D-Day silhouettes assembled near Gold Beach

Silhouettes representing almost 1,500 servicemen who died on D-Day have been assembled at a French museum.

To commemorate 80 years since the Normandy landings, the figures travelled from a workshop in Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, to the British Normandy Museum.

The figures overlook Gold Beach, one of the key landing points.

They were transported via Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire and Fort Nelson, near Fareham in Hampshire.

The 80th anniversary of D-Day falls on 6 June.

Made by Oxfordshire charity Standing with Giants, the silhouettes of servicemen from the Navy, Army and Air Force have been placed in the fields of the British Normandy Memorial.

Four years in the making, the art installation was planned by Witney-based creator Dan Barton.

A convoy of four artic lorries, joined by 200 Harley Davidson Remembrance Riders, travelled across south England before stopping at Fort Nelson for a farewell event on 5 April.

After crossing the English Channel, a team of 30 volunteers spent two weeks arranging the silhouettes in Normandy.

As well as the silhouettes representing the personnel from all three services, two bespoke figures were created to represent nurses Sisters Evershed and Field, who died while saving 75 men from a hospital ship.

Project co-ordinator Janette Barton called the exhibit "emotional" and said it had left her "lost for words".

"We came over to the memorial last night 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 installation will be open to the public from 21 April to 31 August.

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