Installation of shrouded figures honours fallen soldiers of the Somme
The 72,396 figures are laid out on an area about the size of a football pitch at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Thousands of shrouded figures representing soldiers killed in the Battle of the Somme have been laid out for an art installation in London.
Artist Rob Heard hand stitched and bound the calico covering 72,396 figures now lying on an area about the size of a football pitch at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Volunteers and members of 1 Royal Anglian Regiment laid out the field of figures in hundreds of rows in the shadow of the London Stadium.
It took Mr Heard 18 months to create the shrouded figures, often working 12 to 14 hours a day on the project.
“I found quite early on that I personally had quite a strong relationship with these men, in that I had huge lists of their names, photographs and physical figures themselves,” Mr Heard said.
More than 200,000 people are expected to visit the free-to-enter art installation between November 8 and 18.
Members of the public will be able to purchase the shrouded figures, with profits being donated to SSAFA The Armed Forces Charity and the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation.
The Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest of the 1914 to 1918 conflict, claiming the lives of around 20,000 British soldiers on the first day alone.
