Brian Shaw

Accredited Guide Number: 18

Brian Shaw is an Ex Warrant Officer in the Parachute Regiment who has been leading
battlefield tours for the past twenty years. Born in Nottingham in 1958 he joined the Army in
1974 as a Junior Soldier, progressing through a busy career specializing in Battlefield
Communications. Brian become a Warrant Officer Class 1 in 1995 and retired from the
Army in January 2013 after 38 years’ service.

Brian has had an extensive career serving across the globe, in Northern Ireland on operations
and from South Africa to the Arctic Circle and from California to Hong Kong, the long way
round, on training. This long Infantry experience and knowledge of tactics, give him a
soldier’s eye for ground and the implications of terrain on the weapon systems of any
chosen period.

Brian has a long-held interest in military history, particularly the Second World War. He
combines his own experiences and his knowledge of history to put his audience on a tour
within the experience of what the soldiers of the day saw, felt and experienced.
Whilst Brian’s passion is for the Second World War and specifically NW Europe 1944/45
(D–Day to the war’s end) but with a wide military history knowledge he is happy working with
groups on the battlefields of the Great War or others.

Brian has assisted in and personally planned and led tours on the Battle of Waterloo, The
Western Front, Gallipoli, France and Belgium 1940, Malta, the fighting in Normandy,
Operation Market–Garden, Aachen, the Hurtgen Forest, the Rhine Crossing (Plunder and
Varsity) and the Ardennes Offensive. Italy – Anzio and Cassino.

Battles

Napoleonic WarsWaterloo Campaign 1815First World War 1914-18Mons 1914Gallipoli 1915-16Battle of the Somme 1916Verdun 1916Third Battle of Ypres 1917Belleau Wood 1918Meuse-Argonne 1918St. Mihiel 1918Second World War 1939-45Fall of France 1940Siege of Malta 1940-42Normandy Campaign and breakout 1944Hürtgen Forest 1944Op Market Garden 1944 - Arnhem Eindhoven NijmegenAachen 1944Op Blockbuster 1944 - Canadian drive to RhineBattle of the Bulge 1944-5

Countries

BelgiumEastern EuropeEuropeFranceGermanyItalyMaltaNetherlandsTurkeyWestern Europe

Caters For

Adult Coach GroupsBespoke GroupCollege GroupsFamiliesIndividualsMilitary & VeteranSchool GroupsSmall Groups

Areas of Expertise

Tour Specialisms
Napoleonic
Waterloo Campaign

First World War​
Western Front – Mons, Ypres, Somme, Verdun, Vimy Ridge, American Expeditionary
Force (AEF) Belleau Wood, St Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne.
Gallipoli

Second World War
France and Belgium 1940
1944/45 – Normandy, Operation Market–Garden, Aachen, the Hurtgen Forest, Operations
Veritable and Blockbuster, Rhine Crossing (Operations Plunder and Varsity) and Ardennes
Offensive, operations in Northern Germany 1945.
Italy – Anzio and Cassino.
Malta.