A soldier hand crafted over more than 150 hours by a Loughborough College student is set to play a major role in events this weekend remembering those who have given their lives during the war.
Lee Wesley was chosen by tutor Richard Miller for the ‘Lest We Forget’ project and the Mechanical Engineering student designed and built the soldier from scratch in College using found metal, with finishing touches including an inscribed poem by Wilfred Owen, replica medals hand made by Lee and an original First World War helmet.
“It was really exciting to be told I had been selected for the project, I enjoy being challenged. I started in May this year and while all the other students were on holiday I came into College all through summer.
“I found it so interesting to research the period so I could recreate the types of medals the soldiers received and to read about their experiences in the First World War. I think it is really effective to see the poem ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ inscribed into the soldier’s thigh.
“Loughborough College has backed me all the way on this and my employer, The Hardstaff Group, has been really supportive, allowing me lots of time away to work on the project,” said engineering apprentice Lee.
“I feel so proud to have been given the opportunity to be involved in this project. I will be going along to see the soldier at the weekend’s events – and I can’t believe he is actually going to be around for five years.”
Georgina Elsom, who heads the ‘Lest We Forgot’ project, said: “As well as appearing in events across Leicester in the days surrounding Remembrance Sunday, Lee’s soldier will continue to play a key part part in a 100 years of war project right through to 2018.”
Lee Wesley is pictured with Georgina Elsom and with the soldier he made, which can be seen on Friday 8 November in Orton Square, Leicester and throughout the weekend of Remembrance events at the Curve Theatre and around the city.