"Forgotten fronts" drag you into the trenches of the First and Second World Wars.
Below are some unknown and largely untouched historical destinations.
WWI: Dark Travel introduces us to the forgotten and relatively unknown fronts of the First World War.
WWII: Secret SOE operations and places of horror during the Second World War.
This historical and archaeological legacy of forgotten fronts is authentic.
Italy's involvement in World War I is often neglected with the Western and Eastern Fronts being the focal points of remembrance, but for the Italians, their involvement in WWI caused significant loss and human suffering.
As in the Western Front, it became trench warfare with the Italian army repeatedly attacking Austria, making little or no progress and suffering heavy losses. However, unlike the Western Front, the main difference was the fact that the trenches had to be dug in the Alpine rocks and glaciers instead of in the mud and often up to 3,000 m of altitude.Nearly 750,000 Italian troops were killed in savage, hopeless fighting on the stony hills north of Trieste and in the snows of the Dolomites.
From May 1915 to October 1917 the armies of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian empire were locked into a series of twelve battles along the River Isonzo, a sixty-mile front from the Alps to the Adriatic. The campaign was fought in the most appalling terrain for combat, with horrendous casualties on both sides, often exceeding those of the more famous battles of the Great War. Yet this massive struggle is too often neglected in histories of the war which focus on the fighting on the Western and Eastern Fronts.
.Walking through trenches, tunnels and everlasting stories of suffering.
A trip through the Dolomites is an emotional, traumatic encounter with a recent past. From 1915-1917 the Dolomites were the scene of heavy fighting between Italian and Austrian troops. Often the enemy positions were barely 10 metres apart. But nature was also an enemy: in the war winter of 1916/1917 avalanches alone killed 10,000 soldiers, alpinists and Tyrolean machine-gunners.
Cinque Torri: The command of the Italian mountain artillery was located at the foot of these 5 towers.
Marmolada (3343m), highest glacier in the Dolomites and the highest museum in Europe.
The Lagazuoi, also known as the "Castle of the rocks".
Passo Pordoi + walk Viel Del Pan
Monte Piana, 3 Cime di Lavaredo and Lago Misurina.
The battles of Isonzo represents Italy's greatest offensive efforts against the Austrian-Hungarian Empire during the First World War. The eleven battles took place between 1915 and 1917 along the Isonzo River in north-eastern Italy and the border region with Slovenia. The results were usually high losses on both sides without relevant strategic results.
Walk of Peace along the trails of the Isonzo Front
The Soca Valley has seen its fair share of conflict in the past, having witnessed the full horrors of the First World War in the form of the Isonzo Front. The numerous remains, memorials and open-air museums bear witness to the horrors of war. Take a hike along the Walk of Peace, which stretches through a landscape that witnessed the horrors of the First World War.
7 days Walk of Peace
LJUBJANA TO LOG POD MANGARTOM
LOG POD MANGARTOM - BOVEC - DISTANCE: 12,6 km - ELEVATION ?: 380 m
BOVEC - KOBARID - DISTANCE: 25,2 km - ELEVATION: 1350 m
KOBARID – PLANINA KUHINJA - DISTANCE: 12,7 km - ELEVATION: 1120 m
PLANINA KUHINJA - TOLMIN - DISTANCE: 30 /24 km - ELEVATION: 770 / 1200 m
TOLMIN – KAMBREŠKO - DISTANCE: 23 / 28 km - ELEVATION: 1220 /1520 m
TOLMIN - MENGORE - TOLMIN - DISTANCE: 10 km - ELEVATION: 300 m
TOLMIN - LJUBJANA
13 days Walk of Peace
LJUBJANA TO LOG POD MANGARTOM
LOG POD MANGARTOM - BOVEC - DISTANCE: 12,6 km - ELEVATION ?: 380 m
BOVEC - KOBARID - DISTANCE: 25,2 km - ELEVATION: 1350 m
KOBARID – PLANINA KUHINJA - DISTANCE: 12,7 km - ELEVATION: 1120 m
PLANINA KUHINJA - TOLMIN - DISTANCE: 30 /24 km - ELEVATION: 770 / 1200 m
TOLMIN – KAMBREŠKO - DISTANCE: 23 / 28 km - ELEVATION: 1220 /1520 m
KAMBREŠKO - ŠMARTNO - DISTANCE: 21,9 km - ELEVATION: 370 m
ŠMARTNO – NOVA GORICA - DISTANCE: 14,7 / 29,6 km - ELEVATION: 520 / 1410 m
NOVA GORICA – LOKVICA - DISTANCE: 17,3 km - ELEVATION: 340 m
LOKVICA - KOMEN - DISTANCE: 15,5 km - ELEVATION: 280 m
KOMEN – DUINO - DISTANCE: 20,1 km - ELEVATION: 300 m
DUINO - TRIESTE - DISTANCE: 29,5 km - ELEVATION: 530 m
The Gallipoli Campaign of 1915-16, also known as the Battle of Gallipoli or the Dardanelles Campaign, was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I. The campaign began with a failed naval attack by British and French ships on the Dardanelles Straits in February-March 1915 and continued with a major land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, involving British and French troops as well as divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC)
Salonika campaign
Between 1915 and 1918, British troops were part of a multi-national Allied force fighting against the Bulgarians and their allies in the Balkans. Although disease and the harsh conditions took a heavy toll, they eventually brought the campaign to a successful conclusion.
