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The War Memorial will come alive on Saturday, November 14 when the GIs come to Belfast. A programme of military displays, dancing and other activities will recreate life when the US troops were here from 1942 to 1944. The event is aimed at adults, families and kids. The location is the War Memorial at 21 Talbot Street, beside Belfast Cathedral. Members of the Wartime Living History Association will be dressed in authentic US uniforms as worn in WW2. They will lay on demonstrations of weapon handling, rifle drill, parachute jump training, combat maneuvers and much more. A jeep with ‘General Eisenhower’ on board will tour the city centre to draw attention to the event. The 40s dance group ‘The Belle Hoppers’ will entertain and teach the visitors and kids period dance throughout the day to the tunes of the 1940s. Kids activities will include rifle drill, hand signals to command a squad of yanks and dancing. The renowned WW2 historian and author of PassingThrough, John McCann, will give a talk at 12 o’clock about the US troops in Northern Ireland from 1942 to 1944. His book was brought to the screen in March 2009 in the acclaimed BBC documentary Over Here. WW2 veteran, Teddy Dixon, will give a talk at 3 o’clock about his memories as a GI. His experiences include entering Dachau with the US Rainbow Division. The film about 82 Division, D Day minus One, will be shown throughout the day on the plasma screen. An exhibition to accompany the event will display memorabilia from the 1940s. These include dog tags, mess tins, toothbrush and paste, first field dressings badges, magazines, and Lucky Strike cigarettes. The event will be open to the public from 10.30 to 4.30. Admission is Free. Further information may be found at www.wartimeliving.co.uk.