'They were made to feel guilty - we need to change that': Metal artist Luke Perry appeals for help with new project celebrating unsung Black Country heroes

Luke Perry, the Black Country metal artist behind sculptures such as The NHS Dandelion, in Moseley Hall Hospital, and the Froglife scultpure in Reedswood Park, Walsall is back again appealing for help for his latest project.

The project, dubbed 'Fighting from Home', aims to showcase the vital role of the Black Country's reserved occupations, such as miners, chain makers, schoolteachers and rail workers, who were exempt from fighting in both World Wars, due to the national importance of their career.

The metal artist said that this project is particularly poignant for himself after he talked with a family at a war memorial about the role of reserved occupation workers and the survivor guilt they felt post-war. 

Announcing the upcoming project, Luke Perry, 41, said: "During both World Wars, many of the men were sent abroad to fight, but there was also a huge amount of men who worked in reserved occupation roles such as the agricultural, engineering and manufacturing sectors. 

"These men, who were miners, teachers, and policemen, were deemed vitally important to keeping Britain functioning during the war. Sadly a lot of those men are dead now and they rarely talked about their role, but when they did, it was in a sort of melancholic way, they were almost guilty or embarrassed for not being in a front-line role. It really touched me."