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One Man and his Dog

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Anthony Richardson .,

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This is the first book written about Jan (Vaclav) Bozdech and his dog Antis, who was the first non-British dog to be awarded the Dicken Medal – the animal equivalent of the VC.   Jan, a Czech Airman, escaped to Poland following the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, and served in the French Foreign Legion and the French Air Force.  He was shot down over Germany, and whilst struggling to find his way back to the French line found an abandoned Alsatian puppy who was to share his life for the next 13 years.

Jan and Antis’ escape route from France was to fly French officers and civilians to Gibraltar,  but they were shot down over the sea and rescued firstly by an Italian convoy and then by a British warship which sank the Italian ship.  On arrival in England, Jan joined the RAF as an air-gunner firstly posted to 312 (Czech) Fighter Squadron, later transferring to 311 (Czech) Bomber Squadron where Antis took to accompanying the crew on their bombing missions.

Jan returned, with Antis, to a post in the Czechoslovak Ministry of National Defence at the end of the war. Following the communist takeover, Jan was warned that his freedom was in peril  and escaped on foot with Antis over the border into occupied Germany from where he returned to England and the RAF.

See also ‘Freedom in the Air’ by Hamish Ross

** This book is now out-of-print. For the website visitor interested in learning more about the Czechoslovak Airmen in Great Britain during World War II, second-hand copies should be available through specialised book shops, book fairs, or on-line sources such as abebooks or amazon