D-Day silhouettes' charity appeals for host venue

An art installation featuring 1,475 life-size silhouettes of soldiers is urgently looking for a new home in time for Remembrance Day in November.

The D-Day memorial installation, created by charity Standing with Giants, has previously been displayed at the British Normandy Memorial in France.

The Oxfordshire-based charity said it needed a new location that could offer a large outdoor space, support tens of thousands of visitors and financially contribute to the logistics.

Artist Dan Barton said it was "vital this tribute remains visible and accessible to the public".

The installation - called For Your Tomorrow - features the life-size silhouette figures, each representing a serviceman under British command who died on D-Day.

It was created to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy campaign in 2024 when it was transported to France as part of the commemorations.

It made a return visit earlier this year to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

The figures were made from recycled signs in Stanton Harcourt, near Witney in Oxfordshire.

Eighty local groups, including choirs, veterans, guides and scouts helped assemble them ahead of their journey to France.

More than 240,000 visitors saw the work in Normandy, and further 90,000 people viewed it during a run at the National Trust's Stowe Garden in Buckinghamshire.

The charity said a previously planned UK venue could no longer stage the installation and it was appealing directly to suitable venues, institutions, cathedrals, councils, landowners, heritage sites, parks, and communities to offer a location.

Mr Barton said the display "offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to walk among the fallen".

"This project ensures they are not forgotten - and now we need your help to keep them standing tall where people can honour them."

You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram.