Encounters in the Fields – Tourism to the Battlefields of the Western Front

The First World War is now slipping beyond the realm of lived experience, yet it continues to wield a profound fascination over the British modern imagination. The Western Front in France and Belgium, which was the decisive theatre of operations for the Allied troops, has fashioned its own mythology and imagery and has secured a firm place in modern memory. Although the unremarkable topography of the region now visually betrays little of the momentous nature of the battles fought across its expanses, thousands of British visitors travel to the area throughout the year. This paper explores the ways in which tourists embarking on commercial coach tours engage with the battlefield landscape by examining contemporary tourist performance. It also considers the role of the tour guide in setting and directing the tourist encounter.