The period military camps will offer the atmosphere of May 1945 with an emphasis on historical authenticity. For the first time, the celebration will feature a complete American evacuation hospital or military equipment that has not been presented in Pilsen since 1945. The traditional Convoy of liberty will offer over 350 historic military vehicles, including three tanks, supported by the Czech and American army. A dynamic demonstration of the clash between the American and German armies is setup in Dobřany.
The Tommy & Yankee living history club´s period military camps, which have their stable place in Křižíkovy and Šafaříkovy sady, will this year focus on bringing the lives of members of units belonging to the legendary American 2nd Infantry Division closer to life. “Specifically, it will be about the 38th Infantry Regiment and the 612th Anti-Tank Battalion, as well as the American 109th Evacuation Hospital,” says Daniel Malý from The Tommy & Yankee living history club, 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 will move to Plzeň authentically, on historical vehicles, as part of the rides in the footsteps of the aforementioned 2nd Infantry Division and the 109th Evacuation Hospital. In the case of the period military hospital, this will be 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 organized guided tours in several languages. “We have also prepared a reconstruction of a wedding ceremony as part of the accompanying cultural program,” says Daniel Malý, explaining why the wedding ceremony in particular. They experienced a lot of ordinary and extraordinary days here and several of them got married.” For those interested in a deeper understanding of the history of the Pilsen Uprising and liberation by the American army, there will be several lectures and screenings of period photographs and films involving historians, researchers and collectors.

Three hundred reenactors in period uniforms will participate in the operation of an authentic period camp of the 16th Armored Division, which will offer visitors not only original American military vehicles from the Second World War, but also a military kitchen or a field workshop with workshop equipment. Dozens of heavy and light armored vehicles, workshop and transport equipment will be on display, including three Sherman medium tanks, two M36 Jackson tank destroyers and M8 light armored reconnaissance vehicles. Weighing 25 tons, it reached a road speed of 45 kilometers per hour,” recalls Pavel Rogl from the 16th Armored Division’s military history club. The military encampment will include a functioning field kitchen with period equipment, workshops for maintenance or repair of vehicles, military quarters for both men and officers, a military police station and other facilities.

The park area behind the Plzeň Plaza shopping mall will be used for the presentation of the Czechoslovak Independent Armored Brigade and civilian life during the Protectorate. Visitors will see military motorbikes, cars and trucks. “This year, the greatest pride of the event will be rare historical armored vehicles, and besides them 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 “Rota Nazdar” will show a rich collection of weapons and equipment and is preparing a demonstration of artillery training with historical cannons. The artillerymen will demonstrate their operation as well as acoustic firing.
The area in front of the Patton Memorial Pilsen Museum will be filled with military equipment from the JTF Raiders, a club that represents the modern U.S. Army.

The traditional military sites in the centre will be joined by a new area between the Mže River and Na Poříčí Street, where the RAF and WAAF camps will have their place for presentation. Visitors will not only be able to see the RAF camp “in action” but also a demonstration of Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service equipment, a military office, an anti-aircraft machine gun display, a telephone exchange, an airsoft shooting range and the popular turn-based strategy game Battle of Britain “303”.

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 will be brought to the Liberation Festival Pilsen by the Czech Spitfire Club, an aviation history society. It will have its place within 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 the Second World War.

The Convoy of Liberty, a convoy of military historical equipment expected to number 350, will pass through Klatovy Avenue into the city center on Sunday, May 4. Exceptionally this year, it will be accompanied by an infantry section with battalions and weapons and contemporary military equipment from the Czech Army and the U.S. Army. The Convoy of Liberty will be accompanied by a flyover of military historic aircraft such as the P 51 Mustang or two Harvard training aircraft of  the Liberation Festival Pilsen partner, Classic Trainers Lines. Unique flyovers will also enliven parts of the program, such as the extra commentary on the aircraft flyovers on Friday, May 2.

Around fifty jeeps and Dodge associated with the Military Car Club Plzeň and the Klub 3. Armády Plzeň will drive through the center of Pilsen from the courtyard of Pilsner Urquell along the route through Americká, Klatovská and Prešovská streets to the Square of the Republic on Friday afternoon, 2 May, as a tribute to the founders of the Convoy of liberty parade, which has been part of the celebrations of the liberation by the US Army since the beginning, i.e. since 1990.

The fictional battle between the Americans and Germans will take place on Saturday, May 3, at T.G.M. Square in Dobřany, which has joined the regional celebrations commemorating the end of World War II. The historical demonstration, directed by the Military History Club of the Garrison Headquarters in Dobřany, will include an M4 Sherman tank, which will once again enter this town after eighty years.

“The Dobřany Military History Club has already presented several successful combat demonstrations on important anniversaries and has experience in their preparation and execution. This year it looks like the biggest involvement of armored vehicles so far, when two tanks will enter the square in turn and the battle of legends, Sherman and Tiger, will take place,” says Martin Sobotka, the mayor of Dobřany.

The Patton Memorial Pilsen, the only museum in the Czech Republic dedicated to the journey of the Allied troops from the Normandy landings to the west of Bohemia, will offer its services to visitors. On display here are many original artifacts and personal items of veterans.