North Manchester Battlefield Society

Welcome to the North Manchester Battlefield Society Website

Since being formed in 2001, The North Manchester Battlefield Society has visited the Battlefields of Europe every year. The first trip was The Somme and the Normandy Beaches in 2001, ironically 2011 brought the society full circle with a trip to the Normandy beaches. The years in-between have taken to places synonymous with war and bravery, Ypres, Verdun, Bastogne to name a few.

The aims of this website are to show the trips/adventures of a gang of blokes who have a common interest in Battlefields and history. Primarily we concentrate on the First and Second World War, but will touch on any other historical battle should we visit – for example Waterloo and Hadrian’s Wall. We endeavour with this site to remember the fallen of all nations, but also to offer advice and insight for fellow travellers and battlefield nerds! We will try and enlighten you with the highlights and “Must Sees” as well as the pitfalls. We will also tell you the facts that other sites leave out, like pubs, Food and supermarkets, we will tell you in open and honest language the rough and the smooth and even though it can be a sombre subject we will talk about the visits with the camaraderie that we have in the NMBS and what men in the trenches would have had. The North Manchester Battlefield Society (NMBS) was formed in 2001 by a group of Civil Servants based in Manchester.

The Name was taken from the fact that all the members lived in North Manchester at the time or had North Manchester roots. Most of the Major battles that we have visited have had some connection with the regiments made up from Lancashire or the Cities of Manchester, Salford or Liverpool. We will also include war memorials from around the UK and try and show the bravery of the men who died in not only both World Wars but every conflict from Korea to Northern Ireland, The Falklands to Afghanistan. What started as a few days in The Somme has turned into a full scale dedicated society to the fallen of all sides in the major wars of Europe. That first trip was a learning curve - based on 4 blokes sat in a Daewoo and living in Formule One Travel lodges, this has become a slick operation where farmhouses (gites) are used as based and planning and preparation starts as soon as we come back from one trip.

We also helped other people locate relatives who died during wars. We also have given advice to other people who visit battlesites and we are more than happy to help anyone. Contact us via the Guestbook

We appreciate your feedback so for general comments, please sign the guestbook below

Most of the text is owned by the NMBS and maybe used with permission and acknowledgement. If this site has infringed any copyright material, please inform us and we will remove any material.

All main photographs are © 2011 Steve Hoar and Kevin Hunt. They can be used and/or copied by kind permission. Although I guess the only reason anyone would want a picture of us is to put on the mantel piece and keep the kids away from the fire!
Hope you enjoy the site and would be grateful of any feedback – again please, Contact us via the Guestbook

Steve Hoar, November 2011