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Simon has been interested in military history since he was a child. He first visited the battlefields on family holidays and soon became fascinated with D Day and the Normandy campaign. In his teens he developed an interest in the First World War and led his first guided tours to the former battlefields of the Western Front while still at university. After graduating with a history degree, he went on to train as a teacher and for 15 years ran annual school tours to the Western Front.

From 2014, Simon ran the prestigious and multi award-winning First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme – a UK government funded initiative which saw 8,500 students and teachers visit the former battlefields of the Western Front. Simon led more than 90 of these tours and as the programme’s lead for on-site education became an internationally recognised expert in leading students and teachers on the battlefields. He has also led tours for adult organisations including universities. Simon also has a passion for historical research and is able to bring the battlefields to life with personal stories, while also placing these stories in the immediate and wider historical context.

Simon is a member of the British Commission for Military History and the Western Front Association.

Simon was an infantry officer for over 30 years.  A member of the Royal Anglian Regiment, he served on operations in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.  He has a Bachelor’s Degree in History, Master’s Degree in Military Studies and is a Graduate of the Advanced Command and Staff Course.

His fascination with battlefield touring began in 1977, when living in Germany he went to see the film a Bridge Too Far.  Then persuaded his father, a Royal Air Force officer, to take him to Arnhem to try and bring to life what he had just seen.  An interest which further developed as student, studying for a History Degree at Portsmouth Polytechnic.  Where he organised his first Battlefield Tour, a trip with student friends to Normandy.  He was lucky his military career allowed him to indulge this passion, taking him on numerous Battlefield Tours and Staff Rides, In Europe, America, and as far afield as Vietnam and the Falkland Islands.

Retirement from the Army has allowed Simon to finally focus on battlefield touring.  Sharing his passion with others, and aiming to bring to life the battlefield through the experience of the individuals involved, coloured by his own experience as soldier.

Michael’s interest in battlefields started whilst researching his great uncle, whose name was on the local war memorial in his home town. This took him on a long journey through the UK and France. He eventually found his grave in Belgium, bringing closure to a family mystery of over 80 years and allowing family members from as far as Australia to visit his grave and pay tribute to his memory.

This discovery led Michael into researching many battles and physically walking the ground enhancing his knowledge and understanding of tactics used on both sides. Armed with this knowledge, he began organising individual, group and bespoke tours to Ypres in Belgium, Normandy in France and Arnhem in Holland which he continues to this day.

As a former Warrant Officer, with over 38 years in the British Army, his operational tours included Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, and exercises in Canada, Cyprus, Kenya and Poland. He has worked with many multinational forces giving him a thorough understanding of how other countries’ militaries operate. He was employed in many roles in the training, administration and welfare of over a hundred strong workforce during peace time and on operations. He was often called upon to plan, conduct and deliver intense training packages for servicemen as part of their continuous personal development and annual mandatory training.

In 2010, Michael gave evidence as part of the Iraq Enquiry, headed up by Sir John Chilcot, regarding the problems incurred during Operation Telic.

In 2020, together with his wife Jane, he set up their company “Avalon Tour de Force” which specialises in family research, bespoke group and individual battlefield tours, military history presentations and living history shows where they travel to schools, public and private events.

Michael was awarded Badge No 117 after completing the Guild’s validation scheme in November 2024.

Graeme is a serving Army officer with a background in military logistics. He has served full time and part time for over 34 years in a range of command and staff appointments.

He has been a member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides since 2014 and became a badged guide in 2021. His interest in the military started at a young age as he learned of the service of his grandfathers in the Second World War, one as a Royal Engineer, the other as a Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineer in 79th Armoured Division.

He has led a number of military group tours to the WW2 sites of Normandy, Monte Cassino, Sicily, Arnhem and Berlin before developing an interest in the Western Front during WW1.

Graeme has designed and led the Commonwealth Soldier programme taking school and community groups from SE England to the battlefields of France and Belgium to study the contributions made by Commonwealth troops in WW1. He has also delivered a number of tours in the UK and overseas has had the opportunity to lead a tour to the Falkland Islands. In 2018 he supported the Army Cadet Armistice 100 programme to the Somme and the National Muslim Armistice commemorations at Woking’s Indian Army Muslim burial ground memorial.

He is particularly interested in the human aspects of conflict and bringing the personal stories of those who served to life. In addition to leading groups, Graeme also has an interest in research and has delivered a number of WW1 community research projects, presentations and events as well as delivering individual bespoke research projects for families wanting to know more about their relatives.

He is a volunteer speaker for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and a member of the Western Front Association.

I’m Joris Nieuwint, a battlefield guide from the Netherlands with a lifelong passion for World War II history. Since 2012, I’ve been guiding individuals, school groups, military units, and history buffs across the battlefields of Western Europe — from Arnhem and Nijmegen to Bastogne and the Hürtgen Forest. My main focus is Operation Market Garden, which took place right in my own backyard.

Growing up near the drop zones and crossing points of Market Garden, I developed an early fascination with the stories of those who fought here. Over the years, I’ve turned that passion into a profession, creating tours that mix storytelling with historical context, using maps, photos, and video to help bring the past to life.

In 2018, I joined the International Guild of Battlefield Guides and became an accredited guide in 2020, earning the David Chandler Award in the process. I also help with remembrance projects like the Stolpersteine in Veghel and take part in living history with the Screaming Ducks, portraying the 101st Airborne. On weekends, you might spot me in my WWII Dodge Weapons Carrier, still running strong.

Through my YouTube channel and virtual tours, I aim to make WWII history accessible to a wider audience — because the stories deserve to be remembered.

