The installation features 1,475 silhouettes each representing servicemen on D-Day – June 6, 1944 (Image: James Linsell Clark / SWNS)
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.
The immortal line from Laurence Binyon’s Second Wold War poem For The Fallen has become a central part of remembering the heroes who paid the ultimate price to secure the freedoms we enjoy today.
Last year the striking Standing with Giants installation became an iconic feature of commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
One thousand, four hundred and seventy-five 6ft silhouettes of military figures were erected in fields at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, France – one for every serviceman under British command slain on June 6, 1944.
The statues, the brainchild of Oxfordshire charity Standing with Giants set up to remember the supreme sacrifice of the fallen, cast sunrise shadows at the site above Gold Beach in a stirring act of remembrance.
King Charles paid tribute to the ‘unflinching bravery’ of all who served during the landings (Image: Getty Images)
And next month, in the run-up to the 80th anniversary of VE Day in May, the giant silhouettes are returning to the meadow fields of Northern France to serve as a symbol of the bittersweet emotions faced by so many at the end of the Second World War in Europe – joy that the war had ended alongside the reality of absent loved ones who never came home.
Among the 1,475 figures, the installation will feature 200 new creations including radio operators, medics, and a Scotsman playing the bagpipes.
The project will also include bespoke giants to represent the only two women whose names feature on the limestone memorial, Sisters Mollie Evershed and Dorothy ‘Anyta’ Field who died while saving 75 men from the sinking hospital ship SS Amsterdam, a passenger ship that was converted into a hospital ship but sunk by a mine on August 7, 1944.
Four artic lorries will cross the Channel on March 28 and the completed installation will be available to visit from April 12 until mid-September.
Lord Richard Dannatt, former Chief of the General Staff and Chairman of the Normandy Memorial Trust, said: “In the year when we will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, I’m delighted that ‘Standing with Giants’ will be returning to The British Normandy Memorial.
The D-Day landings took place on June 6, 1944 (Image: Getty Images)
“The 1,475 giant silhouettes of British soldiers, sailors and airmen, in the wildflower meadow above Gold Beach, were a compelling reminder of the price that was paid for our freedoms. Many
“Thousands were moved by their sight last year. I hope many thousands more will visit this year and remember.”
On June 6, the Winston Churchill Centre for Education and Learning was opened next to the memorial site by King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Last year, 250,000 people visited the memorial which lists the names of all 22,442 servicemen and women under British command killed on D-Day and in the ensuing three-month Battle of Normandy which led to Allied victory in the Second World War.
Victory in Europe Day on May 8 marks the formal acceptance of Germany’s unconditional surrender in 1945, while Victory over Japan Day on August 15 is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered, effectively bringing the war to an end.
Nationwide celebrations will be held on the May 5 Bank Holiday with veterans helping to bring the momentous milestone to life with school visits in what, for many who served, might well be the last chance to share their extraordinary stories.