EFS Europe was honoured to be invited to provide temporary pedestrian walkway for the ‘Shrouds of the Somme’ First World War commemorative event at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park; 8th to 18th November.

72,396 shrouded figures all created by one man were on display, for the first and only time. Each figure represented a British Commonwealth serviceman killed at the Somme with no known grave, many of whose bodies were never recovered from the battlefields. The incredible art installation was created by artist Rob Heard. For the past five years – with barely a day off – Rob has been hand-sewing calico shrouds and binding them over small figures. It has taken him 13,000 hours and around 1.6 million stitches.

BBC’s Dan Show said: “This was the most remarkable First World War commemoration ever seen.”

Jeremy Simpson, EFS Europe’s Business Development Manager said: ‘We felt very privileged to be asked to be part of this event. It was a once in a life opportunity for people to pay their respects to the fallen. To see the scale of the installation certainly brought home the devastating effects of the Great War and those who lost their lives.’

EFS Europe installed 428m x 2.8m of linear roadway around the installation using their modular flooring system, Temp-A-Path. The pedestrian walkway ran from the main marquee, around the installation, to the viewing platform, and back around the 72,396 figures to the event exit point.

Adam Parry
Author: Adam Parry

Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.