Mike is a freelance Battlefield Guide and Historian with over 30 years of military service in the Army Air Corps. Commissioned from the ranks, he has served on numerous operational tours on the ground and in the air, in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. Experience that informs his presentation of events on the battlefields that he leads tours to. Mike’s intent is always to give the battlefield visitor a 360 degree view of their chosen battle, while also presenting the battle from the soldier’s perspective – from the inside out.

Mike has been a Battlefield Guide since his early twenties, during this time he has had the good fortune to lead battlefield tours all over the world, to destinations ranging from from Berlin to Beersheba. Equally at home with a military or civilian audience he has experience leading tours and studies focused on medieval battles, the campaigns of Napoleon, the Great War, and the Second World War. Mike regularly works with Australian, American and British groups. His aviation background enables him to lead specialist tours focused on Airborne forces or the Air War of any period. Most recently he has worked with the US National WWII Museum, leading their Masters of the Air Tour around East Anglia and Southern England.

Author of several books on the Glider Pilot Regiment and the US Eighth Air Force Mike is a regular speaker at the National Army Museum in London, and the UK Army Flying Museum. He co-hosts ‘The Mighty Eighth Podcast’.

From a very early age, I have had a strong interest in history, and in particular military history – much to the bewilderment of my parents!  I continued this to University level, gaining a degree in History & Ancient History.

My interest was certainly not lessened by 37 years as an Army Reservist, serving in a wide variety of roles and under multiple cap badges – Infantry, Royal Signals, Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers.  With my last unit, I planned and delivered a Battlefield Study to the Great War battlefields of Mons, Ypres & the Somme.

My first experience of digging in to military archives was after my mother passed me the Aircrew Log Book belonging to her late brother, whose aircraft disappeared during an anti-submarine patrol over the Atlantic in February 1944.  70 years after his last flight I visited the Runnymede Memorial and found his name.

A little later, I decided to try and find out something about the men and women named on the War Memorial in Harrogate, the town where I grew up and still live.  I have been able to identify (and in many cases, put faces to) all but about 40 of the 1163 names, in addition to finding over 100 others who should have been included.  I was heavily involved in the exhibition and events to commemorate the Centenary of the unveiling of the Memorial on 1^st September 1923, including an interview on the ITV Evening News.

I joined the Guild in late 2022, and became an Accredited Member in January 2025.

I believe strongly in telling both the story of what happened on a battlefield, and also the stories of those who fought there.

In addition to being a member of the Guild, I am a local volunteer for the CWGC, conducting tours and talks locally.

I am a serving Army officer and qualified as a badged guide in May 2020.  I have served with the Household Cavalry both operationally and as a mounted cavalryman on state ceremonial and public duties, as well as working on the staff in the wider Army.  Military experience of the Middle East, Balkans and Afghanistan.

I have been visiting battlefields for many years and have led a number of small group tours, for military personnel, veterans and members of the general public.  Very interested in all matters involving the cavalry where I like to think I have a unique insight, as well as armoured operations where I also have significant practical knowledge.  I continue to develop and learn my craft, and I am currently studying for an MA in the History of Great Britain and the First World War.

Robert Shaw MSc is the Director of Corporate Battlefields and the Director of Events of the International Guild Of Battlefield Guides. He is also Communications Co-ordinator and editor of the Guild magazine “Despatches”.  Holding accredited Badge Number 106, his battlefield guiding experience includes the Romans and Vikings in Britain, the American Civil War, the English Civil War, the battles of Wellington and Napoleon, WW1, WW2 and the Cold War.  These tours have been conducted in the UK, the USA, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Sicily, Crete, Malta, Libya, the Baltic States, Poland and the Balkans.  Robert has over 30 years’ experience in various military, diplomatic, intelligence and corporate security fields.  He earned a Master’s degree in Global Security from Cranfield University and, in addition to running and guiding battlefield tours for schools, military units and private clients, he regularly contributes on military history, intelligence, counter proliferation and contemporary security and defence matters (including Russia, Iran, Korea and China).  Robert has taught at UCL on “network attack” and spoken as an SME on the BBC.  He has also provided historical and technical advice to Channel Four programmes such as ‘Toxic Wrecks’ and Apple’s “Masters of the Air”.

Bob has three children, enjoys mountain guiding, canoeing and teaches youth and adult groups survival and bushcraft, resistance and countering kidnap, escape and evasion, foreign culture workshops for businesses and mental resilience.

My fascination with military history ignited during my primary school years, thanks to a teacher who had been a Spitfire pilot in the Second World War. His stories were utterly captivating. In my early teens, I had joined the Air Cadets, firmly ensnaring my interest in the military. I enlisted in the Canadian Army, where I embarked on operational tours in Egypt, Israel (Golan Heights), and undertook two tours in the former Yugoslavia. My military career was diverse, ranging from instructing recruits, providing trades level training for soldiers, to conducting leadership training for NCOs and officers.

After my second tour in the former Yugoslavia, I transitioned to a role with the United Nations, which took me back to the Balkans. Here, I served in Croatia, Bosnia, and North Macedonia in senior management positions, further broadening my experience and understanding of international military operations.

Currently, I live in the Republic of North Macedonia, where my passion for military history continues to thrive. Remarkably, the Dojran Battlefield is literally in my backyard. I am proud to be a founding member and the President of the Macedonian Front Society, a local Non-Government Organisation dedicated to the protection, preservation, and promotion of the battlefields that remain from the Macedonian Campaign.

My expertise and primary interest lie in the Macedonian Campaign of 1915-1918, known by various names such as the Salonika Front, Front d’Orient, Southern Front, or Macedonian Front, depending on the country the soldiers who served were from.

This lesser-known campaign offers a rich and fascinating tour experience for anyone interested in the First World War. Whether you’re looking for a family pilgrimage or wish to conduct a detailed battlefield study, I am committed to providing a custom-designed tour that meets your specific interests and requirements.