AN exhibition in Bishops Castle pays tribute to those that paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting for their country.

Former Advertiser photographer Nigel Bishop, who lives in Craven Arms, is holding his first exhibition at Bishops Castle Town Hall in tribute to the war dead as well as those that fought and survived.

The exhibition, called 'The Unreturning', features photos taken at Ypres on November 11 2011 and also at the 60th and 70th anniversaries of D-Day in Southsea, Portsmouth.

Both Southsea beach and Portsmouth Harbour were vital military embarkation points for the D-Day landings of June 6 1944.

Mr Bishop said the project started unknowingly in 2004.

"I read somewhere that the D-Day 60th commemorations in 2004 would be the last time that an event of this scale would take place and possibly the last time that the remaining veterans would gather together," said Mr Bishop.

"Following the realisation that security would be so tight in Normandy that it would not be possible, in the words of legendary war photographer Robert Cappa, to be 'close enough', I travelled to Portsmouth and spend the weekend photographing the events and ceremonies there.

"Looking back at the D-Day 60th commemorations, it feels like the world has significantly changed.

"The first Iraq war was only just in its infancy and the insurgency, the 9/11 attack, and the long campaigns that would be fought in Afghanistan and again in Iraq were all yet to come."

Mr Bishop said he felt the responsibility of recording the events for future generations to see.

"From the beginning of my interest in photography I have been fascinated by the work of Victorian photographers like Francis Frith and the idea that their pictures gave a window through which we can look at the past," said Mr Bishop.

"My photographs won't change the world but I hope they will capture the world as it changes and that time will allow them to provide that 'window to the past'."

The exhibition runs until November 29.