Sunday 10th November. Armistice Day

[ianfisher 101]

At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we will remember them. The Armistice, an agreement to end the fighting of the First World War as a prelude to peace negotiations, began at 11am on 11 November 1918. To this day we mark Armistice Day around the United Kingdom with a Two Minute Silence at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month.

The A2A Misfit Squadron commemorates the signing of the Armistice which brought an end to the First World War and remembers all those who gave their lives in service to their country since 1914.

Todays flight will take in some of the major battlefield sites of the Western Front. From the magnificent Menin Gate in Ypres through to Beaumont-Hamel and Thiepval on the Somme, World War history is everywhere.

Our route today sees us overfly

Liège – The Siege of Liège took place on 4th August 1914, making it the first battle on the Western Front. German forces besieged the city, taking it from the Belgian army on 16th

Namur – Namur was captured during the initial German offensive on Belgium on 25th It would not be liberated until 1918.

Brussels – The Belgian capital was captured on 20th November 1914 and was liberated on 18th November 1918, a week after the Armistice was signed.

Mons – Mons was the site of the first clash between the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the German Military on 23rd August 1914. It is also reputedly the site of the final shots of the war on the Western Front on November 11th, 1918.

Ypres – The City of Ypres became a focal point for fighting in Belgium and is the site of several of the much-storied WW1 battles. The First Battle of Ypres occurred in October 1914. Two more significant actions would take place there during the Great War, including the now infamous battle at Passchendaele. It is also home to the Menin Gate, under which hundreds of thousands of Commonwealth troops passed on their way to battlefields around Ypres.

After Ypres our flight takes us into France. Although he Western Front stretched from the coast to the border with Switzerland, some of the key Great War battlefield locations in France include:

The Somme – The Somme department and river saw terrific fighting throughout the war, particularly during 1916 when the five-month Battle of the Somme raged between July and November.

Verdun – Verdun is emblematic of French resistance, determination, and sacrifice during World War One. The Western Front’s longest battle took place in the fortress city between February and December 1916 with massive loss of life.

Marne – The Marne River was the site of one of the war’s most significant battles, with the French Army and BEF halting Germany’s sweep into France, preventing the fall of Paris.

Arras – Arras, one of the great cities of Northern France, was the site of two major battles in 1914 and 1917.

Cambrai – Cambrai is notable for being the site of the first major tank battle in history.

Aisne – The battlefields of Aisne saw action throughout the Great War from its opening year to the final bitter fighting in 1918.

Vimy Ridge – Vimy Ridge in the Pas-de-Calais is the site of a major victory for the Canadians.

The aircraft we'll be flying today will be the The A2A Avro 504K, a single-engine biplane bomber made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during World War I totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind that served in any military capacity during the First World War. More than 10,000 were built from 1913 until production ended in 1932.

First flown from Brooklands by Fred "Freddie" Raynham on 18 September 1913, powered by an 80 hp Gnome Lambda seven-cylinder rotary engine, the Avro 504 was a development of the earlier Avro 500, designed for training and private flying. It was a two-bay all-wooden biplane with a square-section fuselage.

In the winter of 1917–18 it was decided to use converted 504Js and 504Ks to equip Home Defence squadrons of the RFC, replacing ageing B.E.2cs, which had poor altitude performance. These aircraft were modified as single-seaters, armed with a Lewis gun above the wing on a Foster mounting, and powered by 100 hp Gnome or 110 hp Le Rhône engines. 274 converted Avro 504Js and Ks were issued to eight home defence squadrons in 1918, with 226 still being used as fighters at the end of the First World War.

The RAF's 504Ns were finally replaced in 1933 by the Avro Tutor, with small numbers continuing in civilian use until 1940, when seven were impressed into RAF service, where they were used for target- and glider-towing.

The 504 was the first British aeroplane to strafe troops on the ground[ as well as the first British aircraft to make a bombing raid over Germany. It was also the first Allied aeroplane to be downed by enemy anti-aircraft fire and was the first aircraft flown by many future aces, including Billy Bishop. The 504 is easily recognisable because of the single skid between the wheels, referred to as the "toothpick" in the RAF.

https://skyvector.com/?ll=50.4816287123 ... 42E%20LFAQ

Meet at: 1930z for a 2000z departure.

Meet on: Digital Theme Park on JoinFS.

Comms through A2A Discord channel.

Start at: EBLG

Aircraft: A2A 504K

Local Takeoff time: 1300.

Weather: Live.