A LIFESIZE sculpture of a soldier is helping a village mark the deaths of all residents who died in the First World War.
The willow sculpture of a soldier has been specially commissioned and is now in place on Great Ayton’s village green.
The North Yorkshire community has pledged to honour the deaths of all its 48 residents who served between 1914 and 1918 over the next four years on the exact day they were killed, 100 years on.
Each of the 2,300 homes in the village has received a list of the names of everyone who died and is urged to “adopt” a solider for whom they will observe a minute’s silence.
It is part of a programme of commemorative events taking place over the next four years.
The soldiers’ are also being commemorated with a posthumous, knitted medal being placed on the willow sculpture for each soldier. They are being created by the Great Ayton Knit and Knatter group.
The programme of commemoration will officially begin on Sunday, August 3, when the Reverend Paul Peverell will hold a short ceremony on the High Green.
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