GUIDING
Piers Storie-Pugh is available to guide groups of any size around the many battlefields on which British soldiers have fought, and died.
Piers has been guiding groups consisting of veterans, students, relatives and military groups to battlefields and war cemeteries of Europe, The Far East, The Mediterranean and North Africa for 35 years. He started his tour operating career with Major & Mrs. Holt’s Battlefield Tours before he set up Remembrance Travel in 1985, for the Ministry of Defense /Royal British Legion, which he continued to run for 25 years. In 2011 he was appointed Chief Executive of The Not Forgotten Association, a tri-service charity for the wounded, which he ran for 5 years.
Battlefield Tours to Colditz and Arnhem 2024
From Neil Jackson, Managing Director of Pennywood Tours:
“We were thrilled to have Piers as our guide once again, this time on our Battlefield Tours to Normandy and Colditz. As always, Piers turned what could have been routine into a fascinating story of endeavour, courage and achievement.
His encyclopaedic knowledge and reservoir of personal stories brought the whole campaign to life, from describing small but vital actions to the broad strategy of the invasion. He is a supreme raconteur, and we cannot recommend him enough.
Pennywood Tours are also pleased to announce that Piers will be leading our August and September 2024 tours which includes the famous PoW Castles of Spangenburg and Colditz where his father was a prisoner in The Second World War, and the Arnhem Bridge where his uncle fought. ''
For details visit Pennywood Tours or telephone 01622 434 981.
Piers is a qualified guide, badged Number. 12, with The Guild of Battlefield Tours, qualifying on The Ypres Salient 1914-1918; The Somme 1916; The Chindit Operations of Burma 1943-44; D Day and Normandy 1944 and The Battles of Nijmegen and Arnhem 1944; just some of the World War battles of which Piers is an undoubted expert. In addition he is a well respected guide to Verdun, Berlin, Colditz Castle, The Battle of Britain and The Battle of The Bulge.
Piers has taken thousands of relatives to their chosen war cemetery as part of the Government funded War Widows Grant in Aid Scheme, 1985-2010. He wrote the blueprint for the Big Lottery/MoD initiative “Heroes Return” which enabled veterans to return to where they had served in World War Two; and concurrently ''Their Past Your Future'' - an initiative for schools.
He was Co-Chairman and the UK representative of the Thiepval Educational Project on The Somme which included the raising of nearly £3m.
Piers, while at the helm of Remembrance Travel, organised the first British group visits to Kohima and Imphal in NE Assam; and to the Chindit Area of Operations and the Arakan of Burma.
Piers comes from a military background, his grandfather serving in the Great War, wounded at The Battle of Loos; and his father, having been captured a number of times in the early part of WW2, was sent to Colditz for four years. Piers himself served in both regular and territorial armies, rising to the rank of Full Colonel enabling a personal military perspective to be brought to his tours. Piers has been awarded MBE (Mil) for services to the Army and the OBE (Civ) for services to the RBL and International Remembrance.
Pilgrimage of Sorrow and Smiles The Royal British Legion’s pilgrimage to Israel proved to be a moving experience for those whose loved ones and old comrades lie buried in cemeteries in The Holy Land. Read Piers’ account of the trip here.
"You gave us such a wonderful tour. Thank you so much. It was all most memorable and very moving."
— Air Marshal Sir Ian Macfadyen KCVO, CB, OBE
Malta Tour - 7 Days
Few places have such a history or are as inspiring as Malta. The Islanders have demonstrated extraordinary gallantry in two world history changing sieges; first when the Knights stemmed the tide of Islam in 1565 and secondly in 1940-42 when Malta GC, the unsinkable aircraft carrier and Nurse of the Mediterranean, resisted Italian and German efforts to invade; and subsequently became the base for air and sea operations for the Allied advances after the Battle of El Alamein.
This 7-night tour takes a closer look at the Battle of Malta 1940-42 and the effort and sacrifice from Great Britain's three services including the Merchant Navy and the Commonwealth. I will share with you as many stories as I can and show you some very interesting historical places associated with the Second World War. The scenery and architecture are breath-taking; the beaches and restaurants so inviting. With a lovely climate, English speaking, and welcoming population and so much to see and do, I hope you find Malta as wonderful and memorable as do I and so many others.
Please contact Piers directly if this tour is of interest.
“Dear Piers,
Just to say a massive thank you for the superb trip that you gave us to the Battlefields over the weekend. We cannot speak highly enough of your incredible knowledge and the interest that you generated over the five days. The way that you involved members of the group by asking them to give readings was inspirational and served to bring the group closer together.”
