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D-Day servicemen silhouettes break visitor records

Jules and Bean A large number of black silhouettes of servicemen in a garden. You can see grass in the front and a sunset behind. An airman figure is in the foreground. Jules and Bean
David Humphries A large number of silhouettes of servicemen in a garden, lit at night time. The silhouettes are black.David Humphries
The work was previously on display at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, France
The full installation weighs more than 30 tonnes in total and took two weeks to put in place with the help of more than 200 volunteers

A memorial artwork of 1,475 silhouettes representing servicemen killed during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 has broken visitor records at a National Trust property.

For Your Tomorrow has been installed at Stowe Gardens, Buckinghamshire, since 1 October and it ends on Armistice Day on Monday.

The National Trust said its busiest day ever had been on 13 October when about 4,000 people came to the site, but that number was surpassed on 27 October with 5,000 visitors.

It means more than 300,000 people have seen the figures which commemorates the soldiers, sailors, airman and two nurses, under British Command, killed 80 years ago.

Reuters The silouettes of several servicemen in Stowe Gardens. One closest to the camera is a black figure with a red poppy on his neck. Autumn trees can be seen in the distance.Reuters
Each life-sized figure was made by volunteers using recycled materials

It is the first time the work, created by community artist Dan Barton of the Oxford-based charity Standing with Giants, has been shown in the UK.

Prior to its arrival at Stow, it had been on display in Normandy, France since April.

The large-scale art installation includes two nurses, Sister Mollie Evershed, from Soham, Cambridgeshire, and Sister Dorothy Field, of Ringwood, Hampshire, who died saving 75 men from a sinking hospital ship.

Some 50 French resistance fighter silhouettes have also been placed in woodland.

There will be a short service of remembrance on Monday when, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month (marking the end of World War One), every one of the 1,475 figures will have a person by their side.

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