THE 78TH INFANTRY DIVISION

WWII LIVING HISTORY ASSOCIATION

Olde Fort Mifflin Historical Society, Inc.

Living History Association

In conjunction with Fort Mifflin on the Delaware

PRESENTS:

 THE Battle for Vierville

Hosted by:

the 78th infantry Division WWII Living History Association

After surviving the devastation on Omaha beach, elements of the 29^th infantry division, Rangers, and a few combat engineers clawed their way to into the hedgerows that surrounded the town of Vierville. Reorganizing their forces, they attempted to encircle and capture the fortified town. The Rangers and remaining infantry groups attempted to fight through stubborn machine gun fire from strong enemy positions. Communication between units was non-existent and the enemy seemed to be hiding behind every tree, and in every building. Engineers began removing the obstacles, under constant machine gun and artillery fire. Losses were heavy to all of the units, but Vierville had to be taken in order to link up with the US Airborne elements. Join us as we recreate this epic battle of fought on June 6^th, 1944.

April 26^th 2008

Participant Admission:

$25.00 Pre-Registered

Key Points:

Registration OPENS on April 25 at 3:00pm.

To all participants:

REENACTORS PLEASE NOTE:

Recent security changes at Fort Mifflin require the following procedural changes:

a.     Host unit MPs will be at front gate at all times.

b.    Re-enactors must report to registration first, for check in before entering the actual fort.

c.     At registration, participants must sign in and receive their admission confirmation and wrist band.

d.    All blank Ammo must be checked, by 78^th Ordinance inspector, and each re-enactor will have their wrist band marked to indicate ammo has been checked. Late arrivals should contact the 78^th ahead of time.

e.     Re-enactors will be given their room assignments. If you are in the wrong room, you will be asked to move.

Please Click Here to download a Registration form. 

You may begin arriving at 1500 on Friday April 25th  Units that specifically request housing will be assigned to a barracks or casemate upon arrival at the event. Units of less than 10 members may be grouped with other units if necessary for housing. Each participant must bring their own sleeping bag and/or cot. Firewood is provided.

Unit commanders will be required to report to the Tactical Director Eric Farley for both of the tacticals during the day on the 26th. There is a night battle on the 26th. It will be announced at the event and will begin just after dark. There will be another commanders meeting after dinner on the 26th to go over the night tactical.

This event is for WW II American, British and German re-enactors. No individual re-enactors allowed; you must be affiliated members of organized groups to participate at this event.

PLEASE NOTE: You will be responsible for the general security of your possessions, and you will provide your own surveillance when the fort is open to the public.

PRE-REGISTRATION & FEES:

What’s included? The registration fee covers your admission to the event, coffee and snack on Saturday Morning, and Lunch on Saturday. The fee for this event also includes a “home cooked” dinner Saturday night and breakfast on Sunday morning, so please let us know if your will be staying for dinner! To make sure you get fed, you MUST pre-register. This is to help the cook’s gauge how many troops will be attending each meal.

Pre-Registration is required to guarantee your meals and housing needs. Please RSVP by 4/18/08.  Registering as a whole unit is strongly encouraged to obtain housing in the same building or casemate.

STATIC DISPLAYS:

Each military unit should set up their barracks in period, and should have a display of typical examples of D-DAY uniforms, equipment, and weapons for the visiting public.  We strongly encourage interaction with the crowd in between the public battles.

VENDORS:

WWII Militaria Vendors are welcomed to attend this event. They will be set up indoors, inside the Fort. There is NO fee for vendors to attend this event, but you must register for the event.

SAFETY:

There will be safety inspections of all blank ammo prior to each scenario.  NO live ammunition on site, no smoke bombs, pop-up flares, or fixed bayonets allowed. All Participants must be at least 18 tears old to take place in the tactical battles.

MACHINE GUNS:

An inspection for proper paperwork (and transport papers) will take place prior to the scenarios at the safety meeting.  Please have paperwork with you at all times.  Any person with an undocumented NFA weapon will be escorted off the post.

Address for Form 5320:         Fort Mifflin on the Delaware

                                                Fort Mifflin Road

                                                Philadelphia, PA 19153

AUTHENTICITY:

This event is based on events that occurred in France in June 1944. Participants must have the proper impression for this time period.  This event will work within “the ten foot rule” for participants.

CONDUCT:

THERE IS NO TOLERANCE of unruly or uncooperative behavior.  We reserve the right to have unruly or uncooperative individuals escorted from the post, without a refund of their registration fees. We are reenacting a battle for the public, to honor our veterans. Please keep this in mind.

Please Click Here to download a Registration form.