Andy Moss and Jamie Wardley from Sand In Your Eye began The Fallen project on Peace Day 2013. They took to the Normandy beaches with stencils and rakes in hand to commemorate the 9000 civillians, Germans and allied forces who died during the D-Day beach landings at Arromanches on June 6th, 1944 during WWII. While Moss and Wardley initially expected 60-70 volunteers to help with the ambitious project, they were overwhelmed by the hundreds of volunteers who had unexpectedly shown up. The volunteers included Monika Kershaw, whose son had perished in Afghanistan, and George, a war veteran who was at Normandy on D-Day. Despite there being people of different backgrounds and reasons for being at Normandy that day, one thing that Wardley believes binds them all is the belief in the statement of peace. The project aims to promote the message of peace, and to emphasise the tragedy of conflict. 

 “During the day I was running up and down the cliffs taking photographs. What I found is that in this region there are many relics and monuments to the war but it is always difficult to visualize what the actual human loss was.  On Peace Day we quietly and harmoniously drew 9000 people in the sand so that people can understand the loss with their own eyes.  This was a quiet day with a very loud statement.” – Jamie Wardley

All Photo Credits to Jamie Wardley and Andy Moss

Find out more about The Fallen Project here!