DID YOU KNOW...?
When the French and British got to Salonika they surrounded themselves in barbed wire for protection, the area became known as the Birdcage!
The Gallipoli Campaign of 1915-16, also known as the Battle of Gallipoli or the Dardanelles Campaign, was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I. The campaign began with a failed naval attack by British and French ships on the Dardanelles Straits in February-March 1915 and continued with a major land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, involving British and French troops as well as divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).
Walking the Gallipoli battlefields - 6 D
Experience the Gallipoli battlefields - 7 D
Military heritage tourism in Latvia and Estonia
Visitors to Latvia and Estonia have access to military heritage such as museums, fortifications, military equipment, routes, bunkers, battlefields, military towns, infrastructural objects, as well as memorial sites that bear witness to the era from the start of World War I in 1914 and the establishment of both countries' independence in 1918, to the period of the restoration of independence in 1990/1991.
From this period, much evidence of monumental events of the time has been preserved in the form of battlefields, military structures, historical photographs and memoirs. Together they form a compelling military heritage story of how the two new countries emerged from the First World War, how they fought for their survival during the wars of independence, how they were devastated by the Second World War, how national partisans sustained the struggle after the war for more than a decade and how independence was restored after decades of occupation.
Due to the exclusivity and intensity of these tours, all information on the following is on request.
The military heritage of Latvia and Estonia, 1918-1991
World War I 1914-1918
Before the creation of the Estonian and Latvian states, Latvian and Estonian soldiers served in the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War.
Wars of independence 1918-1920
The end of World War I marked the beginning of the Wars of Independence for Latvia and Estonia. By fending off multiple enemies, the two young countries proved their ability to exist
as independent states.
World War II, 1939-1945
At the outbreak of World War II, both Latvia and Estonia declared neutrality. However, a treaty between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany had established the spheres of power between the two totalitarian regimes, and soon the Baltic states were occupied by the Soviet Union.
National partisan movement - forest brothers 1944-~1957
At the beginning of the Soviet occupation, many men refused to cooperate with the Soviet regime, hid in the forests and continued to fight. Some also feared repression because of their former service in the German or Finnish army.
Towards the restoration of independence 1945-1991
During the decades of the Cold War, the Baltic countries were on the border of warring powers. Large numbers of Red Army troops were in Latvia and Estonia, airfields, military ports and nuclear weapons bases were installed, etc. The Iron Curtain isolated the people from the rest of the world. Latvia and Estonia restored their independence in 1990 and 1991, respectively, when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Places of horror during WW 2.
A shocking tour full of betrayal, executions and madness in the wake of Nazi barbarism.
La "Résistance" de "Maquis" as a secret army played an important role in destroying the infrastructure of the Germans in the preparation of D-Day.
The massacre of Tulle and Oradour-sur-Glane.
The Tulle massacre is the name for the war crimes committed against the civilian population of the French town of Tulle (department of Corrèze). A total of 99 civilians were killed by hanging and 149 others were deported to the Dachau concentration camp, 101 of whom would not return.
The massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane took place on 10 June 1944 in the French town of Oradour-sur-Glane. The village was enclosed that day by the first regiment 'Der Führer' of the 2. SS-Panzer-Division Das Reich and finally destroyed. In this raid, 642 people were slaughtered. Only six people survived the massacre.
The most important event of the resistance was Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, SS leader Heinrich Himmler's deputy and the then Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Infuriated, Hitler ordered the arrest and execution of 10,000 randomly selected Czechs. Over 10,000 were arrested, and at least 1,300 executed. According to one estimate, 5,000 were killed in reprisals. The assassination resulted in one of the most well-known reprisals of the war. The Nazis completely destroyed the villages of Lidice and Ležáky; all men over 16 years from the village were murdered, and the rest of the population was sent to Nazi concentration camps where many women and nearly all the children were killed.
Follow in the footsteps of the "Special Forces" expeditions and experience a unique adventure.
Secret WW2 expeditions - Abduction general Kreipe
In the "Trail of the Kidnappers" is an adventurous expedition that combines history, hiking and culture.
Based on the story of the kidnapping of General Kreipe, we follow the route from Anogia Village to Rodakino beach near Rethminon for 7 days. During this expedition we will climb three large mountains, visit remote Cretan villages and explore the landscape. We immerse ourselves in daily life together with the locals.
Secret WW2 expeditions - The Heroes of Telemark
Operation "Gunnerside" was the second British plan during World War II to destroy the Vemork heavy-water plant of Norsk Hydro at Rjukan in Norway by means of a secret sabotage attack carried out by the Royal Engineer Commands.
After the German invasion of Norway this factory was under the control of the Nazis who started a secret program to design an atomic bomb.
