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Andy Johnson

Accredited Guide Number: 52

I lead tours to the First and Second World War battlefields, with a particular interest in the Western Front 1914-1918 and Normandy, including the D-Day beaches, the airborne operations, and the frequently neglected fighting inland, which led to the crossing of the Seine in late August 1944. I also visit the campaigns across Northwest Europe to the 1945 battles on and across the Rhine. I have led tours to Salerno, Cassino and Crete.
I have travelled widely in India and this led to a deep interest in the history of Great Britain’s involvement in that country. I have led groups looking at the story of the Indian Corps on the Western Front.
As an ex-member of the Royal Air Force, and, having spent so long in the air environment, I have a huge interest in the air war and I have led tours to sites related to the Great War in the air, Fighter Command, the Combined Bomber Offensive and the German secret weapons programmes.
An interest in the Air War naturally leads to the subject of National Socialist Germany. I have taken groups to many sites in Hitler’s Germany, from the development and deployment of the V-Weapons, through the concentration camp and forced labour systems to the Final Solution. It is a difficult but important subject.
And Germany, of course, leads to an interest in Berlin. I never served in Berlin – but I am an old Cold Warrior!

Battles

20th CenturyFirst World War 1914-18Western Front Allies of WW1The Indian ArmySoldiers of the British Empire WW1ANZACS on the Western FrontUS Soldiers on the Western Front 1917 - 1918Canadians on the Western FrontMons 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 1916Flers - Courcelette 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 1918Villers-Bretonneux 1918Le Hamel 1918The Last 100 Days 1918Battle of Amiens 1918The Somme 1918Other WW1 themesAir Power WW1Medical WW1Second World War 1939-45Fall of France 1940Arras 1940Dunkirk 1940Battle of Calais 1940Battle of Britain 1940German Airborne Invasion of Crete 1941Air War over Europe WW2Combined Bomber Offensive WW2Battle of the Atlantic WW2Operation Jubilee - Dieppe 1942French Resistance WW2S.O.E. in WW2Monte Cassino 1944Liberation of Europe (1944)D-Day - Op Overlord 1944Normandy Campaign and breakout 1944Liberation of Belgium 1944Op Market Garden 1944 - Arnhem Eindhoven NijmegenScheldt Estuary - Breskens Pocket & Walcheren 1944-5Operation Infatuate 1944 - AntwerpOp Blockbuster 1944 - Canadian drive to RhineKrakow 1945Fall of Berlin 1945Op Plunder 1945 - Rhine CrossingOp Veritable 1945 - Reichswald ForestOther WW2 themesSoldiers of the British Empire WW2HolocaustAuschwitzNazi V WeaponsKorean War 1950-53Vietnam War 1954-75

Countries

AsiaBelgiumCreteEastern EuropeEnglandEuropeFranceGermanyIndiaLuxembourgNetherlandsPolandScotlandUnited KingdomWalesWestern Europe

Caters For

Adult Coach GroupsBattlefield StudiesBattlefield WalksBespoke GroupClubs and SocietiesCollege GroupsCorporate ToursCruise shipCycling battlefield toursEvening PresentationsFamiliesFilm workIndividualsLong ToursMilitary & VeteranPilgrimage GroupsReenactorsSchool GroupsSelf-drive or guided toursShort ToursSmall GroupsStaff Rides

Areas of Expertise

Wars covered:

First World War

  • Ypres Salient 1914-1918
  • Somme 1916 and 1918
  • German Spring Offensive and the Battle of Amiens
  • Indian Army
  • Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force

Second World War:

  • D-Day and Normandy
  • Arnhem and Operation MARKET GARDEN, including Hell’s Highway
  • Bomber Command
  • German secret weapons
  • Third Reich and the Holocaust

Cold War

Areas of expertise:

  • The Air War
  • German secret weapons
  • India
  • NSDAP Germany & the Holocaust 

Other specialisms:

  • I have supported a number of long-distance charity cycle rides, including Help for Heroes, SSAFA, and a Hertfordshire hospice. I am always ready to help such projects.