The boat that won the war.
The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP), also named ‘Higgins boat’, is a landing craft that was widely used during the Second World War. Commander Dwight Eisenhower famously said that the LCVP was crucial for the allied victories in Normandy and the preceding battles in Africa and Italy.
Return to its original state.
For this assignment we were contacted by the company BAIV (British American Infantry Vehicles) from Brabant. They had obtained a Higgins dating from the sixties from a British shipyard. Together with Robert Jan Feith, we’ve restored the whole craft to its original state. We also motorized it and equipped it with as many original items as possible, like a propellor, ironworks, controls and a compass. It even flies a US flag again, but only showing 48 stars – Alaska and Hawaii hadn’t joined the US at the time of WWII.
An American museum piece.
The restoration was finished in June 2019, and the ship went to Normandy to take part in the 75th commemoration of D-Day. At present, you can admire the craft in the US at the National Museum of Military Vehicles, which is owned by Mr Starks, who also commissioned this special assignment.
