a freelance guide to the American battlefields of WW1. During those eight months (and the prior thirty years) Randy’s tour philosophy has evolved. We:

1. TAKE clients into the field, versus battlefield tours that emphasize memorials and museums;
2. GUIDE small-group tours (12 max.), that allow for interaction with guides;
3. PROMOTE a balanced view of both sides;
4. OFFER tours for passionate history buffs;
5. BRIDGE cultures, by generally staying at family-run hotel/restaurants.

If you want to get knee deep into history, we invite you to have a look at our website for more details or to reach out to Randy Gaulke at kneedeepintohistory@gmail.com. Full brochures for our 2025 tours will be available in October / November.

Participating in the flag lowering ceremony at an ABMC cemetery