Remembrance Day: Watch this chainsaw artist create life-size WW2 soldier for Armistice Day

Inspiring video (click to play above) shows a talented chainsaw sculptor in action - and he’s only been at it for a year! Ben Yeates, 43, created a series of animal carvings as he honed his skills with this very difficult and unusual hobby.

But now he has finished a life-size sculpture of a Second World War soldier - which he hopes to auction off for Remembrance Day. Ben said: “The way the world’s been going, I thought it would be nice to do something in tribute to the fallen. My grandad fought in the Second World War and I’ve got friends with family members who have served since. “

The seven-foot ‘A Soldier’s Tear’ was carved from a single log over about seven weeks, using historic photos as a reference for the uniform.

Ben said: “The hardest part was getting a realistic human face. It’s about 95 per cent chainsaw, then a grinder to get the details. I really enjoyed seeing it take shape.”

Currently standing in his home workshop, Ben would like to see the sculpture placed somewhere as a public memorial and has been contacting local councils and military offices.

He hopes to develop his hobby into a business, called Recarving Nature. He said: “I’ve always done woodwork as a hobby so I enjoyed watching chainsaw videos on YouTube and decided to have a go, just to see if I could do it – turns out I can. You’ve got to have a creative eye, but it’s one of the hardest machines to manipulate to get things just right.”

But the offer is open to anyone and if it can attract a reasonable enough bid, Ben says he will donate a share of any profit to an armed forces charity.

He said: “It would just be nice to see it go to a forever home and have pride of place somewhere meaningful.”

To see how Ben created the sculpture and find out more about the auction, visit youtu.be/tJUb5vj7_kI?si=I9wuoT0pP16_5QDJ.

Anyone interested in rehoming it can write to recarvingnature[at]gmail.com.