Sophie Shrubsole

Hello all, I'm Sophie. A graduate in military history from the University of Birmingham, I have studied, toured and guided on the Western Front battlefields for the last 15 years.  I have built up an extensive knowledge of the First and Second World War and I look forward to sharing it with you.

I first made my way to the battlefields of the Somme at the tender age of just five months old! My parents had taken me with them for the 1st July commemorations. I grew up with a Dad that was passionate about all things First World War and for as long as I can remember I’ve been in wellies exploring the famous fields and paying my respects to soldiers in the beautiful Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries.

There were 16 Shrubsoles killed in the Great War, eight of them on the Somme.  Five on them have their names engraved at Thiepval, the memorial to the missing of the Somme, and two can be found on the Menin Gate. Whenever I'm in Ypres, I always make my way to the Hooge Crater Cemetery, as there lies Walter Frederick Shrubsole, killed in March 1918 and who came from the village in which I grew up.

Jo Hook

Providing the very best experiences for my customers is always my number one priority, and so bringing onboard an amazing guide like Jo was a no brainer.

The daughter of a Second World War Soldier, Jo first became interested in military history when listening to her father talk of his wartime experiences in North Africa.   In adult life, Jo worked for the MOD in Hong Kong. On her return to the UK, she enlisted in the Territorial Army as a Royal Signals soldier. It was at this stage that Jo first got involved in the planning and management of a series of battlefield studies for her unit.  A move to Germany allowed her to study Operation Market Garden and to build up crucial experience as a guide. Jo joined the International Guild of Battlefield Guides in 2004. She gained accreditation status and was awarded her GBG Badge by the late Professor Richard Holmes in 2010. 

Jo has wide ranging interests across numerous aspects of military history. Having served as a Royal Signals soldier on operations in Bosnia in 1995, she feels she has the ability to empathise with the men and women who fought during both world wars. It is the combination of her own personal experiences on operations, and her enthusiastic study of military history and battlefields that allow Jo to empathise with the soldiers of the past. On every tour Jo consistently does her utmost to help her group view the battlefields and the events that took place there, through the eyes of those who fought.

In 2017 Jo achieved a Masters Degree in military history from the University of Wolverhampton under the tutelage of Professor Gary Sheffield.   She has also worked with Battlefield History TV in the production of a series of DVDs concentrating on Operation Market Garden.

Jo embodies the ethos we have here at Sophie’s Great War Tours; she is an expert in history and hospitality.

Edwin Popken

Edwin is a Dutch military historian and experienced battlefield guide. He is considered amongst the guiding community as the authority on the Battle of the Scheldt, the liberation of Brabant, Hurtgen Forest, Battle of the Bulge, Operation Veritable, and the 1945 Allied Rhine crossings. Edwin also takes guests on an incredible journey following Easy Company, 506 PIR, 101st Airborne from The Netherlands through to Zell am See.

Eugenie Brooks

Eugenie is Sophie’s Great War Tours lead motorbike guide.

Eugenie was brought up to understand remembrance and respect. Her father was a spitfire and hurricane pilot in WW2 decorated for his bravery and her grandfather was an ‘Old Contemptible’ in the Rifle Brigade serving throughout the Great War and who was also highly decorated for his bravery. Her mother’s two uncles were killed during the Great War and it’s with this family history that her interest in military history grew from an early age.

Prior to guiding, Eugenie served for 33 years in the Police, retiring from the Metropolitan Police Royalty Protection Department as a firearms supervisor in 2014. She also served in the RAF Reserves and during her time in the police,

Eugenie enjoys bringing the battlefields to life, telling the stories of the men and women who are buried and commemorated, making it relevant to the audience and introducing people to the battlefields, ensuring that the sacrifice of so many is never forgotten by this and future generations. 

Steve Smith

Steve has been a battlefield guide since 2004. He left the RAF in 2003, having served for 18 years as an RAF Police NCO at various bases in the UK and abroad and completed tours in Northern Ireland, the Falklands and in Macedonia on a NATO Peace Keeping mission. He then joined Norfolk Constabulary in 2004 where he eventually specialised as a Learning and Development Officer training Student Police Officers. He retired from the police in March 2021 but still maintains a role in Norfolk Constabulary as a Force Historian.

Steve has had an interest in military history since the age of 13 when he was introduced to his Great Grandfather Private G/5203 Frank Smith who served in the 7th and 8th Buffs in WW1 at the Pozieres Memorial on the Somme. Since then, he has traced his war from 1915 to 1918.

He is a published author having had three books on Norfolk in WW1 and WW2 published between 2014 and 2021 and he is currently working on his fourth book which looks at a battalion of the Norfolk Regiment at Gallipoli.

One of his other passions is the air war in both WW1 and WW2 and he conducts tours looking at aspects of these aerial battles. Living in Norfolk provides him with access to subjects such as the Zeppelin raids carried out over the county in 1915 and the Commonwealth and US bomber wars in WW2. He also loves guiding the Battle of Britain having been brought up with stories of that time whilst growing up in East Kent.

Steve is married to Claire and has three grown up daughters.

Nick Saunders

Nick served for thirty years as a police officer in the Hampshire Constabulary. He obtained a BA Hons degree in history with the Open University in 2018 and a MA in history in 2023. His dissertation was on the Indian army in World War One.

Nick has been leading battlefield tours around the Somme, Ypres and Normandy since 2015 and is a member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides.

In 1990 when Nick was learning to fly light aircraft he met a gentleman who had been a pilot in WW1. This inspired Nick to research aviation in the First World War, and the fascination with the flying services of all sides in the war continues to this day.

Nick enjoys researching military history and uses the first-hand accounts he uncovers to enhance the visitor experience on the battlefield tours he leads.

Nick is married and has a son.

Dan Hill

Dan holds hold a Masters Degree in British Military History from the University of Wolverhampton. His working life is split between creating exciting new historical content for YouTube and guiding groups out on the battlefields of Europe. He acts as a historical consultant for a number of organisations and conducts research for some of the United Kingdom's leading military charities, broadcasters and commemorative organisations. 

Steve Chambers

Steve has a wide military history knowledge and guides across some of the world’s most famous battlefields. His particular love is for the Gallipoli campaign. He has written six Gallipoli books in the Pen & Sword Battleground Europe series, a tome on Uniforms & Equipment of the British Army in World War One (Schiffer Books), and during the centenary co-authored Gallipoli: The Dardanelles Disaster in Soldiers’ Words and Photographs (Bloomsbury).