Find a Guide

Explore the world’s most trusted directory of battlefield guides

The Find a Guide directory details all those Accredited Members who have chosen to advertise their expertise and services as guides on the Guild website.  Each of these has passed our Accreditation Programme in which they have demonstrated the skills needed for us to say that they are high-quality guides who will give you a great tour.

When searching for a guide, we recommend that you filter by battle/campaign, country or capability and then click on the name of an Accredited Guide to read their biography. In stating their expertise and services, Accredited Members should be able to guide the particular battle or campaign on the battlefield. Sometimes physically guiding on that battlefield may be impossible or impractical, or it is presentation services that are required, in which case the Accredited Member should be able to guide the battle or campaign “remotely”.

As you will see, most Accredited Members have contact details by which you can contact them directly, and some have their own website, a Tripadvisor and/or a Google Review Page. If  you are having difficulty in contacting them, please contact them via the Guild Secretary  via our Contacts Page.

Please note, the Guild does not recommend or endorse any of the commercial products or companies of the members listed below. We are not responsible for checking that those listed below have complied with the relevant legislation or regulations in the jurisdictions they are based or guide in. Many are members of ETOA or other local guiding associations and some have a local authorisation to work with children or vulnerable adults. But it is your responsibility to ensure they meet all the criteria you need for them to work with your group.

Finally, this list shows only our Accredited Members. Our Ordinary Members are not listed here and if you would like to check whether a particular individual is a member of the Guild, or for any other further help (for example satisfying a request for which you cannot seem to find a guide), please contact the Guild Secretary via our Contacts Page.

Many Guides can develop bespoke personalised tours and can research where particular ancestors might have fought or died based on information which you may have, and this is generally part of their service. If you want to advice on following a particular ancestor and / or help and advice on researching military aspects of family history, there are several Accredited Members who may be able to assist with your genealogical enquiries.  A list of those members is here; if you would like to seek their assistance, contact details can be found by selecting their profile from those shown on this page.

Battle

Frank Baldwin

Accredited Guide Number: 8

I am a freelance guide, historian and heritage professional. After retiring following ten years in the army as a Royal Artillery Officer, I became increasingly involved in interpreting and presenting battlefield heritage for the Battlefields Trust and The Royal British Legion. My interest in battlefield touring was triggered by noticing that the part of Germany in which we were training in the 1980s had been a battlefield in 1757. I had always been interested in military history and both my father and grandfather had fought in the world wars.

As a guide, my clients include  small and large groups, businesses as well as educational and military groups. I was an early supporter of the Guild of Battlefield Guides and been part of its validation team, responsible for assessing guides’ competence, since 2008. I instruct on courses teaching battlefield guides and have been Guide Co-ordinator for the Liberation Route Europe.

In 2012 I was elected to the British Commission for Military History. My published work includes two books on D Day and Normandy, chapters in British Army Guide to the Western Front, and articles in military history journals. I write a military history blog https://theobservationpost.com

My interest and knowledge of military history stretches from Caesar to the Cold War and my guiding experience covers much of Europe. Besides the world wars and the Napoleonic era, I am also interested in the mid C19th wars between Prussia, Austria and France and the Severn Years War.

Two of my books are on artillery in Normandy and I am currently writing a battlefield guide to artillery on the First Day of the Somme in publication. The artillery story of both world wars is a little neglected and I offer battlefield tours to tell the artillery story under the brand www.gunnertours.com

One speciality is providing military background for people researching their ancestry. I have been a researcher for a company that makes a popular ancestry-based TV programme and have appeared on television myself.

I have been privileged to support some of the British Army centenary staff rides as a subject matter expert alongside academic historians. My clients include many military units and headquarters. I run a website offering advice to military units planning staff rides, battlefield studies or realities of war tours. www.staffrideservices.com

The links between military and business strategy fascinate me. I offer a service to help organisations to learn from other people’s mistakes using examples from statecraft and military history. www.businessbattlefields.com

I chaired the Battlefields Trust from 2008-2015 and was involved in many projects to preserve, interpret and present many of the Battlefields of Britain, including the re-discovery of the battlefields of Bosworth.

