standing with giants

To celebrate the 80th Anniversary of D-Day in 2024, British artist Dan Barton created silhouettes from re-cycled signs representing the 1475 men and women who died under British Command on D-Day. The silhouettes stood behind Sword beach and the British Normandy Memorial. The exhibition was planned only for the summer of 2024 before they were taken down and returned to the UK.

STANDING WITH GIANTS RETURN 

It has recently been announced that the silhouettes are returning this spring and summer. The 1475 silhouettes will be re-erected alongside the 50 French resistance fighters plus another 200 new creations which includes radio operators, medics and a Scottish soldier playing the bagpipes. 

The silhouettes will be transported on 4 lorries from Portsmouth to France at the end of March. The organisers are asking for volunteers to help erect all the silhouettes in time for the opening to visitors from the 12th April 2025. The return of the exhibition has been made possible by the sponsors - Normandy Memorial Trust's three partners: BAE Systems, KPMG and Teledyne FLIR.

The exhibition is open until September 12th 2025 and is free to enter. Though donations to the British Normandy Memorial Trust are very much appreciated.  There is a small parking charge which also goes to the Trust.

Helen and I visited the British Normandy Memorial and the silhouettes at dawn in June last year.  It was our choice to get there to see the sun come over the horizon at 5am and we had the place to ourselves. We and the many of our guests who also visited the Memorial found it very moving and were so pleased they had visited. The Memorial is west of Caen just outside the village of Ver-sur-Mer.  If visiting, why not make a day of it, as within the British and Canadian sector at Gold/Juno and Sword beach are a number of museums, the British cemetery at Bayeux and the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanche plus east of Caen the famous Pegasus Bridge. You can also head further west into the American sector towards Omaha and Utah beach to see the Omaha beach cemetery, Point du Hoc, St. Mère-Église and many other interesting D-Day locations.

Please see our web page - 'Places to Visit' with more details on D-Day places of interest.