Vit Angetter

The Early Years

Vít was born on 25 February 1921 in Přáslavice near Olomouc, one of the four children of Josef and Maria Angetter, a working class family.

On completion of five years primary and three years secondary schooling in Přáslavice, he then attended the trade school in Olomouc for three years where he trained as a metalwork turner. On completion of his training he was employed locally as a turner. He was an active member of the Přáslavice Sokol group and during the mobilisation of September 1938, he served as a guard at the tunnel on the Olomouc – Beroun railway line.

Munich Dictat

Following the Munich Agreement, when the Sudetenland was ceded to Germany, Poland and Hungary also took some Czechoslovak territory. About 30% of Czechoslovakian territory had been lost, which included its border defences, and the new revised German border was now only some 30 km from Prague.

Despite assurances given by Hitler at the Munich Agreement, also known in Czechoslovakia as the ‘Munich Dictat’ or ‘Munich Betrayal’, of 30 September 1938, that he had no further interest in territorial gains for Germany, just a few months later Hitler extended his demands that the remaining regions of Czechoslovakia become part of Germany.

In January 1939, Vit went to Prague looking for work and was employed at Ing. Miroslav Klapka Elevator Factory, at Veleslavín, Prague 6.

German Occupation

The Germans occupied Czechoslovakia on 15 March 1939. Under pressure, Emil Hácha, the Czechoslovak President, had ceded to their demands. In the early hours of 15 March 1939, he had ordered all Czechoslovak military units to stand down, remain in their barracks and not resist the occupation. By dawn that day, the Germans began their occupation of Czechoslovakia. Germanisation of Bohemia and Moravia began immediately; they were now the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (Protektorat Böhmen und Mähren), while Slovakia, in return for its allegiance to Nazi Germany, had become the ‘puppet’ independent state of Slovakia.

Within a few days of their occupation, the Germans disbanded the Czechoslovak military and all personnel were dismissed.

In autumn 1939, following anti-German demonstrations in occupied Czechoslovakia, Nazi authorities launched a brutal crackdown on Czech students. After medical student Jan Opletal died from injuries sustained during a protest on 28 October, his funeral on 15 November became a demonstration of Czech national resistance.

In reprisal, on 17 November, the Nazis executed, without trial, nine student leaders without trial, deported approximately 1,200 students to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and closed all Czech universities and colleges. These reprisals were aimed to suppress resistance and weaken Czech national identity.

For eighteen-year old Vít, these brutal reprisals immediately initiated his impulse to escape and fight for the freedom of his homeland. “I heard on the radio about our army being formed in France. And after the terror against the students, when the Germans shot them and took them to concentration camps, I considered it my duty to escape to our foreign army.” Independently, he planned his escape. He instinctively felt that the borders with Slovakia and Hungary would be heavily guarded, so he chose the unusual route of going through Austria to Yugoslavia to escape via the “Balkan” route to France.

The Balkan Route to France

His adventerous journey began on 12 February 1940, when, with a friend, he boarded a train in Olomouc towards Břeclav. He got off in Hrušky, the last Czechoslovak station before Břeclav, from where he then went alongside the railway line on skis. From Břeclav he then continued – again by train – to Vienna and from there by another train towards Yugoslavia. He got off again at the penultimate station before the border, put on his skis again and crossed the snowy mountains to Yugoslavia. Only there, after completing their sporting performance, were they able to relax at least for a while.

Three days later, on 15 February, they reported for duty at the Czechoslovak Consulate in Zagreb. There they enlisted for the Czechoslovak Foreign Army in France. There helped print the local Czech newspaper for a few days and then he and several other determined volunteers were sent to Belgrade. There, larger transports were already being assembled. With one of them, he left via Greece, Turkey and Syria to Lebanon and then from Beirut on the ship Will-Damiens to the southern French port of Marseille.

