He took part in the Time Team special first broadcast by Channel 4 on the 10th of November 08

Belfast born Iain McHenry is a highly respected Great War battlefield guide who covers both Flanders and the Somme with his company Trench Map Tours. He recently conducted a tour for the Southend branch of the WFA and agreed to chat with us after enjoying several beers with John “Grimmer” Baker. A former military policeman, he is based in Belgium and was recently involved in the well-publicized excavation of the Vampir dugout at Zonnebeke near Ieper. He took part in the Time Team special first broadcast by Channel 4 on the 10^th of November. Here he tells HMVF a little about what he gets up to.

Where did your passion for military history develop and when did you start making practical steps towards becoming a professional guide? I was a child of the 70’s and 80’s. My passion for military history comes mainly from my Grandfather who was in the Royal Navy from 1929 – 1969. My father had a large part to play as well being in the army during my childhood. Some of our time was spent in Germany and I vividly recall Sunday Family outings to the Mohne Dam. As I grew up I became more and more interested in military books, starting with Warlord, Commando and Battle Action Force and progressing to specialist military books on specific military subjects as I grew older. Airfix, Tamiya and Emhar have a part to play as well in that process! About 15 years ago the First World War started to take up a lot of my time and then in 2002 whilst in the army myself, they saw fit to post me to SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), Mons. At last, the First War was on my doorstep. I was then able to go out and study and learn parts of the Western Front.

How much work goes in to becoming a guide? Presumably you have to do a lot of reading and recce work to perfect what you do. A lot of work goes into doing what I do. I would never think about guiding a battlefield tour to somewhere I have not been before. The subject of the First World War is a never ending learning process. One of the reasons I live on the Western Front Battlefields is to give me the opportunity to get out onto the battlefields and learn. I am self – taught, I am also very lucky to work closely with a small group of chaps with a lot of experience of visiting the First War battlefields. Apart from reading and studying on a regular basis I learn a lot from them. Whenever you make the history of the First War your business, you want to make sure you get your facts, figures and history correct. In doing this you are doing those that served, justice. It is a job that I am fiercely passionate about. I couldn’t do it otherwise. Since I left the army in 2005 and settled here in Ypres I see a huge learning curve. Any guide should never be ashamed to admit that on past tours they may have not known all the facts they were required to give out. When I know that has happened in my case it has been back to the books and onto the battlefields to make sure that next time it goes well. You should never be ashamed to tell someone that you don’t know the answer, if you don’t. Your reputation as a guide builds on your past work and also your self improvement. Unfortunately on the battlefields there are also those who may be described as cowboys. It is the same in all businesses.

Are you able to pick a favourite battlefield location? I cannot give you a favourite battlefield location as I have many. One of them that ranks in the top 10 is standing on top of Fort Douamont on the French Battlefield of Verdun and trying to imagine what hell went on there.

Please tell us something about the history of the Vampir dugout and how you came to be involved with the excavation. I became involved in the project as I was invited to become a member of ABAC (Association for battle field Archaeology and Conservation.) which is the group that carried out the project. For me this was my first dugout, and project with the group. The Dugout at Vampir was constructed over the winter of 1917/18 by the men of 171^st Tunnelling Company of the Royal Engineers. It sits close to the foot of the Passendale ridge. Once allied forces had taken the ridge in November 1917 it was important to source accommodation for the many troops who would be holding the ridge in the face of German counter attacks and after. By 1917 the men of the Royal Artillery had the ability to turn the battlefield into moonscape by the heavy use of artillery. This went a long way to destroy what surface infrastructure existed. It seemed that the best, most comfortable and safest places to accommodate our troops was underground. We had also learnt great lessons from the Germans in 1916 as their men were accommodated in deep underground dugouts prior to the Somme battle. The Vampir dugout was just less than 50 feet below the Flanders surface and this was deemed as “Mediocre” shell cover. Many hundreds of these dugouts were constructed over this period to house troops. Vampir was constructed only for 50 men, but the workmanship and effort that went into building the dugout was amazing. Unfortunately it was never finished. The Tunnellers were pulled out of the area in the face of the second phase of the German 1918 spring offensive.

What future does the dugout have? Will it ever be open to the public in any form? A full report into the project has been submitted to the relevant authorities. At the end of the day it is up to them what happens to the dugout. At the moment we can rest well knowing it is once again full of water, which is the best preservative for the dugout.