Ancient / RomanRoman Invasion of BritainBattle of Teutoberger Forest c.9CE...Middle AgesViking battlesViking battles in YorkshireNorman Conquest of England 1066Fulford 1066Hastings 1066Stanford Bridge 1066Battle of Lewes 1264Edward I’s conquest of North Wales 1277-83100 Years War 1337-1453Crecy 1346Agincourt 1415British Civil WarsWars of the Roses 1455-87Towton 1461Bosworth 1485English Civil War 1642-1651Lansdown 1643Roundway 1643Marston Moor 1644Monmouth Rebellion 1685Sedgemoor 1685The Jacobite Rebellions 1689-1756Culloden 174618th CenturyWar of the Spanish Succession 1701-1714Blenheim 1704Seven Years' War 1756-1763Minden 1759Passage of the Alps and Marengo 180019th CenturyNapoleonic WarsAusterlitz 1805Aspern – Essling 1809Peninsular War 1808-13Talavera 1809Fuentes de Onoro 1811Almaraz 1812Ciudad Rodrigo 1812Badajoz 1812Salamanca 1812Vitoria 1813Waterloo Campaign 1815Ligny 1815Quatre Bras 1815WaterlooWavre 1815British Colonial ConflictsAnglo/Zulu War 1879Isandlwana 1879Rorke's Drift 1879Siege of Eshowe 1879Gingindlovu 1879Hlobane 1879Ulundi 1879Boer War 1899-190220th CenturyFirst World War 1914-18Western Front Allies of WW1ANZACS on the Western FrontUS Soldiers on the Western Front 1917 - 1918Canadians on the Western FrontWestern Front - The beginning (1914)Mons 1914Retreat to the Marne 1914Battle of The Aisne 1914Western Front - Stalemate (1915)Neuve Chappelle 1915Aubers Ridge 1915Festubert 1915Loos 1915Western Front - Counterattack (1916)Battle of the Somme 1916Delville Wood 1916Fromelles 1916Bapaume 1916Verdun 1916Western Front - Attrition (1917)Hindenburg Line 1917Arras 1917Vimy Ridge 1917Bullecourt 1917Messines 1917Third Battle of Ypres 1917Polygon Wood 1917Passchendaele 1917Cambrai 1917Western Front - Defeat and Victory (1918)German Spring Offensive 1918Operation Michel 1918Belleau Wood 1918Battle of Lys & Op Blucher 1918Villers-Bretonneux 1918Le Hamel 1918The Last 100 Days 1918Battle of Amiens 1918The Somme 1918Meuse-Argonne 1918St. Mihiel 1918Sambre Crossing 1918Second World War 1939-45Occupation of Europe (1940)Fall of France 1940Sedan 1940Arras 1940Dunkirk 1940Battle of Calais 1940Battle of Britain 1940UK Home Front WW2London Blitz WW2Mediterranean theatre WW2German Airborne Invasion of Crete 1941Air War over Europe WW2Combined Bomber Offensive WW2Naval battles WW2Operation Berlin 1941WW2 Commando and other Raids in Occupied EuropeBruneval Raid 1942Operation Jubilee - Dieppe 1942Operation Frankton - Bordeaux 1942Italian Front WW2Operation Husky 1943 - SicilyOrtona 1943Monte Cassino 1944Operation Shingle 1944 - AnzioGustav Line 1944Gothic Line 1944-5Liberation of Europe (1944)Op Overlord Preparations in UK 1943-4D-Day - Op Overlord 1944Normandy Campaign and breakout 1944Hürtgen Forest 1944Lorraine Campaign 1944Op Market Garden 1944 - Arnhem Eindhoven NijmegenAachen 1944Liberation of the Netherlands 1944-45Scheldt Estuary - Breskens Pocket & Walcheren 1944-5Operation Infatuate 1944 - AntwerpOp Aintree 1944 - Battle of OverloonOperation Amherst 1944 - NetherlandsOp Blockbuster 1944 - Canadian drive to RhineBattle of the Bulge 1944-5Band of Brothers 101 AirborneEastern Front WW2Battle of Halbe 1945Fall of Berlin 1945Advance into Germany (1945)Op Plunder 1945 - Rhine CrossingOp Veritable 1945 - Reichswald Forest

AustriaBelgiumCrete...Czech RepublicEastern EuropeEnglandEuropeFranceGermanyHungaryItalyNetherlandsScotlandUnited KingdomWalesWestern Europe

Bespoke GroupCollege GroupsFamilies...IndividualsLeadership & Management TrainingManagement DevelopmentPilgrimage GroupsSmall GroupsWebsite

Dudley Giles

Accredited Guide Number: 26

Dudley Giles has been an active battlefield guide for over 25 years and was an early member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides.

A former British Army officer, Dudley managed, in a career spanning nearly 34 years, to serve a third of his time in North West Europe (Germany and Belgium), a third in the UK (including three residential tours in Northern Ireland) and a third in ‘exotic’ locations such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Canada, Croatia, Kosovo and the flanks of NATO (Norway and Turkey). In 1990 he attended the Army Command and Staff Course, and, in 2001, was serving as NATO’s senior military police officer during the climactic events post 9/11. In 2006/7 he deployed to Afghanistan as General Richards’ senior police advisor and his last appointment in the Army before finally retiring in 2012 he was Deputy Provost Marshal (Army).

