© Michael St Maur Shell/Mary Evans Picture Library/Caters

Welcome to the International Guild of Battlefield Guides

Find a battlefield guide, join the Guild of Battlefield Guides.

Are you looking for a professional guide to take you on a battlefield tour? Are you working as a battlefield guide, would you like to find out more about becoming validated as a battlefield guide?

The International Guild of Battlefield Guides is the foremost organisation dedicated to touring the battlefields. We enable guides and historians to share information, expertise and knowledge; we help visitors to find accredited battlefield guides who can help them to explore the past. We all have one thing in common: a love of military history and a desire to ensure the sacrifices of past generations in war are not forgotten.

Our Honorary Members include Tonie and Valmai Holt, the pioneers of battlefield guiding. 

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Search for a battlefield guide. Find an accredited battlefield guide who can help you to explore the battlefields – search by campaign, battle, or country.

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Find out more about the International Guild of Battlefield Guides’ Accrediation Progamme, and all the associated benefits of being a Guild Member. 

Coming Up

Guild Visit: Larkhill Royal Artillery Garrison, Wiltshire

The Venue

Larkhill has been used as a training area for the British Army since the first tented camp was established in 1899.  In 1914 the first wooden and permanent buildings were built, and the camp expanded rapidly through the First World War and years that followed.  A military light railway was established in 1915 to carry troops between the camps and training areas at Larkhill and nearby Bulford.  Between 1909 and 1914 there was an aerodrome at Stonehenge to explore military applications for balloons and the powered aircraft.  In the early 1930s the British Ordnance QF 25-pounder was developed and tested by the school of artillery at Larkhill.

In 1919 the Royal School of Artillery was established at Larkhill, and in 2003 the Headquarters for the Royal Artillery was moved from Woolwich in south-east London to the camp.

The garrison is currently made up the RA Headquarters, Royal School of Artillery and six Regiments of Gunners (including 14RA which is the training regiment for the artillery).  The Garrison Artillery Volunteers have the base at Larkhill where they research, restore and train on legacy artillery pieces and keep alive ‘reversionary means’ of firing guns – something that will become important in a future conflict if modern computer/GPS aided system were interdicted.

A temporary RA museum is housed in the historic aircraft hangers close to the camp, and the garrison is also home to an impressive collection of silver, paintings and other memorabilia in the Grade II listed Officer’s Mess and Garrison Church.

The Visit

The visit will include a tour of the (temporary) RA Museum, a presentation on military flying at Larkhill and viewing the ‘gatekeeper’ collection of historic guns, followed by lunch in the Officer’s Mess and a tour of the Mess's paintings and silver collection.  The afternoon activities will include a tour of current modern gunsheds and an introduction to the 105mm Light Gun, after which we will have a tour of historic gun sheds and a presentation on the work of the Garrison Artillery Volunteers before closing the visit with tea.  There is no cost for the day, but those attending would need to pay for their own lunch.

October 9th, 2024

Operation Market Garden – Guild Recce

The Guild will conduct a recce of the Operation Market Garden area from 1-3 November 2024.  During the recce we will visit known and lesser known locations along the Market Garden corridor, beginning at Joe's Bridge, going all the way up to and including Arnhem.  It will be fast paced to see as much as possible, to make it easier for you to plan your next battlefield tour.

The programme:

31 October: Arrival

1 November: Joe's Bridge. 30th Corps breakout and 101st Airborne battles along Hell's Highway

2 November: Nijmegen and the 82nd Airborne division

3 November: Arnhem and Driel, the 1st Airborne and the Polish para brigade

4 November: Departure

October 31st, 2024 - November 4th, 2024 The Netherlands