What were the main challenges working with the Time Team? Are you able to recount any aspects you found funny or less pleasant about the experience. There were no challenges from my side, working with Time Team. It was only Tony Robinson and the production team that were on site anyway. The dig was being funded 50% by Channel 4 and 50% by a Canadian production Company, Cream Productions. On one of the days that Tony Robinson was at the dig, over lunch break, I managed to talk to him about his experience diving on the Titanic. It was very interesting to listen to.

Was there any sign of the ghost of Private Baldrick? One of the most amusing moments for me was being in the dugout whilst they were filming. The camera crew was some distance away, but I could see Tony being filmed. I just thought “Bloody Hell, I am in a real WW1 dugout with Baldrick!!!”

What about TV work in general? You seem to have been quite busy lately with both Channel 4 and the BBC. I haven’t done a lot of TV/ Radio work at all. Every now and then you get the chance to contribute towards a programme or report. I felt very honoured and humbled to have contributed a few lines towards the BBC Remembrance ’90. It was a pleasure to be around Robert Hall, the reporter as he is an avid WW1 enthusiast. It was also an honour to have had a minor part on the Vampir TV documentary. It is also vitally important to remember that if you are ever “on air” talking about the subject that it is not about you at all, but the men and women that were over here doing the job 90 years ago.

How much have the battlefields changed since you first started visiting and what would you say the future for them holds in terms of increasing tourism, modern agriculture and redevelopment schemes? In the few years I have been living on the First War Battlefields I would say the biggest change is in the amount of tourists visiting. Not too long ago visitor numbers almost dried up after November 11^th and started again about March the next year. It seems almost a constant flow of young and old now. I do not think the interest in WW1 will ever fade, the level of interest may change slightly year by year, growing especially in anniversary years. Apart from the preserved areas of battlefield I do think sometimes that there is the danger that we can build over the past. I am a firm believer that those who came before fought for our freedom and in part our ability as free nations to progress, but it is important not to completely build over that history. After the First War, Winston Churchill wanted the ruin’s of Ypres preserved for the future, understandably that was unworkable. There is I believe always a fine line on how much we preserve and how much we build over.

Here is the classic HMVF old chestnut. What is your favourite tank? Challenger 2, by far.

Who has been the biggest influence on you in terms of your military history background? The men and women from that era of the Great War have been my biggest influence. Also the support and guidance received from family and friends.

Can you tell us about any interesting projects you are involved with at the moment? My Company, Trenchmaptours (www.trenchmaptours.com), is a one man band, me! As well as doing private tours I also guide for Leger Holidays. I learn a hell of a lot from the people that come on my tours. It’s a great mix as well. One week I could be out on the battlefields on a one to one, the next week I may have a coach load of 50 people. I also work very closely with other guides/historians whom I know and trust I can pass work onto if I am already booked when someone emails/calls me. I have a number of projects on the go at the moment, one is gaining evidence in the hope of leading to an identification of an infantry officer currently lying in an unknown officer’s grave and also I have come into the possession of two very comprehensive soldier’s diaries of their experiences in WW1. There can never be too many books on personal experiences I believe, so it is my intention to get those diaries out into the public domain soon.

Please tell us what you find most satisfying about leading battlefield tours.
Its taking a person, or group of persons, who have little or no knowledge on the subject and taking the time to walk and talk them through a battlefield, and then seeing the result. If whilst doing that I can walk someone through their relatives footsteps on the battlefield, all the better. When people come on a battlefield tour with info they have gleaned on their relative’s whereabouts and you are then able to take them there, walk them over that battlefield or rear echelon area, and put it in the smaller, individual and larger context and then see that they have understood that. I get a lot of self satisfaction from that.

Where would you most like to visit from your list of ‘to do’ places and what is the chief attraction? The Australian War Memorial in Canberra. I hear you need at least a day to visit it. The main reason is to see the Lions of original Menin Gate, which were taken to Australia after the Great War. Also to see Will Longstaffs original painting of “The Menin Gate at Midnight”. Its huge I hear. For those who don’t know the painting it is of the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres, surrounded by the ghosts of the missing soldiers. I hope to be in Canberra for the fist time in December this year.

Jack Beckett the founder and chief plank of HMVF likes to pretend he buys a drink for all interviewees. Keeping up the pretence, what’s your poison?

A pint of Stella Artois brewed and served over here on the continent where it tastes so much better than the Stella brewed in the UK!