President Iliana Iotova will lay a wreath at the Airman's Monument in Sofia today, 16 October, on Aviation Day and the day of the Bulgarian Air Force. The president's press office and the Defence Ministry press centre announced this.
Iotova, who is also supreme commander of the armed forces, will receive the guard of honour. The wreath honours airmen who died for their country.
The wreath and flower ceremony is a traditional military tribute to defenders of the nation's skies who died for Bulgaria's freedom or while on duty in peacetime.
Defence minister Dimitar Stoyanov, chief of defence Admiral Emil Eftimov, senior officers and Air Force personnel will also attend. The Guards Representative Brass Band will play, and a representative unit of the National Guards Unit will take part.
Invitations went to representatives of the armed forces branches, the Presidency, the Council of Ministers, the diplomatic corps and local government, as well as Air Force veterans and other guests.
Today marks 114 years since the first combat flight of Bulgarian military aviation. It took place on 16 October 1912, during the Balkan War (1912–1913). Pilot Lt Radul Milkov and observer Lt Prodan Tarakchiev flew an Albatros plane over the Edirne fortress. The two scouted the position of reserve troops and dropped two hand grenades on Karaagach station.
It was the first reconnaissance flight by a plane in real combat conditions in Europe, and the first in the history of Bulgarian aviation. It was also the first aerial bombing on the continent in a front-line setting.
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