Delaware Defense Day to spotlight WWII history at Fort Miles

Honoring the men and women who secured the home front during World War II, Delaware Defense Day is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 26, at the Fort Miles Historical Area in Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Parks and Recreation, the Fort Miles Harbor Defenses of the Delaware Living History Association and the Fort Miles Historical Association are hosting this year’s open house and living history event.

More than 100 living history reenactors will be dressed in period uniforms representing the soldiers who served at Fort Miles during and after World War II. Some 25 to 30 period vehicles will be on site, including a Sherman M4A4 tank.

There is no fee to attend the event, but state park admission fees and Fort Miles Museum admission fees of $6 per person are in effect.

There will be more than 40 exhibits to see inside and outside the barracks in the Fort Miles Battery 519 cantonment area. Attendees can mingle with reenactors and learn about different service members, weapons, vehicles and equipment. For a small fee, they can also visit the inside of the Sherman tank. Additional exhibitors include the Delaware Aviation Museum, Naval Air Station Wildwood, Air Mobility Command Museum, Delaware National Guard, Battleship New Jersey Museum and Historic Lewes.

Artillery demonstrations using a 3-inch naval gun are set for 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

A demonstration startup of the Sherman tank will take place at 12:30 p.m.

At 1:30 p.m., there will be a reenactment of the surrender of German submarine U-858, which occurred at Fort Miles in May 1945 after Germany surrendered to Allied forces in Europe. There will also be exhibits and live music inside the Fort Miles Orientation Building across from the barracks and mess hall.

A short walk through the Fort Miles artillery park leads to the entrance of Battery 519, which housed two 12-inch coastal artillery guns during World War II and is now the home of the Fort Miles Museum. It showcases coastal defense and daily life for the soldiers and civilians stationed there during and after the war.

Besides illustrating life at Fort Miles, the museum’s many exhibits include artifacts and displays from the battleships USS Arizona and USS Missouri. These displays serve as bookends to the United States’ entry into WWII after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, and the surrender of the Japanese Empire to Allied forces in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri Sept. 2, 1945, bringing an end to the war.

There is no charge to enter the museum to view exhibits in the north gun block, including the USS Arizona artifact, or to visit the FMHA gift shop.

Shuttle parking is at McBride Beach Bathhouse in the state park. The event ends at 4 p.m. and the last shuttle departs at 4:30 p.m.

For details, go to fortmileshdd.org/april-event-2025.