The Manx Aviation and Military Museum will mark the start of the First World War, 104 years ago this weekend, with an exhibition of silhouettes of soldiers in the museum grounds and garden.

Each of the transparent Perspex figures will carry the name of a Manx soldier who served in the First World War.

The sillhouettes are part of the ’There but not there’ national campaign to commemorate those who gave their lives during the First World War.

In conjunction with this, on Saturday (August 4) the museum will also host the official launch of Isle of Man Post Office’s latest stamp collection ’The ANZAC Memorials of Rayner Hoff’.

The event is open to the public from 10am to 4.30pm.

Maxine Cannon, manager at Isle of Man Stamps and Coins, said: ’The sacrifices made by the brave men who fought in the Great War should never be forgotten, which is why we felt it important and are honoured to commemorate the centenary of the end of the war through Rayner Hoff’s work.’

The collection of six stamps features the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) war memorials in Sydney and Adelaide, Australia. Each stamp includes a detail from the Sydney or Adelaide memorial and an image of a Manx-born or Isle of Man-descended soldier.

Manx-born sculptor Rayner Hoff was born in 1894 and some examples of his work can still be seen in Douglas, in Derby Square, Market Place and St Matthew’s Church.

Trenches

At the outbreak of World War I, Hoff joined the British army where he first went into the trenches.

After the war he received an ex-service award and went to London’s Royal College of Art, where he honed his skills as a sculptor. After a successful career in Europe, Hoff moved to Australia in 1923 and began working on the war memorials, which were heavily inspired by his time in the trenches.

For example, he produced sculptured figures and friezes for the interior and exterior of the memorial building in Hyde Park in Sydney.

The memorial building itself was designed by architect Bruce Dellit and is currently being restored as part of the Centenary Project.

The Manx Aviation and Military Museum now features a new exhibition on the island’s role in World War I.

The exhibition took five years to put together and has been described by visitors as the best and most moving First World War exhibition that they have seen.

It brings long-ago events to life by featuring personal stories of the people who were involved.

To bring the loss of life into perspective it includes a list of the names of almost 1200 Manx men and women who died in the conflict.

For more information about the event visit Facebook ’There But Not There, A tribute to the fallen WW1 soldiers’.