There will be an incredible sight to see in Dorchester this Saturday - a massive convoy of Second World War vehicles through the town.

Local historian Jack Beckett is organising a convoy of between 65 and 75 genuine Second World War surviving equipment. There will be trucks, Jeeps, dispatch riders, tanks and more coming up High East Street at around 3.30pm, turning down Church Street and parking at Brewery Square for one and a half to two hours to allow the public to have a good look at them and take photos. They should be there at around 4pm.

Due to escalating costs, this may be the last time an event like this of this magnitude will take place in the town.

Phil Gordon, of Dorchester BID which is sponsoring the event, said: "This is a great opportunity for a 'day out in Dorch' and we are encouraging people to come earlier in the day - to get the best vantage points - have some shopping time, maybe some lunch, then gather on High East Street to see the convoy enter town, and then walk to Brewery Square to visit the convoy and talk to the owners and their teams.

"We will also encourage the public to come in period dress and hopefully some of the shops will join in with this too to get in the spirit of commemoration of events in Dorset 78 years ago in the run up to D-Day. I hope we will have some nurses, doctors, air raid wardens, Dads Army, members of the French resistance, land girls, evacuees, maybe even some spies and POWs?"

Those taking part will be staying on the historic campsite of Camp D5 - Broadmayne Basecamp.

Camp D5 was one of the many marshalling areas on the South Coast in preparation for Operation Neptune, the naval invasion of the Normandy beaches on D-Day and part of the wider Operation overlord, the battle for Normandy. These camps are also known as sausage camps because of their shape on maps, and were chosen based upon certain requirements. Most obviously, they had to be a short distance from the embankment points - at Camp D5, this was the ports of Weymouth and Portland, roughly seven and 13 miles away.

Wooded areas were often chosen as they provided concealment from aerial surveillance, which was important to keep the movement of men, vehicles and machinery in preparation for the Channel crossing as low-key as possible. The camps at Broadmayne and West Knighton, whilst made out of canvas tents in fields, were surrounded by trees, making them a good strategic choice.

As with other marshalling areas, the US troops straightened, widened and improved the roads with tarmac to carry their vehicles. Evidence of this is still visible on Chalky Road just outside the village boundaries, where the original route of the road is visible between the trees. Hard standings and temporary Nissen huts were also put up to house vehicles and equipment, whilst the lower ranks lived in their canvas tents and the officers were billeted at Broadmayne House on Osmington Drove.

These camps were erected along the sides of the existing roads, which were used to load and unload men and supplies and so were within easy reach of the troops. The Roads themselves were closed for public traffic.