INSPIRED pupils wrote moving tributes tributes to the brave soldiers who risked their lives and made the ultimate sacrifice during D-Day.

A group of Year 5 children at Ferndale Community Primary School put pen to paper to create poetry after learning about the Normandy beach landings in class.

As reported in the Adver on Monday, their writing will be part of a Royal British Legion exhibition alongside photos and artefacts from Operation Overlord. at the Regent Street pop-in shop which will mark the day’s 75th anniversary.

Some of the poems contrast the sights, sounds and smells of a fun day at the seaside with the horrors that soldiers in the Second World War faced when running off the boats and towards heavy gunfire.

Alex said: “My great-grandfather fought in the war so I closed my eyes and pictured what he would have seen and what it would have been like for him.. I wanted to show people what it was really like through our work.

“I didn’t understand much about the war before this, or why there had to be a war.”

Eva said: “I learned that people risked their lives to save future generations and that other people came to help us. I felt upset and confused about the war.”

Sophie said: “When I heard about what happened, I was devastated. I was grateful for what they did but I felt really sorry for them too, but I was also really proud of them, it’s hard to explain.

Thomas said: “My great-grandad also fought in the war - my nan said that he got shot in the heart but a book stopped the bullet and saved his life.”

Lily said: “I had heard of the name D-Day but I didn’t know much about it before now. I’m proud of our work because we can use it to remember them and show we are thankful.”

William said: “We listed all the things from the video that we saw and wrote them into two verses - the first at the beach on a sunny day and the second at the beach during the war. I’m looking forward to showing people what the war was like.”

Year 6 classmates including Khia and Fabio made footprints in clay from a wartime boot and their own feet, then scattered bullet shells around the imprint.

The school’s deputy head Sarah Prevost said: “It’s very relevant work and they can really relate to it, especially when one of their family members was involved in the war. The contrast between the two beach scenes is very strong and powerful. We’ve done a lot of projects with the RBL and enjoy working with them.

The exhibition opens tomorrow and will run throughout the summer between 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday.