600,000 clay figures in Ypres mark First World War carnage

Belgium will honour its civilian and military dead with the figures, each about the size of a large fist.

A special remembrance installation of 600,000 crouching clay figures will open to the public soon in Ypres, Belgium, seeking to help visitors reflect on what happened during the First World War a century ago.

Belgium will honour its civilian and military dead with the figures, each about the size of a large fist.

Volunteers pull carts full of clay figures (Virginia Mayo/AP)

Since 2014 students, tourists and others have been creating the pieces in mobile workshops around the world and in the city of Ypres, the site of much carnage during the war.

A British schoolchild makes the finishing touches on a piece of clay at the Coming World Remember Me workshop in Ypres (Virginia Mayo/AP)

In a sense, it connects the past with the present.

Dog tags on a table at the workshop (Virginia Mayo/AP)

“I know it had to happen, but if we can learn from our mistakes the world could maybe be a better place.”

The installation opens on March 30.

Clay figurines dry in boxes at the workshop in Ypres (Virginia Mayo/AP)

The last two surviving First World War soldiers who knew the horror first hand – Frank Buckles, from the United States, and Claude Choules, from the UK – both died in 2011.

A British schoolchild stamps a logo into a piece of clay (Virginia Mayo/AP)

When that is over, current and future generations have to find a way to try to keep remembering beyond the November 11 Armistice Day.

A volunteer places clay figures in the field (Virginia Mayo/AP)

“We’ve had individuals, families, team-building groups and students all coming in to create the figures in the workshop.”