A new public art project will help remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice at the Battle of Passchendaele.
The Heartfelt Messages installation is being created at the National Memorial Arboretum. Handwritten notes are being used to echo the communications that flowed between front line soldiers and their families at home during the conflict.
The installation, designed by Nicola Colclough and Naja Baji, is part of the 100th anniversary of the World War One battle, where thousands died during the fighting as well as through drowning in the mud filled shell holes in no man’s land.
For those troops at the front, communications with loved ones were crucial to morale – something the National Memorial Arboretum hopes will be represented by the paper lovehearts that make up the new memorial.
Sarah Oakden, the NMA’s head of marketing, said: “We are proud to be hosting this unique tribute to those who fought in the Battle of Passchendaele and their families.
“Nicola and Naja’s multi-sensory installation gives visitors the opportunity to express themselves artistically while performing an act of Remembrance, leaving a personal tribute to those who gave their lives in one of the First World War’s most memorable battles.”
