A Somerset man has created a giant memorial display outside his house ahead of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings on 6 June.
Geoff Wilson, from Templecombe, said he was inspired to create the piece after visiting a military cemetery in Ver-sur-Mare in France. The display features a giant spitfire, soldiers and several paintings of landing craft.
“Without these people we wouldn’t have the freedom we do today,” Mr Wilson said.
The whole display took a month to finish, with Mr Wilson working from 05:00 in the morning until 18:00 at night.
“I started with the cut-out figures, I scrounged some plywood off local businesses. Then I thought a landing craft would be good, and it grew a bit more.”
In the centre of the display is a huge model of a Spitfire aeroplane.
“I used to be a teacher, but I was never very good at maths. I started off doing the Spitfire to scale, and halfway through making the body I realised it was too long.”
The replica of the iconic aircraft was covered with wire mesh and canvas before it was painted.
Mr Wilson said the soldiers who took part in the Normandy landings in June 1944 deserved recognition. The landings were a pivotal moment that marked the start of the campaign to free Europe from the Nazis.
“I am tired from making it [the display] but nowhere nearly as tired as the soldiers would have been on the beach on D-Day, Those are the people who counted.”
He added: “The display has had a lot of support from the village, and it helps knit the place together.”
