Rediscovering History on World War II Tours

For the generation that lived through World War II, the names of the places are touchstones for memory: Guadalcanal, Midway, Duxford, Port Darwin, the Coral Sea, Bataan, Corregidor, Pearl Harbor.

Fifty years ago, they were just listings in an atlas to most Americans. But entry into the war would soon bring them home.

In the coming year, and through 1995, the battlefields of the war in Europe and the Pacific will become destinations for travelers of all ages--destinations that, half a century ago, might have been, for all but the wealthy, as far away as the moon.

History buffs as well as veterans and survivors of America’s first-year battles of World War II will find it much easier to visit the sites than it was to get there in the ‘40s. A map and a good guidebook--and a good history book--are among the tools that independent travelers will need next year to commemorate the attacks, conflicts and crusades.

A more convenient and efficient method is to join one of the many tours themed around the important battles of 1942.

Two major operators, Valor and Galaxy, package and market these tours. British Pride Tours, based in Oakland, also produces occasional tours aimed at veterans.

Valor, based in Sausalito, is run by Briton Robert Reynolds, a bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the war. Reynolds, who developed an interest in the history of the war, worked for a time marketing tourism in the Pacific. He said he started his own company when he “realized that I could do better than a travel agent in finding hotels on Corregidor or getting transportation to Guadalcanal.”

These days, Reynolds says, his company caters to sons and daughters of veterans as well as veterans themselves. “Young people make up more than a third of our business,” he said. “They’ve rediscovered history.”

A sampling of World War II tour offerings in 1992:

“Rememberin’ the Mighty Eighth.” From 1942-45, the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk were home to the U.S. Eighth Air Force. The East Anglia region has scheduled memorial services, special exhibitions and Glenn Miller-style dinner-dances to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Allies in Britain.

British Pride Tours has scheduled two 11-day tours--May 15-25 and July 3-13, called “Rememberin’ the Mighty Eighth.” Each will include a visit to one of the several air shows planned during the year, including Fighter Meet ’92 (featuring American, British, German and Japanese aircraft in simulated dogfights and bombing attacks) and Air Fete ‘92, an annual event hosted by the U.S. Air Force.

Tour highlights also will include visits to Duxford, home of the largest collection of American military aircraft outside of the United States, the Royal Air Force Museum and the American Military Cemetery near Cambridge.

The land portion of the tour is priced at $1,990 per person, double occupancy. Information is available from British Pride Tours, 484 Lake Park Ave., Oakland 94610, (415) 839-9874.

For independent travelers, the British Tourist Authority has a booklet available called “Return to England,” which lists about 130 scheduled anniversary events, as well as military museums, war memorials and a guide to accommodations. Contact the British Tourist Authority, 350 S. Figueroa St., Suite 450, Los Angeles 90071, (213) 628-3525.

Battlefield Tours, based in Slidell, La., organizes European war-site tours for groups, but the public is invited to participate in many of them. One of its 1992 tours, packaged as a reunion for the 280th Field Artillery Battalion out of Camp Cooke, Calif., is an ambitious 14-day trek from London through Normandy, Belgium and the Rhine, finishing in Berlin and often following the battalion’s route during the war. The tour departs May 27 and is priced from $2,445 per person, double, including air fare. Call (800) 635-5018.

Pacific Reunion. To commemorate the 20-month Battle of Guadalcanal, which had a major impact on the course of the war, Pearl Cruises has a 27-day excursion to Manila, the island fortress of Corregidor; Peleliu; Papua, New Guinea; Cairns on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and Sydney. The ship will call for two days at Guadalcanal, where a new monument will be dedicated Aug. 7 by the Guadalcanal-Solomon Islands War Memorial Foundation and the American Battle Monument Commission. The cruise is priced from $4,995 per person, double occupancy, including land stays and 19 days at sea from Cairns to Sydney. Air fare is extra. The line is offering a $300 discount for tickets purchased six months in advance. For more information, call Pearl Cruises at (800) 426-3588. Both Galaxy and Valor are offering variations on this tour. AeroTours of New York (800-223-4555) has also arranged similar tours, but with this twist: It says it has contacted “local people and storytellers” to share their memories of the war.

Galaxy Tours (800-523-7287) is offering several war tours for 1992. Among them:

The GI Favorite. A 21-day tour departing May 28 follows the routes of battle from Great Britain through France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and includes a tour of the Battle of the Bulge site in the Ardennes Forest and Belgium. The tour begins in London and finishes in Paris, and features visits to the Normandy Beach landing zones and some of the more important World War I battle sites in France. Cost is $3,998 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from New York.

Bataan and Corregidor. A special commemorative program based in the Philippines from April 1-14 is sponsored in part by the Philippine government. Receptions with government dignitaries, parades and ceremonies are scheduled, with day trips to Bataan and Corregidor, the scenes of violent battles and severe U.S. and Filipino losses. The tour is priced at $2,798 per person, double, including air fare from Los Angeles.

The Bridge on the River Kwai Tour--Battle of the Java Sea. Through Thailand to Singapore and Australia, this 13-day itinerary begins at the River Kwai, about 100 miles from Bangkok, where 133 Americans died while incarcerated in a prisoner-of-war camp. The group also will visit Changi Prison in Singapore and spend a week in and around Perth, Australia, meeting with other war survivors. The main tour costs $3,398 per person, double, including air fare from the West Coast. It departs Feb. 19.

Valor and Galaxy are planning future agendas from 1993 through 1995, including visits to additional sites in the South Pacific, Leyte, Guam, Okinawa and Tokyo, as well as the Normandy invasion beaches for D-Day, which will commemorate a 50th anniversary on June 6, 1994.

Regarding Normandy, Cosmos-Globus Gateway is one of the few major tour operators to touch upon the war. The firm’s 12-day tour of England and France includes a day at the landing beaches in Lower Normandy and a stop at the American cemetery at Omaha Beach. Visits to Paris, Mont St. Michel and chateaux country also are part of the package. Prices for the tour, including air fare, begin at $1,292 a person, double. Call a travel agent or Cosmos-Globus Gateway at (800) 221-0090 for information.