The Red Arrows TO CELEBRATE raf's 90th anniversary

Britain is preparing to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force, with events including a Red Arrows flypast over the London Eye.  The RAF - an amalgamation of the Royal Naval Air Service, to which Henry Allingham belonged, and the army’s Royal Flying Corps - will hold a series of events including a commemorative service at St Clement Danes Church in London and a concert in Birmingham. It will issue service badges to 25 veterans and, most spectacularly on 1 April, stage an aerial display by the Reds above central London culminating at the London Eye.  

This is likely to an extended flypast over a number of landmarks, rather than any form of aerobatic display.  Additionally, it's worth remembering that the London Eye is situated on the River Thames, directly opposite the RAF building.

A week after the celebration, a controversial film about the German World War I pliot Manfred von Richthofen, entitled The Red Baron will have its premiere in Germany, with a UK release to follow.

German film-makers have spent £14m on the new film about the country’s most famous fighter pilot, Manfred von Richthofen, making it one of the most expensive in the country’s history. The Red Baron, who shot down 80 British, Canadian and Australian pilots, is portrayed as a brilliant and sensitive hero in the English-language production.

Nikolai Müllerschön, writer and director of The Red Baron, commented on Germany's reluctance to portray its soldiers and pilots in films, saying: ‘Historically there has been a reluctance, and there are strong voices in Germany still saying we’re not allowed to do this: a film about a German war hero. But the film makes a very clear statement against war. In it Richthofen says that he understands everyone has turned this world into a slaughterhouse and the war cannot be won. He says he’s not going to be the immortal god that Berlin wants him to be; he knew millions were lured into the trenches with such propaganda. He had been turned into one of the first pop stars in history by one of the biggest propaganda machines ever seen.’