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Two great presentations at the American Heritage Museum this Saturday: Baker Company, 21st Marines, and 3rd Navy Medical Battalion re-enactors will have a presentation and table displays of equipment, weapons, and gear to educate the public on the Battle of Iwo Jima that took place February 19- March 26, 1945.From 1pm to 2pm there will be a lecture by Jason Cleary about US firefighting during WWII. Hope to see you here! More information see: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/events/ ... See MoreSee Less
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The American Heritage Museum is open 10am to 5pm all this week for school break. Hope to see you soon! ... See MoreSee Less
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The American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA will be open ALL WEEK next week (Feb 17-23) for the Massachusetts School Vacation Week, including Presidents Day on Monday, February 17th and Tuesday, February 18th. We are open 10am-5pm daily and you can save $2 per ticket by buying online at: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/purchase-tickets-online/ ... See MoreSee Less
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Feeling the cold of winter? Think of the guys caught in the Battle of the Bulge!Join us tomorrow, February 12, 1:00pm to 2:30pm, for an engaging talk by Dr. Michael Hirsh about Battle of the Bulge with a particular focus on a nurse whose important role in helping Allied soldiers survive was never given its proper due until 10 years ago.Dr. Hirsh will discuss the development of this battle and how this ultimate Allied victory could have turned into a defeat. He will also talk about the role of some “unsung heroes” in helping secure the victory using their medical skills. See: www.americanheritagemuseum.org/event/speaker-series-the-forgotten-angel-of-bastogne/ ... See MoreSee Less
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82 years ago this week marks the pivotal end of the Battle of Stalingrad, a major turning point in World War II. On February 2nd, 1943, the German 6th Army surrendered to Soviet forces, marking the end of the fierce and bloody battle. The American Heritage Museum features a rare Soviet T-34-76 tank and other artifacts in our Eastern Front Gallery to recount this historic WWII clash. ... See MoreSee Less
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D-Day


Cromwell I –
UK | TANK

                   LCVP “Higgins Boat” – USA | LANDING CRAFT

Churchill Crocodile – UK | FLAME THROWER TANK

QF 6-pounder – UK | ANTI-TANK GUN

Bren Gun Carrier (Universal Carrier) – UK | LIGHT PERSONNEL CARRIER

Allied plans for a cross-Channel invasion of what Hitler called his “Fortress Europe” began to ramp up in 1943. Erwin Rommel took charge of defense operations along the Atlantic coast of occupied Europe. Hitler charged Rommel with completing the so-called Atlantic Wall, a 2,400-mile fortification of bunkers, landmines, beach and water obstacles.

Code-named Operation Overlord, the Battle for Western Europe began on D-Day (June 6th, 1944).  Nearly 156,000 American, British, Canadian, Polish and Free French forces landed on five beaches (two American, two British, one Canadian) along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region.

The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning, a huge logistical effort, special feats of engineering, and probably most important, close cooperation among the armies, navies and air forces of all the participating Allied nations. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. In fact, they marked the beginning of a new and far more deadly phase, lasting over 11 months.

Operation Neptune – the naval component of Operation Overlord – was organized and commanded by British Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, the same man who oversaw the 1940 evacuation of the British Expeditionary Forces from the Dunkirk beaches. Neptune would be the largest seaborne invasion in history, only exceeded by the invasion of Okinawa the following year. The invasion fleet was drawn from eight different navies and involved 196,000 naval personnel and 6,939 vessels ranging in size from Higgins boats to battleships.

By dawn on June 6, thousands of paratroopers and glider troops were already on the ground behind enemy lines, securing bridges and exit roads. The amphibious invasions began at 6:30 a.m. The British and Canadians overcame opposition to capture beaches code-named Gold, Sword, and Juno, as did the Americans at Utah Beach. U.S. forces faced the heaviest resistance and most difficult terrain under the cliffs of Omaha Beach, where there were over 2,000 American casualties. However, by day’s end, approximately 156,000 Allied troops had successfully stormed Normandy’s beaches. According to some estimates, more than 4,000 Allied troops lost their lives in the D-Day invasion, with thousands more wounded or missing. Perhaps 6,000 Germans were killed, with many more wounded or surrendering to advancing Allied forces. It took even heavier fighting, against German reinforcements and several Panzer divisions, to secure the Normandy landing sites by June 11.  By the end of August 1944, the Allies had reached the Seine River, Paris was liberated, and the German army was running for the Rhine, abandoning tanks and trucks and other equipment after its bloody defeat at Falaise. But then the Allies went ‘a bridge too far’ in the Netherlands and suffered a hard defeat, and more slogging around Metz. The armies settled into the forests and hills that straddled the Rhine, fighting a slower, more grinding kind of war into the last months of 1944. The war would not be ‘over by Christmas.’ It would continue all winter and into the late spring of 1945.

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OPEN ALL WEEK FOR MA SCHOOL BREAK - Including Monday and Tuesday

We will be open all week for Presidents Day / MA School Break Week from Monday, February 17th through Sunday, February 23rd from 10am to 5pm each day. A great opportunity for families to visit on the school break. Buy tickets at the Admissions Desk or save $2 per ticket by buying online!