Warfare in News

Celebrated authors and leading battlefield guide experts Major and Mrs Holt are to be awarded the WW1 Centenary Medal from the Conseil General de le Somme.

The award, which is for their contribution to 'Remembrance Tourism' and dissemination of knowledge of the First World War, will be one of only six medals to be awarded. They will also be the first and the only Britons to receive it. The award will be presented in a ceremony taking place in Amiens on 22 January 2014.

Tonie and Valmai are well known authors in the field of Military history and literature. Their knowledge of World War One is extensive, having spent over 35 years researching and leading tours to the battlefields and writing books about them. They have located, described and recorded some 1,000 memorials to our fighting services in mainland Europe and through their books have made the battlefields accessible to the general public.

In 1978 they pioneered the modern battlefield tour and founded the highly successful Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield Tour Company. They later took over the running of the Royal British Legion Pilgrimage programme.

Their Battlefield Guides to the Somme, Ypres, Gallipoli, Normandy, Market-Garden, the WW1 Western Front – North and South are among the best-selling books to those areas, each known to local specialists as ‘The Bible’ . Their other works include Poets of the Great War, My Boy Jack? - the biography of Rudyard Kipling’s son, John - and In Search of the Better Ole, the biography of First World War Cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather, also published by Pen and Sword Books.

Celebrated authors and leading battlefield guide experts [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Major-and-Mrs-Holt/a/549/"]Major and Mrs Holt[/url] are to be awarded the WW1 Centenary Medal from the Conseil General de le Somme. The award, which is for their contribution to 'Remembrance Tourism' and dissemination of knowledge of the First World War, will be one of only six medals to be awarded. They will also be the first and the only Britons to receive it. The award will be presented in a ceremony taking place in Amiens on 22 January 2014. Tonie and Valmai are well known authors in the field of Military history and literature. Their knowledge of World War One is extensive, having spent over 35 years researching and leading tours to the battlefields and writing books about them. They have located, described and recorded some 1,000 memorials to our fighting services in mainland Europe and through their books have made the battlefields accessible to the general public. In 1978 they pioneered the modern battlefield tour and founded the highly successful Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield Tour Company. They later took over the running of the Royal British Legion Pilgrimage programme. Their Battlefield Guides to the [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Major-And-Mrs-Holts-Battlefield-Guide-To-The-Somme/p/95/"]Somme[/url], [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Major-and-Mrs-Holts-Battlefield-Guide-to-Ypres-Salient-and-Passchendaele/p/460/"]Ypres[/url], [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Major-And-Mrs-Holts-Battlefield-Guide-To-Gallipoli/p/94/"]Gallipoli[/url], [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Major-and-Mrs-Holts-Definitive-Battlefield-Guide-to-the-D-Day-Normandy-Landing-Beaches/p/3077/"]Normandy[/url], [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Major-And-Mrs-Holts-Battlefield-Guide-To-Operation-Market-Garden/p/4228/"]Market-Garden[/url], the WW1 Western Front – [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Major-and-Mrs-Holts-Concise-Illustrated-Battlefield-Guide-The-Western-Front-North/p/4007/"]North[/url] and [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Major-and-Mrs-Holts-Concise-Illustrated-Battlefield-Guide-The-Western-Front-South/p/617/"]South[/url] are among the best-selling books to those areas, each known to local specialists as ‘The Bible’ . Their other works include [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Poets-Of-The-Great-War/p/100/"]Poets of the Great War[/url], [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/My-Boy-Jack/p/96/"]My Boy Jack?[/url] - the biography of Rudyard Kipling’s son, John - and [url="http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/In-Search-Of-The-Better-Ole/p/90/"]In Search of the Better Ole[/url], the biography of First World War Cartoonist [url="http://www.warfaremagazine.co.uk/articles/Bairnsfathers-Christmas-Truce-1914/83"]Bruce Bairnsfather[/url], also published by Pen and Sword Books.