thumb|right|Part of the Overlord Embroidery showing The Blitz

The Overlord Embroidery, echoing the Bayeux Tapestry created 900 years before to commemorate the reverse invasion of England from Normandy, is a narrative embroidery that depicts the story of the D-Day Landings of 6 June 1944 and the subsequent Battle of Normandy. The story is told across 34 hand stitched panels running in total to 83 metres in length. The embroidery was created between 1968 and 1974, and is now on permanent display at The D-Day Story, Southsea, Portsmouth.

Creation

thumb|right|Part of the D-Day Story museum is dedicated to the creation of the embroidery.

The piece was commissioned by Lord Dulverton in 1968 and made by the Royal School of Needlework from designs by artist .

Lord Dulverton established a committee which included retired senior officers to advise on the project. In preparing her designs Sandra Lawrence studied archive photographs as research. Her subsequent sketches were then submitted to the committee for approval. After approval, she would then paint a colour version to the same size as the planned embroidery panel (2.4x0.9 metres). Then she would then use tracing paper to record the outlines of all the details. The original paintings from the design stage hang at the Pentagon, Washington D.C.

There are 34 panels which together measure 83 metres (272 feet) in length. The Overlord Embroidery is one of the longest works of its kind in the world, at 10 metres (33 feet) longer than the Bayeux Tapestry, but shorter than the Prestonpans Tapestry. Twenty embroiderers worked for five years to create the embroidery. Battledress khaki and gold braid were appliquéd onto the panels.

References

  • D-Day Story - Overlord Embroidery
  • Overlord Embroidery at Sandra Lawrence's site