PREVIEW

AssetID: 36382683

Headline: Against The Odds, Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington , York, Yorkshire, UK

Caption: Friday 10th May 2019 Picture Credit Charlotte Graham Pictures Shows Re Enactor Aircrew in World War 2 authentic flying gear, with the Handley Page Halifax, and a Vintage RAF "Follow Me Jeep" prepare for the weekend of Weekend Wartime Celebration. Museum Gears Up for “Against the Odds” Wartime Re- Weekend! It will be all systems go at the Yorkshire Air Museum tomorrow as we prepare for our forthcoming “Against the Odds” event which will see some 100 re-enactors bring the Elvington attraction to life, recreating RAF Elvington at war! It will also celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion, and members of the York Normandy Veterans Association will be joining us over the weekend as well. Preparations will start on Thursday 9th May, when the huge Halifax four-engine bomber, “Friday the 13th”, will be extracted from the confines of our main display hangar to be placed on central display as a focal point of the show! During the weekend, air and ground crews in full period uniform and kit, will assemble around the aircraft for magnificent photographic opportunities, in a different perspective to anything we have done previously. Similarly, our fine example of the Douglas C-47 Dakota, will be outdoors, with a ground crew team simulating a major service of the aircraft. The Dakota is synonymous with the Airborne Invasion during the D-Day Landings, dropping thousands of paratroopers and towing troop-carrying gliders into occupied France. Halifax bombers, including those flown by French 346 “Guyenne” Squadron from Elvington, took part in missions against strategic targets on the Normandy coast in the days and nights before the invasion commenced, including an attack on the huge German gun battery located 2km outside the fishing port of Grand-Camp Maisy on the western edge of Omaha Beach, which posed a huge threat to the approaching fleet. Indeed, the Halifax bombers, including the original “Friday the 13th” from which our restoration is named, and others from 158 Squadron based at RAF Lissett, Bridlington, flew over the advancing armada on return from their mission on the night of 5th/6th June 1944. The ‘aircrews’ will conduct mission briefing and de-briefing sessions over the two days of the event, along with a team of WAAF’s and personnel staffing the Control Tower, to really bring the base to life. Demonstrations of parachute packing and defusing a German ‘parachute’ mine, along with period wartime singers and dancers will create a tremendous atmosphere for all the family to enjoy!! Saturday holds the anticipation of a flypast by a Hawker Hurricane fighter from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, subject to weather and operational conditions on the day, whilst on Sunday there will be a poignant Service in our Station Chapel to mark and reflect upon the traumatic events of the D-Day Invasion, which changed the course of the war. “Against the Odds” – Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th May. 10:00am to 17:00pm. Admission: £15 Adults; £12 Concession; £7 Child and £40 Family (2A + 3 Ch.) Ian Ian Richardson Communications Manager | Membership The Allied Air Forces Memorial 01904 608 595 | www.yorkshireairmuseum.org To Honour, Educate and Inspire

Keywords: News,Events,Yorkshire

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