Czechoslovak Army in France

After arriving in Marseille, the Czechoslovak escapees were transferred to the Czechoslovak depot at Agde, located on the Mediterranean coast about 45 km southwest of Montpellier. There, on 29 March, at the rank of private, he joined the Air Force group, commanded by Staff Capitan Josef Schejbal.

Given that Vít had been trained as a machine operator, he was assigned as an aircraft mechanic. However, Agde was only a temporary location for the Czechoslovak Air Force. The replacement unit and training base of the Czechoslovak Air Force (Dépot de Guerre de l’Aviation Tchécoslovaque) were originally to be located in Cognac. In the end, however, Bordeaux-Mérignac airbase was chosen, where the airmen from Agde began to move from 15 April 1940. Vít arrived there with a group of 127 men from Agde.

Vít, like the vast majority of Czechoslovak airmen, had not completed his training and posted to an operational l’Armeé d’Air unit before the Germans invaded. They invaded France on 10 May 1940 and their rapid Blitzkrieg forced the Allied frontline back westwards.

With the imminent capitulation of France, the Czechoslovak airmen were released from l’Armée de l’Air service and those at Bordeaux-Mérignac prepared to be evacuated by ship to England, from where they could continue the fight against Germany.

Operation Aerial:

Since 15 June, Operation Aerial, the evacuation of Allied military forces and civilians from ports in Western France had been in operation. There the Czechoslovak airmen, under the command of Staff Capitan Josef Schejbal, as well as Poles and other nationalities, boarded the ship ‘Karanan’, a small 395 tonne Dutch cargo ship, for the voyage to Britain. They departed on the 19 June, sailing down the Gironde estuary to reach the Atlantic and to England.

The route took them far out into the Atlantic, to avoid U-Boats and Luftwaffe attacks, before changing course East to Falmouth in England.. They arrived on 21 June, the day before France capitulated.

The RAF

On arriving at Falmouth, the Czechoslovak airmen were given a clean-up, a meal, a change of clothing, 5 shillings back pay and taken to Falmouth railway station for onward travel to RAF Innsworth, Gloucestershire, for security vetting and medical checks. Once that was completed, their next move was to the Czechoslovak resettlement camp at Cholmondeley Park, near Chester. Here they were billeted in the tented camp in the castle grounds.

On 7 July 1940 he was accepted into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at the brank of AC2. On 7 March 1941, after training as an aircraft fitter he was posted to 310 [Czechoslovak] sqn, stationed at RAF Duxford, which had successfully participated in the Battle of Britain.

Aircrew Selection

Vít aspired to have a a more active role in the war, and volunteered for flying duties. Finally, on 14 May 1942, he was sent first to the Czechoslovak Depot in St. Athan, where he was assigned to the pilot cadets, followed by on 5 July 1942, to No 1 Air Crew Reception Centre at London for assessement.

He passed the assessement and on 25 July was posted to 4 ITW (Initial Training Wing), at Paignton, Devon, for a course in flying theory. Successfully completing the course, he was posted to 3 EFTS (Elementary Flying Training School), at Shellingford, from 16 October to 11 December for elementary pilot training in dual-seat bi-plane de Havilland Tiger Moths.

Canada

On 11 December, having successfully completed that course, he was then posted to Canada to continue his pilot training. On 16 January 1943, he arrived at No.31 EFTS (Elementary Flying Training School), at De Winton. Initial training was again on de-Havilland Tiger Moths and also on North American Stearman’s. On completion of that course, on 19 April he was posted to No.34 SFTS (Service Flying Training School) in Medicine Hat, for advanced pilot training on the faster North American Harvard, dual-seated monoplane. He successfully completed his training and was awarded his RAF pilots wings. On 12 September 1943 he sailed back from Canada to England.

