ALLIED troops fighting their way up the beach in the face of heavy fire from Axis forces determined to keep hold of the beachhead

That's the image everyone has of the D-Day landings in Normandy and it's a spectacle that re-enactors from Kompanie 1 intend to bring to life during Morecambe's Poulton Heritage Festival this weekend.

German troops will be manning defensive positions along the shoreline just off Morecambe promenade.

They will be bombarded by salvos from Allied shipping way out at sea before the first wave of troops rush the beach and the rest is history, as they say.

The battle scenario taking place at 3pm this Saturday on the beach close to Morecambe lifeboat station will be one of the central planks of the 1940s weekend aiming both to remember those dark days of World War II and honour some of the many people who stood up in the country's greatest hour of need.

But no-one on the beach or in the crowd which is expected to contain many veterans of World War II will be in danger in this professionally created re-enactment of the Allied landings.

It will be loud and it will be spectacular. Stand back and enjoy it but spare a thought for the people who had to do it for real when it mattered most. That's what Poulton 2004 is all about More than 300 military vehicles are expected in Poulton at the weekend, along with thousands of re-enactors and living history' buffs.

Other festival highlights will include base camp at Trimpell Club, where period vehicles will be on display. And on Sunday morning, veterans will assemble at the town hall for an address by Maj Gen Sir Jeremy Moore followed by a military parade to the Cenotaph for a short memorial service.