Knitted D-Day installed at army's 'spiritual home'

An 81m-long knitted 3D depiction of D-Day is being unveiled in the town regarded by many as the spiritual home of the British Army.

The Longest Yarn has arrived in Aldershot having toured the UK since it was first unveiled in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in June.

It depicts scenes including troops landing on the Norman beaches, paratroopers being loaded onto planes, and a French family at home awaiting news of the invasion.

The wool art will be open to the public at Aldershot Royal Garrison Church later and will be on display until 18 November.

Thousands have seen it so far in Southwell Minster, Nottingham and Llandudno, but its creator said there was only one place it could spend this symbolic time of year.

Tansy Forster said: "When Aldershot said it wanted it, I'm afraid I decided that the British Army needed it more than a cathedral.

"It needed to come home to the spiritual home of the British Army."

The installation marks the opening of newly refurbished Garrison Church, which has undergone the biggest restoration in its history.

Army chaplain the Reverend Andrew Latifa said: "We're always interested in how our young people are taught and the values that they have.

"Something like this is a great opportunity to get them to engage with remembrance."

The piece arrived in Aldershot on Wednesday, where it was unloaded and reassembled by soldiers from 27 Regiment RLC.

"I think it's a great time for this to be happening, and it takes pride to actually be a part of this and setting up something that means something to us," Pte Paige Neale told the BBC.

The D-Day landings saw more than 150,000 Allied troops descend on the beaches of Normandy on 6 June 1944, in what remains the largest amphibious invasion in history.

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