In 2024 BAIV (British & American Infantry Vehicles) will organize a D-Day Experience at Vierville-sur-Mer, Omaha Beach. This unique event will follow in the footsteps of Allied troops and commemorate a significant period of military history.
The ‘BAIV 80th Anniversary D-Day Experience’ represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, that will honor the men who landed in Normandy in June 1944 and helped bring about victory over the Nazi regime in Europe.
In June 2024 it will be exactly 80 years ago that Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy.
The anniversary will be celebrated and commemorated extensively in Normandy by World War Two historians and military vehicle collectors from all over Europe. However, many of BAIV’s clients live overseas and so it is difficult for them to bring their own vehicles to join in with the event. Shipping costs are immense, a situation that is further complicated by some of the local regulations.
1.1 For overseas guests
Acknowledging the issues, BAIV decided to organize a unique D-Day Experience in Normandy. BAIV will run a historic military campsite in
Vierville-sur-Mer, within walking distance of Omaha Beach.
It was along this very stretch of coastline that the 29th US Infantry Division suffered heavy casualties in its struggle to breach the ferocious German defenses.
The ‘BAIV 80th Anniversary D-Day Experience’ is aimed at all those, be they historians or collectors, who have
longed to stand in tribute on the beaches of Normandy and to absorb the emotions that are created in the area’s military cemeteries.
Be part of an international group of comrades commemorating a shared history by becoming a member of this unique set-up.
1.2 You stay in a WW2 Military Camp
The campsite ‘Dog Green Camp’ will be located on the grounds around Château de Vierville, an important Second World War site. Between 1942 and the invasion, the Château was owned by a German fam ily called Kaufmann; however, it was confiscated by the Germans to house officers and in the garden workers from Organization Todt while building the Atlantic Wall defenses.
After June 6, 1944 the Headquarters of the 11th Port was established in and around the castle under the command of Colonel Richard Whitcomb, it was he
who was responsible for building the Mulberry A (American) harbor at Vierville-sur-Mer. Engineers started working on the harbor from D-Day +2 and it
remained in operation until a heavy storm destroyed the operational capability of the harbor on June 19. From that point on, the large landing ships were
intentionally stranded on the beach at half-tide and unloaded at low tide. At high tide they were able to return to sea.
Despite the historic set-up of the campsite, guests will be offered 21st century facilities, including electricity, showers, toilets and various other amenities, such as probably Wi-Fi.
1.3 Historic tours in World War Two army
vehicles
The ‘BAIV 80th Anniversary D-Day Experience’ will also include guided day tours along small paved and unpaved roads
to important battle sites where our historians will explain the heroic deeds of the soldiers who fought there. Your itinerary will include a visit to the
Normandy US War Cemetery to pay a special tribute to the fallen soldiers, and there will be time for you to participate in various local events.
What sets our tours apart is that they are carried out in historic WW2 military vehicles and armored cars, these being the basis of BAIV’s business. This is the ultimate way to experience the history of the invasion of Normandy, creating a unique atmosphere that you will never forget!
