Iconic Pegasus Bridge unveiled for Southwick Revival 2025 for poignant "immersive" experience

The scaled down version of Pegasus Bridge in Normandy is now in place ahead of the festival which is commemorating D-Day to VE Day in Southwick Village between June 7 and 8.

The village will be dressed to represent the wartime period when the WW2 Allied Leadership Headquarters was based there, with trooped stationed around the surrounding woods in June 1944 in the run-up to D-Day.

One of the big features this year is the replica bridge which will be the first thing that people see on arrival.

Martin Bazeley MBE, Chair of the Revival Committee, said: “The theme of this year's event is D-Day to VE Day. D-Day, you could say, all began when the gliders landed at midnight at Pegasus Bridge, just off the coast.

“Pegasus Bridge was a key objective, it had to be secured so that the troops could make their way inland once they'd secured the beaches. The gliders landed at midnight in the dark, an absolutely incredible feat, it took the Germans completely by surprise and managed to secure the bridge.

“So this was the first objective of D-Day, it's also the first thing that our visitors will be crossing when they arrive. The walk across our Pegasus Bridge is the first part of the whole immersive experience of the visit to Southwark Revival.

“On the other side of Pegasus Bridge, there will be the fuselage of a horse glider, which is what the airborne troops landed in. A little bit further up the path will be the ticket office which is fashioned as Café Gondré, which was the first house that was liberated in France on D-Day itself. “

Once in the event there will be a number of features including a French Quarter, commemorating the liberation of Paris commemorated with French music, food, dancing, and the traditional game of Petonc.

Martin added: “There's a whole immersive experience that we're trying to create for our visitors.”

Further details on the event can be found at https://southwickrevival.co.uk/.

Watch the video embedded in this article for the full interview with Martin as well as the engineer of the bridge Barry Ring.