Danny Boyle wants people to help artists draw World War One heroes on beaches to mark their sacrifice

FILM director Danny Boyle wants people to help artists draw World War One heroes on beaches to mark their sacrifice.

The tide will then wash the 160ft portraits away from 30 beaches to mark the 100th anniversary of the conflict’s end.

The tribute will take place on November 11 and people can help artists use stencils to create the images.

Oscar winner Danny — who oversaw London’s Olympic opening ceremony in 2012 — told The Sun: “The idea is that people will draw someone famous, such as poet Wilfred Owen.

“Or someone who has a connection with that area or their hearts.

“As the tide comes in the portrait will be washed away. It is a way of saying goodbye and thank you.”

The 61-year-old’s family moved to England from Ireland after the end of the war. But he became fascinated with a soldier born on his school’s street in Radcliffe, Lancashire.

Private Walter Bleakley, 26, died within seconds of the Battle of the Somme beginning in July 1916.

Danny, whose films include Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire, said: “Walter signed up with his two best friends, Robert Young and Andrew Bridge, and they all died. Their bodies were never found.”

He plans to spend the day, at Sunny Sands in Folkestone, Kent, where ­millions set off for foreign battlefields.

Other beaches taking part include Weymouth, Swansea, Porthmeor in St Ives, Brancaster in Norfolk, Sunderland, Formby on Merseyside and Broad Haven South in Pembrokeshire.

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