The great military heritage
The Grand English Military Heritage is nowhere better to be explored than at the South Coast of England. Henry VIII began to lay the foundations of the Royal Navy by building the first modern warship, the Mary Rose and in Portsmouth and Portland/Weymouth large navy arsenals and deep water harbours were developed. It was at England´s South Coast where invasions either succeeded successfully as occured near Hastings in 1066 or where they failed because of inclement weather and/or the firmness of their citizens such as the Spanish Armada, Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. And here are the most extraordinary military museums such as the Keep Military Museum in Dorchester, the Royal Navy Fleet Arm Museum in Yeovilton, the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard or the greatest tank museum in the world at Bovington.
TANKFEST in a fabulous landscape
In 2006 the Tankfest in Bovington was our highlight fort he South Coast tour. But because this amazing display of armour only happens every two years we will use the opportunity and return to the “War and Peace Festival”. This is the Mecca of all military vehicle enthusiasts and fans of re-enactment shows. In 2007 the promoters of the event expect more than 7.000 vehicles to be on display. And the list is endless. From a tank to a self-propelled gun, from a German halftrack to a U.S. wrecker there is everything you need and more. And on top of all this comes the fabulous landscape.
The Dorset coast and East of Devon forms an uninterrupted series of cliffs and rocky formations echoing the richness and diversity of life during the Mesozoic Age. This living testimony to life on earth is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and offers visitors a vision of phenomenal landscapes not to be missed The World Heritage Jurassic Coast stretches from Exmouth in Devon to Studland in Dorset. One of the most beautiful coastlines in the country, a fossil-rich journey through 200 million years of natural history, a fascinating story of ancient deserts, tropical seas, a petrifed forest and dinosaur-infested swamps. And right here, in Lulwort Cove at one of England´s most beautiful bays, is your hotel!
An impressive career
Obviously, a trip like this deserves the most competent battlefield guide and without exaggeration one can claim that Nigel meets the qualification with the highest degree.
Scotsman, soldier, diplomat and historian, Nigel graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1976, joining the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Soldiering all over the world followed, including covert intelligence gathering duties behind the Iron Curtain in the former East Germany with BRIXMIS during the Cold War, interpreting for Rudolf Hess in Spandau Prison, two years with the US 1 st Cavalry Division on the staff of General Tommy Franks, both in Texas and during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Iraq, for which he was awarded the MBE and US Bronze Star Medal. After command of armoured reconnaissance and tank squadrons he became Chief of Staff of the Royal Armoured Corps Centre at Bovington in Dorset, and a Defence Attaché at the British Embassies in Bonn and Berlin. Nigel Dunkley is perhaps now Berlin’s best known lecturing, teaching and touring residient English language historian specialising in Third Reich and Cold War history. In addition he leads military history tours throughout Europe including the Crimea, Italy and the Czech Republic.