Giant silhouettes begin journey for D-Day 80th anniversary
Farewell events at Blenheim Palace and Fort Nelson as the ‘giants’ prepare to cross the channel
Last updated 5th Apr 2024
1,475 giant silhouettes in honour of the servicemen who fell on D-Day itself, will begin their journey from Oxfordshire to the British Normandy Memorial today.
The memorial overlooks Gold Beach where many of them landed almost 80 years ago.
Four artic lorries assisted by more than 200 Harley Davidson remembrance Riders, will cross the Channel, embarking at Portsmouth after visiting Blenheim Palace and Fort Nelson in Fareham for farewell ceremonies.
The lorries will contain 18 stillages created and designed by Standing with Giants that will transport the silhouettes.
The bases of the stillages have been decorated with a total of 22,442 knitted poppies which were made and donated by The Women’s Institute nationwide.
These poppies will represent the total number of fallen service personnel on D-Day and the Battle of Normandy combined.
More than 1,000 volunteers and 80 different groups, have helped project leader Dan Barton with the statues.
Speaking about the importance of the D-DAY 80th anniversary Dan said: It's likely to be the last major anniversary the veterans will be around to see.
"Most of the survivors are 98-100, so sadly it's the end of an era, so I think it's hugely important."
Dan's inspiration for this project came from a previous project where he created 101 6ft-tall soldier silhouettes that overlooked the M40 at the Aston Rowant Nature Reserve, in memory of those who lost their lives during World War One and Two.
Speaking about the previous project he said: "I thought people would just see them and wouldn't really notice but after a fortnight we had floods of people, probably about 10,000 people in total.
"People were crying in my arms, thanking me for what I'd done."
Dan also enlisted the help of a friend who was a member of the Women's Institute to help cover the bottom of the crates of which the statues will be transported in.
To his surprise more than 37,000 poppies were created by Women's Institute members up and down the country and posted to Oxfordshire.
After over four years of hard work, today Dan and his team finally embark on their trip to Normandy escorted by a nationwide fan fare.
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