A FEW locations within the Dartmoor Forest parish will soon be the home of ten poignant ‘Tommy’ silhouettes.

This week, Dartmoor Forest Parish Council is celebrating the award of these silhouettes, funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

The silhouettes are part of a national project entitled ‘There But Not There’, organised by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.

The aim of ‘There But Not There’ is to place a representative figure for every name on local war memorials around the country, into their place of worship, their school, their workplace or wherever their absence was keenly felt. These transparent silhouettes will be back within their communities for Remembrance 2018 — the centenary commemoration of the end of the 1914-1918 First World War.

Alongside the establishment of a micro-museum within Princetown’s red phone box, designed to tell more of the story of the men remembered on the village war memorial, these silhouettes will also form part of Dartmoor Forest’s commemoration of Remembrance 2018.

Parish clerk Steve Cox said: ‘The silhouettes will be placed across Dartmoor Forest parish as a symbolic reminder of those that never returned and to think about the work and sacrifices of the Armed Forces today.’

Locations include St Michael’s and All Angels Church in Princetown, St Gabriel’s Church in Postbridge, the Dartmoor National Park Visitor’s Centre in Princetown and at Princetown Primary School.

The award was made under the Armistice and Armed Forces Communities Programme, which makes awards to bring communities together to remember and to think about the Armed Forces today.

Mr Cox added: ‘As Princetown has a deep connection with the armed forces, with many ex and current servicemen living in the village, and many who have also worked at HMP Dartmoor, this seems an apt and poignant way to commemorate Remembrance 2018.’

Cllr Wendy Stones, who is helping lead the initiative for Dartmoor Forest Parish Council, said: ‘We are very pleased to be part of this national initiative and that the silhouettes across Dartmoor Forest will be among many thousands across the country remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice.’