The A Skills - Volvo B11R wheelbase coach with a Volvo MCV523 body was wrapped by Fast Graphics Ltd
Leger Holidays, the escorted coach tours company, well known for its Battlefield Tours, has partnered with production company Pathé UK, to celebrate the launch of the much-anticipated film, The Great Escaper, which features the WWII Normandy battlefield sites.
To promote the film’s general release on 6 October and Leger Holidays’ bespoke new tour, The Great Escaper: From Portsmouth to Normandy, Leger Shearings Group, owner of Leger Holidays and Shearings, has wrapped one of their coaches in a bold design, showcasing the official The Great Escaper film poster and the front cover of the Leger Holidays Battlefield Tours brochure.
The coach can now be seen on UK roads, operating on a selection of Shearings tours; it is in London throughout September for London’s Royal Palaces tours before travelling the length of the UK to Scotland for a Loch Lomond West Highlands Line tour. In October, the coach will operate tours to the South Coast, the Isle of Wight to Holy Island and the Northumbrian Coast.
The film is based on the true-life story of WWII veteran Bernard Jordan, who staged a ‘great escape’ from his care home to attend the 70th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day Landings. The film stars Michael Caine as Bernie, and poignantly, in the last film she made, Glenda Jackson as Bernie’s wife, Irene Jordan.
The Leger Holidays five-day tour, The Great Escaper: From Portsmouth to Normandy, starts in Portsmouth with a visit to the D-Day Story before moving to France, accompanied by a specialist battlefield tour guide, to visit the historical sites connected to the landings.
Leger Shearings Groups CEO Liam Race said: “I’m delighted to have been approached by Pathé UK to work on their upcoming film, The Great Escaper. Our battlefield tours continue to be extremely popular, and we’re certain the film will inspire viewers to embark on their own journeys of discovery to the battlefields, which is why we’ve launched a bespoke tour that follows in Bernie’s footsteps.
“The partnership will also bring our battlefield programme to new audiences who perhaps haven’t considered travelling in this way before, and as the UK’s leading provider of escorted battlefield tours with over 50 expertly planned tours on offer, it made sense to appoint Leger Holidays as a partner. It is also a great honour to have our brand associated with Michael Caine and the late Glenda Jackson – two icons in the British film industry.”
Michael Guerrero, Pathé UK’s head of marketing, said: “The Great Escaper is inspired by the incredible true story of Bernie Jordan who, aged 89, left his care home to travel to Normandy for the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. While Bernie may have made the journey on his own, the opportunity to partner with Leger Battlefields, who take customers to many of the same locations that Bernie visited, was too good to ignore.
“Not only did the match make sense thematically, we also knew that Leger’s expertise in reaching their customer base would help the film find an engaged and receptive audience of its own.”
