- Title: Poles reenact D-Day on Baltic beach ahead of WW2 anniversary
- Date: 27th August 2019
- Summary: HEL, POLAND (AUGUST 24, 2019) (REUTERS) HISTORICAL REENACTORS DRESSED AS SOLDIERS LYING ON BEACH, HOLDING GUNS, BOATS AT SEA VARIOUS OF HISTORICAL REENACTORS DRESSED AS SOLDIERS USING GUNS DURING BATTLE REENACTMENT HISTORICAL REENACTOR DRESSED AS SOLDIER RUNNING ALONG BEACH SIMULATED BOMBS GOING OFF ON BEACH AS PART OF HISTORICAL REENACTMENT REENACTOR DRESSED AS SOLDIER HOLDING GUN, CROUCHING BEHIND WOODEN POSTS SIMULATED BOMBS GOING OFF ON BEACH, SPECTATORS WATCHING VARIOUS OF SPECTATORS WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) ORGANISER OF LIVE ACTION HISTORY LESSON D-DAY HEL, RAFAL BIER, SAYING: "Hel has a very interesting history regarding World War Two because it is the part of Poland which defended itself to the very end, and fell last (to the Nazis) on October 2, 1939 - the rest (of Poland) had been taken over by armies and Hel fought until the end." TANK ON BEACH, REENACTOR DRESSED AS SOLDIER RUNNING ON BEACH VARIOUS OF HISTORICAL REENACTORS DRESSED AS SOLDIERS USING GUNS DURING BATTLE REENACTMENT REENACTORS DRESSED AS SOLDIERS GETTING INTO TRENCH DUG IN SAND, SPECTATORS WATCHING VARIOUS OF TANK DRIVING OVER SAND SPECTATORS WATCHING TANK AS THE TOP OF IT SPINS SMOKE COMING FROM TANK REENACTORS DRESSED AS SOLDIERS HIDING BEHIND BANK OF SAND SPECTATORS WATCHING, CHILD SITTING ON FATHER'S SHOULDERS WITH HANDS OVER EARS HISTORICAL REENACTMENT ENDING, PARTICIPANTS DRESSED AS SOLDIERS SURRENDERING PEOPLE WALKING ALONG BEACH WITH FLAGS OF FRANCE, UNITED KINGDOM, POLAND, UNITED STATES AND CANADA FLYING IN BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) EVENT SPECTATOR, GRZEGORZ JEWONEK, SAYING: "It is important (to come here today) because Poles have lived through many difficult wars, we were attacked often and it is important also to be ready for this kind of situations and for the younger generations, who were not around during this time, to know how their grandparents fought and defended their homeland." REENACTOR DRESSED AS SOLDIER GIRL SITTING ON ARMY TRUCK TAKING PHOTOS VARIOUS OF REENACTORS DRESSED AS SOLDIERS SITTING ON TANK DURING PARADE PEOPLE WATCHING PARADE PEOPLE WATCHING TANK DRIVING DURING PARADE
- Embargoed: 10th September 2019 17:20
- Keywords: D-Day reenactment in Hel September Campaign World War Two
- Location: HEL, POLAND / UNKNOWN LOCATIONS, ENGLAND / ANIMATION
- City: HEL, POLAND / UNKNOWN LOCATIONS, ENGLAND / ANIMATION
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001ATZUMGP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: As Poland prepares for the 80th anniversary of World War Two outbreak, the sandbanks of the Baltic Sea in the northern town of Hel were transformed into scenes from the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944.
Reenactors of history brought to life the chaos and action that played out on the French coast which saw the largest seaborne invasion in history.
The event, D-Day Hel, is held annually in Poland and attracts visitors from all over the country with the historical reenactment full of pyrotechnic effects, various types of weapons and armoured vehicles that were used during World War Two.
The five day event staged at the end of August links the history of Normandy, a decisive stage in the liberation of western Europe from Nazi Germany, with the events on the first day of the war, the defence of the northern coast of Poland.
D-Day Hel organiser Rafal Bier said Normandy played a significant role at the end of the war and Hel is a symbol of the fight in the first months of the September campaign of 1939.
"It is the part of Poland which defended itself to the very end, and fell last (to the Nazis) on October 2, 1939," Bier said.
According to organisers, about 300 re-enactors and some 60 military vehicles, including a Sharman tank, from private and public collections in different Polish towns, took part in the event this year.
(Production: Kacper Pempel, Rita Plantera, Louisa Naks, Malgorzata Wojtunik) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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