Dorchester's Armour and Embarkation returns to mark D-Day

This year’s Armour & Embarkation event, a historic military vehicle road run, will take place on Saturday, June 22, recreating the build up to the D-Day landings. 

A convoy of around 100 Second World War vehicles, including tanks, motorcycles, jeeps, and trucks, will head out from the Tank Museum in Bovington to Brewery Square in Dorchester.

Organisers have also confirmed this is likely to be the final year of the event due to high costs of running this event.

While Phil Gordon, Dorchester Business Improvement District (BID) project director,  is “extremely sad” the event probably won't take place again, he is still excited to celebrate this significant moment in local history. 

Armour and Embarkation Event 2022 (Image: Phil Gordon)

He said: “We’ve done the event a handful of times before, but this is likely the last time it's ever going to happen as the costs are so prohibitive. However, it is absolutely fantastic Dorchester is going to be at the centre of the convoy. 

“It is important to remember all the brave souls who went off back then to fight for the freedom of the British Isles. It will be an emotional day for sure."

Armour and Embarkation Event 2022 (Image: Phil Gordon)

The wartime vehicles follow the routes the tanks and men used on their way to Weymouth and Portland harbours which were used as embarkation ports for the invasion of Normandy.

From June 6, 1944, to May 7, 1945, a total of 517,816 troops and 144,093 vehicles were deployed from just Weymouth and Portland harbours.

Some 80,000 US troops were also billeted in the county as they trained for the D-Day landings.

READ MORE: Talk at Lyme Regis Museum on US troops' D-Day station

Event organiser and local historian Jack Beckett said: “We wanted to replicate the build up to D-Day in Dorset to commemorate those who went to war, and to give people an idea of what Dorset, its towns and villages would have looked like on the build up to D-Day, June 6, 1944.

“Armour and Embarkation gives us a chance to time travel back to 1944. With the help of military vehicle enthusiasts, the event aims to demonstrate the true scale of the operation behind one of this country’s most important events in modern history.”

Armour and Embarkation Event 2022 (Image: Phil Gordon)

Exact times are yet to be confirmed however the convoy is due to arrive in Dorchester in the afternoon.

Once there, the public will be able to step back into wartime history with drivers greeting visitors and answering questions about the vehicles.

Armour and Embarkation Event 2022 (Image: Phil Gordon)

Mr Gordon is also inviting the public to get fully immersed in the event by dressing in period clothes of the 1940s.

“When you’re dressed in the clothes of the time period and see all the vehicles which have survived since World War 2, it really pulls at the heart strings.

"We want to invite as many members of the public as possible. It’s a chance for people to escape some of the real world today and feel part of living history."