In 2006/7 Dudley found himself on the modern battlefields of Afghanistan and was able to help soldiers, diplomats and journalists understand the historical similarities between the present and past experience of British soldiers in that country. On his return he acted as the chief battlefield guide for the very first Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride and continued to support the charity in that capacity until 2013. This experience eventually led him to set up a specialist touring company -‘Battlefields by Bike.

Dudley took his first degree in Law (LL.B (Hons) at the University of Leeds in 1979 and later a Masters Degree in British First World Studies (2010) – graduating with Distinction.

When not running his own tours or carrying out research, Dudley works as an independent contractor for schools, military groups, families and other battlefield touring companies.

Middle AgesBritish Civil WarsEnglish Civil War 1642-1651...19th CenturyNapoleonic WarsWaterloo Campaign 1815Waterloo20th CenturyFirst World War 1914-18Western Front Allies of WW1ANZACS on the Western FrontCanadians on the Western FrontWestern Front - The beginning (1914)Mons 1914Retreat to the Marne 1914Battle of The Aisne 1914Western Front - Stalemate (1915)Neuve Chappelle 1915Aubers Ridge 1915Festubert 1915Loos 1915Gallipoli 1915-16Western Front - Counterattack (1916)Battle of the Somme 1916Delville Wood 1916Fromelles 1916Bapaume 1916Western Front - Attrition (1917)Hindenburg Line 1917Arras 1917Vimy Ridge 1917Bullecourt 1917Messines 1917Third Battle of Ypres 1917Polygon Wood 1917Passchendaele 1917Cambrai 1917Western Front - Defeat and Victory (1918)German Spring Offensive 1918Operation Michel 1918Battle of Lys & Op Blucher 1918Villers-Bretonneux 1918Le Hamel 1918The Last 100 Days 1918Battle of Amiens 1918The Somme 1918Meuse-Argonne 1918Sambre Crossing 1918Second World War 1939-45Occupation of Europe (1940)Norway Campaign 1940Fall of France 1940Arras 1940Dunkirk 1940Battle of Calais 1940Operation Sealion (Seelöwe) 1940UK Home Front WW2London Blitz WW2Air War over Europe WW2Combined Bomber Offensive WW2WW2 Commando and other Raids in Occupied EuropeOperation Chariot - St Nazaire 1942Bruneval Raid 1942Operation Jubilee - Dieppe 1942Italian Front WW2Operation Husky 1943 - SicilyOrtona 1943Operation Avalanche 1943 - SalernoMonte Cassino 1944Operation Shingle 1944 - AnzioGustav Line 1944Gothic Line 1944-5Liberation of Europe (1944)Op Overlord Preparations in UK 1943-4D-Day - Op Overlord 1944Normandy Campaign and breakout 1944Op Dragoon 1944 - South of FranceLorraine Campaign 1944Op Market Garden 1944 - Arnhem Eindhoven NijmegenArnhem 1944Eindhoven 1944Nijmegen 1944Liberation of the Netherlands 1944-45Scheldt Estuary - Breskens Pocket & Walcheren 1944-5Operation Infatuate 1944 - AntwerpOp Blockbuster 1944 - Canadian drive to RhineBattle of the Bulge 1944-5Band of Brothers 101 AirborneEastern Front WW2Kursk 1943Estonia 1944Battle of Halbe 1945Fall of Berlin 1945Advance into Germany (1945)Op Plunder 1945 - Rhine CrossingOp Veritable 1945 - Reichswald ForestPost WWIICold War 1945-91Yugoslav Wars (1990s)21st CenturyAfghanistan 2001-21

AfghanistanAsiaBelgium...Eastern EuropeEnglandEstoniaEuropeFranceGermanyItalyNetherlandsNorwayScotlandSicilyTurkeyUnited KingdomWalesWestern Europe

Adult Coach GroupsBattlefield StudiesBattlefield Walks...Bespoke GroupClubs and SocietiesCorporate ToursCultural ToursCycling battlefield toursEvening PresentationsFamiliesIndividualsLeadership & Management TrainingLong ToursManagement DevelopmentMilitary & VeteranPilgrimage GroupsSchool GroupsSelf-drive or guided toursShort ToursSmall GroupsStaff Rides

