Army of knitted soldiers raise awareness for D-Day

Knitting these scenes takes patience, with each creation taking between 200 and 400 hours

Have you ever seen a group of knitted soldiers holding rifles and marching in unison?

It is one of 80 D-Day scenes that feature in an exhibition to reignite interest in the 1944 event that marked the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe.

A group named The Longest Yarn is behind the exhibition, having spent a year making the knitted figures with each scene taking about 300 hours to create.

After visiting notable places like the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, the woolly characters are now touring churches in the UK.

The exhibition took a whole year to create, with 180 women knitting the scenes

Tansy Forster, who lives in Normandy, France, is the founder of the exhibition.

She has always had a deep passion for World War Two and knitting, using wool from her Alpacas to knit a range of creations.

What started as an idea to make post-box toppers in her town ended up with nearly 1,000 people from all over the world knitting to raise money for the exhibition to go ahead.

"It is a bonkers idea that worked," she said.

This soldier leans against a tank while smoking a cigarette

A special postbox topper will be featured at every event

The free exhibition is at Aldershot Garrison in Hampshire until 18 November, before moving onto Stoke-on-Trent, Tewkesbury, Eniskillen and Norfolk.

It will then tour the United States for a year.

"People put their heart and soul into creating their panels," Tansy said.

"Because it's wool, it's not in your face, it brings D-Day to life and it's making everything remembered," she added.

The exhibition focuses on every detail to demonstrate D-Day including urgent messages for residents

Soldiers ride horses while passing buildings in a town including a hairdressers