Training Continues

From 14 December 1943 to 15 February 1944, he then completed a three-month advanced training course at No 5 (Pilot’s) Advance Flying Unit at RAF Ternhill airfield, where the training was mainly carried out using Miles Master Mk.I, Mk.Il and Mk.III aircraft, as well as operationally flown Hawker Hurricanes Mk.I, withdrawn from combat units. Pilots were trained in these aircraft in the specific meteorological conditions of the British Isles (i.e., especially in fog or other adverse weather conditions or in Links trainers to simulate flying without external visibility).

This was immediately followed by posting for the final, combat phase of fighter training, to No 53 OTU [Operational Training Unit] at RAF Kirton-on-Lindsey, some 8 miles south of Scunthorpe, in Lincolnshire, where he was trained on Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft.

On 2 May 1944, he successfully completed combat training at 53rd OTU, was transferred to No 84 GSU and after a short course in the use of a gyroscope at the Central Gunnery School.

To 312 (Czechoslovak) Sqn

On completion of his training as a fighter pilot, on 12 May 1944, he was posted to 312 [Czechoslovak] Sqn who were deployed at RAF Appledram, near Chichester. Operation Overlord – D-Day – the Allied invasion of Normandy was now only a few weeks away and the squadron, along with 310 and 313, fellow Czechoslovak Sqn’s were training in preparation for their role in the invasion.

In the ranks of 312 Sqn, Vít distinguished himself during the Allied invasion in Normandy, and the Allied ground forces fought their way to Germany, subsequent low-level ground attacks in Holland as well as long-range escort duties over Germany. During this period he made 68 offensive patrols, totalling 178 Operational hours.

Vít greatest combat success from this period can undoubtedly be called Ranger over occupied Holland on 25 August 1944. Four Spitfires HF.Mk. IXC led by the famous F/Lt Otto Smik DFC, destroyed three railway trains at the Raalte station. At least one of them was obviously transporting the much-needed fuel for the enemy. After their repeated attacks, one of the tanks exploded first and then all fifteen to twenty carriages of this middle train caught fire. The air was immediately shaken by a series of huge explosions. The fire then spread to the other two trains and the smoke from the destroyed trains rose to an altitude of 2000 mtrs; the pilots saw it from a distance of a hundred kilometers away.

“Our main target in Holland was to be Steenwijk airfield,” recalled Vít many years later. “As we approached the coast, we immediately descended sharply, to about 200 feet. This was important because at this altitude and our speed, the Germans could not surprise us so easily. At this, or perhaps even lower altitude, we flew over the so-called Dutch Sea, which is correctly called the Zuider Zee, where they waved to us from some smaller boats, probably fishermen. Soon we flew over the airfield at this altitude, but it didn’t seem to be busy. So we turned south towards Zwolle, which we avoided a bit. Nearby we came across the Raalte railway station and there was some good loot waiting for us: there were three long freight trains, the middle one was a tanker.”

“Since everyone was waving at us from below, the four of us flew over the station again, almost at ground level, to give the engine drivers a chance to leave the locomotives. Then our Rodeo began. We carried out a raid on the tank train one by one. I no longer had any ammunition, but I continued the raid with the group.”

“We left the station after a big explosion that shook the air. It was unbelievable, everything was in flames and it flashed through my head how many people must have died there. We were already a good distance above the sea and we could still see the dark smoke quite high up…

This undisputed success was however redeemed by a loss, as one of the successful foursome, W/O Václav Ruprecht, crashed into the North Sea, about 90 kilometres east of Great Yarmouth, on his return for reasons that are not yet known. The plane and the pilot disappeared beneath the surface, which immediately closed over them. “… As a somewhat loose formation, we were already quite far from the Dutch coast, over the sea, when suddenly Ruprecht started to lag a little behind. I was to his left, so I also slowed down, but he stayed a little higher above him. At that moment I saw that the propeller was slowing down and Václav was struggling with something in the cockpit. I knew immediately that he was probably quickly switching the gas tank under the fuselage to the main tank, but it was too late. We were not high and the Spitfire suddenly went headlong into the sea. Since Smik and Konvička were already almost out of sight, I started transmitting for a position fix. The Spitfire was under water, it only lasted a few minutes. Then the tail surfaces surfaced again and within a few seconds it went under the water. The fuselage of the plane was probably filled with water. I still hoped for a few minutes that I would see Václav, but in vain… “”

