The military-historical program of the Liberation Festival had its first visitors on Friday morning

Period military camps offer the atmosphere of May 1945. For the first time, a complete American evacuation hospital and military equipment, which has not been in Pilsen since 1945, is presented in Pilsen.

This year, the Tommy & Yankee Military History Club's Period Military Camps, which have their stable location in Křižík and Šafařík Gardens, focus on bringing the lives of members of the units belonging to the legendary American 2nd Infantry Division closer to life. "Specifically, the 38th Infantry Regiment and the 612th Anti-Tank Battalion, as well as the American 109th Evacuation Hospital," says Daniel Malý of KVH Tommy & Yankee, adding that these American units were in Pilsen from spring to summer 1945.

The camps will be manned by nearly 300 men and women from the Czech Republic, Europe, specifically Slovakia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. "Most of them moved to Pilsen authentically, on historical equipment, as part of the rides following the footsteps of the aforementioned 2nd Infantry Division and the 109th Evacuation Hospital. In the case of a period military hospital, this is the largest ever recreation of such a facility in similar commemorative events in Central Europe," Daniel Malý points out.

Visitors will see the camp life of soldiers, nurses, doctors and other staff of the evacuation hospital, Pilsen insurgents, civilians and original historical equipment. Visitors will also be able to see the camps from the inside thanks to organised guided tours in several languages. For those interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the history of the Pilsen Uprising and the liberation by the American army, there will be several lectures and screenings of period photographs and films involving historians, researchers and collectors.

About three hundred participants in period uniforms are involved in the operation of an authentic period camp of the 16th Armored Division, which offers visitors not only original American military equipment from the Second World War, but also a military kitchen or a field workshop with workshop equipment. There are dozens of heavy and light armoured vehicles, workshop and transport equipment on display, including three Sherman medium tanks, two M36 Jackson tank destroyers and M8 light armoured reconnaissance vehicles. "The biggest draw might be the so-called American wheeled beast, the M26 Dragon Wagon, which provided transport for medium tanks, for example. Weighing 25 tonnes, it reached a road speed of 45 kilometres per hour," recalls Pavel Rogl from the 16th Armoured Division's military history club. The military encampment includes a functioning field kitchen with period equipment, workshops where maintenance or repair of vehicles will be carried out, military quarters for both men and officers, a military police station and other facilities.

The park area behind OC Plzeň Plaza belongs to the Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade and civilian life during the Protectorate. Visitors will see military motorbikes, personal militarized cars and trucks. "This year, the biggest pride of the event is the rare historical armoured fighting vehicles, and besides them and tracked transporters, also a tank. In many cases, these are vehicles that have not been seen in Pilsen or even in the Czech Republic since the end of the war," says Michal Chalupný from the Military History Club, adding that much of the credit for this spectacle goes to colleagues from abroad, namely Slovakia, Belgium, the Netherlands and, for the first time, Italy. The "Nazdar Company" is displaying a rich collection of weapons and equipment and has already given a demonstration of artillery training with historical cannons. The artillerymen are demonstrating their operation and acoustic firing.

The area in front of the Patton Memorial Pilsen Museum was filled with military equipment from the JTF Raiders Club, which represents the modern American military.

The traditional military sites in the centre will be joined by a new space between the Mží River and Na Poříčí Street, where the RAF and WAAF camps will have a place for presentation. Visitors will not only be able to see the RAF camp "in action", but also exhibitions of RAF and WAAF equipment, Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service, military equipment, a static display of an RC model of a Vickers Wellington bomber, wooden model aircraft, an anti-aircraft machine gun, a telephone exchange and various activities such as an airsoft shooting range or the popular turn-based strategy game Battle of Britain "303", board games, and aerial crafts for children.

A 1:1 replica of a Spitfire fighter aircraft in the markings of the 312th Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron of the RAF and legend Otto Smik was brought by the Czech Spitfire Club, an aviation history society. It will have its place in the RAF camp. This British single-seat Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft served in the RAF, but also in the air forces of other Allied armies during World War II.

Photo: Milan Štefák