AS THOUSANDS of people commemorated 75 years since the D-Day landings, a piece of Basingstoke was sat front and centre to honour the soldiers who lost their lives.

As the world’s dignitaries were welcomed to Ver-sur-mer, in Normandy, France on Thursday last week, a new monument was unveiled to commemorate the soldiers who died during the Second World War campaign.

The sculpture, which was unveiled by prime minister Theresa May, depicts three soldiers storming the beaches in Normandy to mark D-Day.

Created by sculptor David Williams-Ellis, the three nine-foot-tall structures were put together and bronzed in Basingstoke.

Having been a long-term client of Basingstoke-based Sculpture Castings Ltd, Mr Williams-Ellis once again chose the firm to aid with the construction of this historic monument.

Foundry manager at Sculpture Casting, Adam Paddon, said he knew about the project about four or five years ago when David was chosen to do the piece.

Mr Paddon added: “As we have worked extremely closely with David in the past it was an absolute honour to be chosen to be part of such a huge and significant project.”

The firm, based in Eagle Court, Lychpit, specialises in silver or bronze sculptures of any size.

During a nine-month period, Mr Paddon and his team worked on wax castings before covering them in bronze and cooling them off by placing them outside of the foundry.

He added: “It was quite funny, because where we are close to the railway line, we would get messages asking about these giant soldiers which were outside when they were cooling off.

“We had to do some of the project in secrecy and could only give sneak peaks when David was showing news outlets.”

Mr Paddon added: “It was such a big project and was a huge fixture of the foundry for such a long time that it was a bit sad to see it leave, but the response to the structure from friends, families and veterans that it was all worth it.”

The three soldiers, which weight over a ton each, form part of a D-Day memorial in Normandy to honour the 27,500 people who lost their lives during the D-Day landings.