Year 5 and 6 recently went to view the Shroud of the Somme exhibition at the Olympic Park. The exhibit consists of shrouded figures, created by Rob Heard, to represent each of the 1,561 days of the First World War with a small plaque recoding the number of Commonwealth servicemen lost on each day. The daily record of lost lives highlights the scale of the conflict that saw 983,779 killed from the British Commonwealth. The worst day of the War was on 1 July 1916 when 19,240 were killed at the Battle of the Somme. The major battles are also highlighted in chronological order. Each figure that Rob Heard creates is made with a name of a real soldier in mind, so that each soldier is individually acknowledged and remembered. Rob worked his way down the list, crossing off a name for each figure he created. He cut and hand-stitched their calico shrouds, then covered and bound the figures in the shrouds. He did this 72,396 times.
“The impact of the war is phenomenal and it really impacted me visiting here.” Finley – Year 6
“I learnt that everyone is important whether they are dead or alive.” Isabelle – Year 6
“I was surprised to see how many people died on Christmas day.” Sevan – Year 5
“My friends and I stood to one side and did a minutes silence to thank them for what they did for us.” Charlie T – Year 5
