A 30-foot model of the Mulberry Harbour, crucial to the D-Day invasion, is set to be displayed in Llandudno.
The model was created by John Collier, a former Manchester Fire Service head of engineering, and his friend David Collier.
This will be one of the main attractions at an exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the operation that was a significant turning point in the Second World War.
The giant concrete pontoon, set up on Gold Beach, was a vital bridge for the two million men, four million tons of supplies, and half a million vehicles that entered occupied France.
Among these was John's father, Bill, a Royal Army Service Corps mechanic.
The exhibition, named 'The Longest Yarn,' will be held at Llandudno’s Holy Trinity Church from October 2 until October 27.
It is organised by the Friends of Mostyn Street and will include 80-metre-long 3D panels recreating historic scenes in wool, all knitted and crocheted by 2,000 volunteers worldwide.
John said his father rarely spoke about his part in the invasion but did open up after seeing the film A Bridge Too Far about how soon after they landed across the bridges from the Mulberry Harbour to the beach at Arromanches they reached the city of Caen.
There he found a young French woman clutching a naked baby so the resourceful Bill broke into an abandoned church and took a priest’s surplice to clothe the child – as well as a prayer book in French as a memento.
The model created by John and David, members of a modelling club in Leyland, shows the Mulberry Harbour developed at Conwy in action off Arromanches with a series of pontoon bridges packed with armoured vehicles, trucks and troops heading for the beachhead.
It’s been a labour of love for John who found a photograph of his father’s showing an old Scammell army truck and he said: "I decided to make a model from scratch and I’ve been doing it ever since.
"Everything apart from the axles has been hand-made based on the old photo of my dad’s and I won a prize at Blackpool Model Show with it in 2019 so I decided I needed a way of displaying the models I’d made.
"In my dad’s belongings I found his service number and the landing craft he went ashore in and that it must have been from the Mulberry Harbour and so I made the model of it.
"There are others but they’re 1/400th scale while this is closer to the 1/14 scale of the truck so I invested in a 3D printer and learned how to use it and made the pontoon bridges - each pontoon bridge took over 100 hours and there are seven of them."
The display is longer than the Bayeux Tapestry and will be a huge part of a series of events taking place in Llandudno to commemorate D-Day.
The 80 panels signify the 80 days it took the Allies to fight their way across France to Paris.
READ MORE:
Bringing the free exhibition to Llandudno has been made possible thanks to £20,000 in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Creu Conwy Town Team, Llandudno Town Council and Llandudno Hospitality Association.
Among the aims is to attract more visitors to the area during the autumn to provide a boost to businesses.
The exhibition will be free to access with donations to local causes and appropriately the annual Poppy Appeal.
For more information about The Longest Yarn exhibition that’s at Holy Trinity Church, Llandudno, between October 2 and 27 go to https://friendsofmostynstreet.co.uk/the-longest-yarn-project/ and to https://www.facebook.com/groups/fomsllandudno/?locale=en_GB
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here