Standing With Giants: Poignant new artwork comes to Hampton Court Palace

A poignant new artwork commemorating fallen soldiers and victims of war across the globe will be installed at Hampton Court Palace next month.

100 specially commissioned silhouettes of soldiers, including 25 representing the Indian soldiers who camped in Home Park after the first world war, will arrive at the Palace on November 3.

The silhouettes and 75 screen-printed poppy wreaths will be place in the Palace's East Front gardens to commemorate and remember those who lost their lives in both World Wars and present-day conflicts.

The installation, created in partnership with the Oxfordshire-based community art group Standing with Giants, will run throughout the month including Armistice Day on November 11.

Importantly, the artwork pays tribute to soldiers from the Indian subcontinent who fought and died in the First world-war alongside the British and their allies.

Hampton Court has a historic link to the Indian Army as its soldiers stayed in Home Park on a trip to Britain soon after the first world war ended, to take part in the Peace Celebration and Victory Parade.

According to the Palace, the soldiers were well-looked after in the camp, being taken on tours of London and around Britain upon their arrival here.

Arrangements were also made to meet the cultural and religious requirements of the men.

The camp numbered around 700 men and soldiers stayed in tents at the park, where they also dined and socialised, according to the National Army museum.

On the cultural accommodations for soldiers, the museum adds that there were separate slaughter houses and cook houses for Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus in the regiment.

There was also a store room for rations and equipment, three large wash houses and a field hospital of 24 beds, the museum notes.