Return to Czechoslovakia

He returned to Czechoslovakia on 24 August 1945. Soon after, he was posted to the newly formed 10th Air Regiment deployed at Kbely airbase, Prague. On 1 1946, he was promoted to lieutenant in the reserve Air Force but, despite wanting to remain in military service, he was demobilised on 29 April 1946. On 10 March 1947 applied to re-join the Air Force and on 28 April 1947, he was re-called up for active service and transferred to České Budějovice airbase to the 2nd Air Replacement Regiment. Two months later, on 30 June 1947, he was transferred to Vysoké Mýto to the 1st Air Replacement Regiment with an assignment to the Air Military Academy (LVA) in Hradec Králové airbase as a combat fighter training instructor.

To ČSA

However, for personal and financial reasons, on 1 November 1947, he left the military and took up an incomparably better-paid position as a pilot with the Czechoslovak State Airlines (ČSA). He flew 23 domestic and international routes with the ČSA on twin-engine Douglas DC3. On 1 March 1949, he married Eva, née Veselá.

Communist putsch

In the aftermath of the Communist putsch of Feb ’48, the Czechoslovak airmen and soldiers who had fought in the West were now regarded by the Communist authorities as being politically unreliable and undesirable citizens. Many were arrested, imprisoned and subjected to other persecution.

The Communists commenced purging them from the military services and also Czechoslovak Airlines [ČSA]. Usually, this would entail being placed on ‘waiting leave’ followed by arrest, interrogation, and detention by the Státní bezpečnost [StB], the Czechoslovak Secret Police. This invariably led to a ‘trial’ – a formality as the outcome had already been decided – and imprisonment for several years at a hard labour camp with further persecution to their families. Thus, many former RAF airmen made the choice of escaping again to the West rather than be persecuted by their Communist countrymen.

In contrast to the sweeping purges in the Czechoslovak Army, the repercussions of the February 1948 impacted, at least initially, only individual cases from the ranks of former RAF pilots in service of ČSA. Primarily this because the only trained aircrew and aircraft mechanics were all former RAF personnel and as yet politically correct were still being being trained.

Escape to the West

In this situation it became clear that sooner or later even the remaining RAF pilots would be forced to leave their beloved profession. One of the consequences of this anticipated fate was a unique getaway over the Iron Curtain, a coordinated multiple defection or hijack of three ČSA airplanes flown by (former) RAF pilots now employed by ČSA. The event took place on March 24, 1950 when three Douglas C-47 Skytrain (Dakota DC3) airliners took off from Brno, Ostrava and Bratislava but instead of their Prague destination landed at Erding airport near Munich in West Germany.

The outcome of the brilliantly executed plan for the Communist regime was rather pathetic. Although only a small part of the 85 persons on board of the three planes knew about the plan, a total of 27 of them remained abroad and 58 returned to Czechoslovakia. Some of those who had for personal reasons returned to their country later again escaped behind the Iron Curtain. The event was met with huge response on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Although the communist Czechoslovakia requested extradition of the hijackers “as common criminals,” no one was extradited. Moreover, the entire operation had a positive impact on the upcoming US Senate discussion of the reform of the legislature governing the settling of the refugees from communist countries (Displaced Persons Act). The Communist regime had to settle for dismissing the remaining RAF pilots from ČSA even at a price of cuts in air traffic.

Nonetheless, it is indisputable that the multiple hijack did not cause but merely hastened this process. The hijack ringleaders were sentenced in absentia to “the most severe penalties,” while each of the passengers who had failed to return received a 25 year prison sentence. In contrast to the majority of other refugees who wished to settle in Britain, Vít Angetter opted for the USA where he wanted to actively fight against communism.