D-Day 80: What is the story behind the silhouette art installation?

Handmade silhouettes of 1,475 serviceman and two women have been installed in the wild meadow fields of Normandy, to mark 80 years since D-Day.

What do the statues represent?

The giant silhouettes represent those who died under British command on D-Day itself, on June 6, 1944.

The 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings is being marked with a series of major commemorations in the UK and France, honouring those who risked their lives for freedom and peace.

As well as representing servicemen from the navy, army and air force, two bespoke figures have been created to represent the only two British women who died on D-Day: Sister Mollie Evershed and Sister Dorothy Field.

Sister Evershed, from Soham, Cambridgeshire, and Sister Field, of Ringwood, Hampshire, were nurses on a hospital ship when it struck a mine off the French coast.

As it went down on August 7, 1944, they helped save the lives of 75 wounded men before losing their own.

All but two of the silhouettes will be removed when the exhibition finishes, but the figures of Mollie and Dorothy will remain as a permanent memorial.

Figures representing 50 French resistance fighters are also being placed around the French Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer.

Speaking in April, project co-ordinator Janette Barton said: "It's so emotional, we came over to the memorial as the sun was setting and sat and watched the sun go down and our volunteers felt it was like a meadow of souls.

“Visitors, both French and English, have been saying how incredible it is and that we must never forget and the younger generation, the children are asking questions of their parents," she added.

The exhibition opened in April, and will remain open to the public until the end of August. Visitors are able to walk between the figures dotted across the field overlooking Gold Beach.

What's the significance of the location?

The statues were transported to Normandy in April across the English Channel from Portsmouth.

The silhouettes were previously displayed at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire - the birthplace of wartime prime minister Winston Churchill.

About 80 local groups including veterans, NHS workers and guides, helped assemble the figures ready for their journey to France.

They were transported by lorries contain metal crates, the bases of which were decorated with a total of 22,442 knitted poppies made by the Women's Institute.

That number represents the total number of fallen service personnel on D-Day and the battle of Normandy combined.

In Normandy, they are placed in the shadow of the British Normandy Memorial, overlooking Gold Beach, a key landing point on D-Day.

The British Normandy Memorial records the names of the 22,442 servicemen and women under British command who fell on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.

This includes people from more than 30 different countries. Inscribed in stone, the Memorial brings their names together for the first time.

Gold Beach is located between Ver-sur-Mer and Asnelles on the Normandy coast. Nearly 25,000 men of the British 50th Division landed on the beach on D-Day.

Despite fierce resistance from some German strongholds, the 50th Division accomplished the farthest breakthrough inland of all Allied seaborne forces, as it came close to Bayeux that same day.

Who is behind the statues?

The installation was set up by charity Standing with Giants in April, and will remain there as part of commemorations until the end of August.

The art installation, entitled 'For Your Tomorrow', has taken Witney-based artist Dan Barton four years to plan.

The silhouettes are made from reclaimed aluminium and plastic signage often found on building sites and new housing developments.

Standing with Giants is a community project, set up in 2019 by Mr Barton, and a group of local volunteers. They create large scale art installations using recycled building materials and provide meaningful spaces for people to visit and reflect.

A volunteer team which included military personnel, veterans, Harley Davidson remembrance riders, NHS workers, school children and others worked on the silhouettes from a workshop in Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire.

A team of 30 volunteers travelled to Normandy, and spent two weeks installing the statues at the memorial overlooking Gold Beach.

To support the project, the public can sponsor a plaque in honour of a loved one for £150 which will be placed in front of a giant and remain at the memorial site for at least five years.

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