Andrew Thomson

Accredited Guide Number: 14

I am a historian, tour organiser & private guide living in Winchester, delivering tours in France, Benelux, Germany, Czechia (Prague) & Austria (Vienna).  Battlefield guiding accounts for around two-thirds of my business; I particularly enjoy it as it combines history, people (both empathy with those who fought, and on-the-spot interactions with clients), landscape and travel – all passions of mine. References (look up ‘Dr Thomson’s Tours’ on Trip Advisor) pay tribute to my relaxed but authoritative style, the high level of organisation and flexibility, and my ability to make the complexities of war understandable to audiences either very varying degrees of pre-existing knowledge and interest.
(The ‘Dr’ is a PhD in American History, obtained in 1996.  I set up Dr Thomson’s Tours in 1997 after working in university management.  I was born in 1956.)

20th CenturyFirst World War 1914-18Western Front Allies of WW1...The French on the Western FrontANZACS on the Western FrontUS Soldiers on the Western Front 1917 - 1918Canadians on the Western FrontWestern Front - Stalemate (1915)Neuve Chappelle 1915Aubers Ridge 1915Festubert 1915Loos 1915Western Front - Counterattack (1916)Battle of the Somme 1916Delville Wood 1916Fromelles 1916Bapaume 1916Flers - Courcelette 1916Verdun 1916Western Front - Attrition (1917)Hindenburg Line 1917Arras 1917Vimy Ridge 1917Bullecourt 1917Messines 1917Third Battle of Ypres 1917Polygon Wood 1917Passchendaele 1917Cambrai 1917Western Front - Defeat and Victory (1918)German Spring Offensive 1918Operation Michel 1918Belleau Wood 1918Battle of Lys & Op Blucher 1918Villers-Bretonneux 1918Le Hamel 1918The Last 100 Days 1918Battle of Amiens 1918The Somme 1918Meuse-Argonne 1918St. Mihiel 1918Sambre Crossing 1918Other WW1 themesWW1 Poetry literature and artSecond World War 1939-45Occupation of Europe (1940)Fall of France 1940Liberation of Europe (1944)D-Day - Op Overlord 1944Normandy Campaign and breakout 1944Liberation of Belgium 1944Hürtgen Forest 1944Lorraine Campaign 1944Op Market Garden 1944 - Arnhem Eindhoven NijmegenArnhem 1944Eindhoven 1944Nijmegen 1944Aachen 1944Liberation of the Netherlands 1944-45Battle of the Bulge 1944-5Band of Brothers 101 AirborneEastern Front WW2Fall of Berlin 1945Advance into Germany (1945)Op Plunder 1945 - Rhine CrossingOp Veritable 1945 - Reichswald ForestOther WW2 themesNazi V WeaponsPeenemundePost WWIICold War 1945-91

AustriaBelgiumCzech Republic...Eastern EuropeEuropeFranceGermanyLuxembourgNetherlandsWestern Europe

Adult Coach GroupsBattlefield WalksBespoke Group...Evening PresentationsFamiliesIndividualsMilitary & VeteranPilgrimage GroupsSelf-drive or guided toursShort ToursSmall GroupsTripadvisor / Google ReviewWebsite

Vivien Whelpton

Accredited Guide Number: 72

Vivien gained her B.A. in English Literature at Bedford College London, and trained to become a teacher. She taught for thirty-eight years in a variety of secondary schools and colleges, heading up departments of English and of Media Studies.

It was through teaching the literature of the Great War and taking her sixth-form students to the battlefields of the Western Front that Vivien became fascinated by the history. After retiring from teaching in 2006, she undertook the M.A. course in War Studies at Kings College London. She also began a new career as a writer. She has published a two-volume literary biography of the First World War poet and novelist Richard Aldington. She lectures on the literature of the First World War and is a regular contributor of articles to journals. Vivien joined the Guild of Battlefield Guides in 2011 and became an accredited guide in February 2014. She has conducted, under the auspices of the tour company ‘Battle Honours’, a series of literary battlefield tours, aiming to explore the nature of the various conflicts on the Western Front in which the combatant poets took part and the roles they played, and to use this context to explore their writing. In November 2018, the hundredth anniversary of the death of Wilfred Owen, she conducted a tour of the battlefield sites where he served. She also guided a series of literary tours for secondary school students under the government’s First World War Centenary Schools Programme and finds it particularly rewarding to introduce young people to the battlefields of the First World War. She currently works for Anglia Tours.

Vivien’s knowledge of the literature of the war is extensive and she is happy to lead literary tours of the Western Front for both student and adult groups. But she also has a thorough grasp of the military history of the war and an awareness of how understanding is enhanced by visiting and walking the battlefields.