* 13.07.1914, Brno.
† 06.06.1995, Brno.
Pre WW2:
Otmar Kučera was born on 13 July 1914 at Juliánov, a district in the city of Brno in the Moravia region of Czechoslovakia. His father was a tinsmith and with his wife Žofia, Otmar was their second son. In 1925, after completing his elementary schooling, he continued his education, at the State Grammar school at Vídeňské Street, Brno and then in 1927 to the Municipal school at Merhautova street, Brno. In 1928 he left school, without any academic qualifications and began an apprenticeship to train as a locksmith until 1931. With this new skill, he then worked for various private companies in Brno. During this period, he was an active sportsman and a member of the SK Židenice cycle club. However during this period, like many of his peers he developed a fascination for airplanes, thus when he became of age for his military conscription his first choice was the Air Force.
Czechoslovak Air Force:
Otmar commenced his military conscription in 1933 and was selected to attend the cadet course at the Military Aviation Academy at Prostějov. After his basic training he was selected for a pilot training course, completing this on Letov Š-328 two- seater biplanes. He graduated from the course on 1 August 1935 and was posted to the 8th Observation Squadron of the 2nd ‘Dr. Edvard Beneš‘ Air Regiment who were deployed at Olomouc and equipped with Letov Š-328 biplane observation aircraft. During this period, he sought to increase his aviation qualifications, firstly by completing a night flying course and then undertaking fighter pilot training.
He remained in fighter pilot training until he graduated on 18 May 1938 and was promoted to the rank of sergeant. Otmar was then posted to 36th Fighter Squadron of the 2nd Air Regiment stationed at Olomouc and equipped with Avia B-534 biplane fighters. A highlight for Otmar during that period was that on 2 September 1938 he was selected to fly one of the Avia B-534 aircraft that escorted Charles Lindbergh, the first transatlantic pilot, when he flew to Moravia.
It was now a sensitive time in Central Europe and the build-up of military forces by Nazi Germany, along the Czechoslovak borders, caused the Czechoslovak government to declare a partial mobilisation, on 20 May 1938, to counter that threat.
Later that year, the aggressive overtures by neighbouring Nazi Germany regarding the Sudeten regions – the German speaking areas – of Czechoslovakia caused the Czechoslovak Government to again declare a mobilisation on 23 September 1938.
With these mobilisations, the 36th Fighter Squadron was redeployed to Piešťany airfield in Slovakia to undertake patrols in the Nitra region to protect the borders against possible attacks from Hungary.
Following the Munich Agreement of 30 September 1938, when Czechoslovakia was required to cede its Sudeten regions to Nazi Germany, the Germans completed their occupation on 15 March 1939. Czechoslovakia had then become a German Protectorate – the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia – and Slovakia became a German ‘puppet’ state. The Czechoslovak military had been ordered by their President to stand down and not to resist the incoming German military. Within a few days, the Czechoslovak military had been disbanded and all personnel sent home. By this time Otmar had achieved the rank of Sergeant and had made 2,025 flights totalling 665 hours.
German Occupation – 15 March 1939:
Upon German occupation, Germanisation of Bohemia and Moravia began immediately. For the former military personnel and many patriotic Czech citizens, this was a degrading period. But just four days later, on 19 March 1939, former Senior officers of the disbanded Czechoslovak military had started to form an underground army, known as Obrana Národa [Defense of the Nation]. Obrana Národa also worked in co-operation with Svaz Letců, the Airman Association of the Czechoslovak Republic. One of their objectives was to assist as many airmen and soldiers as possible to get to neighbouring Poland where they could be formed into military units to fight for the liberation of their homeland. These two organisations provided money, courier and other assistance to enable airmen to escape to Poland.
Like many of his former Air Force colleagues, Otmar could not reconcile himself to the Munich surrender and subsequent occupation and was determined to leave home to go abroad to fight for the liberation of his homeland. He finally made up his mind and confided in his mother who had always been very firm with him. He expected that when he broke this news to her she would have cried, instead she said “You are a soldier and it is your duty to fight for the Republic! If you didn’t go. I would send you myself . ” Thus his parents and siblings had no problems with his decision. After his departure, Protectorate officials came to ask the Kučerov’s where their son Otmar was. Mrs Kučerová feigned indignation and snapped at them: “Don’t even remind me of him, I haven’t seen him for several years. He doesn’t know the way home, I myself would like to know where he is”. The officials departed and never troubled the family again.
Escape:
In August 1939, Otmar and a collegue went to Slovakia, crossing the border at Holíč with the intention of getting to Budapest. However, on reaching the Slovak area of Senec, they found that region had already been occupied by the Hungarians and they were arrested by Hungarian police who returned them to the Slovak authorities. En-route back to the Protectorate, they managed to persuade their Slovak guard to let them escape to avoid imprisonment when they were handed over to the Protectorate authorities.
Otmar’s second escape was on Christmas Day 1939, accompanied by fellow airman Jaroslav Dohnal, later to be a 313 Sqn pilot, and Jaroslav Kotásek. The three covertly crossed the border into Slovakia, then Hungary and reached the French Consulate in Budapest. From there they crossed into Yugoslavia and reached Belgrad where, at the Czechoslovak Consulate, they met other escapees. Next they went by ship to Greece and then onto Turkey and Beirut. There, on 24 February, 1940, they boarded the French ship Providence and sailed to France, arriving on 3 March. They were then transferred to Agde, near Marseille, where the Czechoslovak military had established a camp.
France:
Otmar was then transferred to the l’Armée de l’Air fighter training airbase at Mérignac, near Bordeaux, for re-training on French equipment.
On 10 May 1940, the Germans began their expected invasion of France. The speed of their Blitzkreig quickly caused rapid retrenchment of Allied forces there to retreat Westwards.
Since 15 June, Operation Aerial, the evacuation of Allied military forces and civilians from ports in Western France had been in operation and with the French capitulation imminent, on 13 June 1940, Otmar and the other Czechoslovak airmen were released from their l’Armée de l’Air service and instructed to get to the port at Bordeaux, before the Germans reached there, so that they could be evacuated to England from where they could carry on the fight against Nazi Germany. With other Czechoslovak airmen, he reached Bordeaux,. where 38 other Czechoslovak airmen, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Vítěslav Rosík, they boarded the SS ‘Kmicic’ formerly the SS ‘Robur III’, a Polish cargo ship, and sailed on 19 June down the Gironde estuary. The route took them far out into the Atlantic, to avoid U-Boats and Luftwaffe attacks, before changing course East to Falmouth, Great Britain. They arrived on 23 June, the day after France capitulated.
RAF:
After arriving at Falmouth, the Czechoslovak airmen were transferred to RAF Innsworth, Gloucestershire, for security vetting. Otmar was accepted into the RAF Volunteer Reserve, at its lowest rank of AC2 and transferred to the Czechoslovak airmen’s depot at Cosford, near Wolverhampton for basic training and English lessons. He was promoted to the rank of Sgt on 18 September, and posted to 52 OTU at Debden, in Essex, for re-training onto Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft. He completed this re-training on 5 October 1940 and with fellow Czechoslovak Sgt Miroslav Mansfeld was posted to 111 Sqn at RAF Drem in northern Scotland who were equipped with Hurricanes.
Battle of Britain:
The squadron had previously been stationed at RAF Croydon and had suffered heavy losses during the Battle of Britain and had now been rotated north to RAF Drem in September for a well deserved rest and to recuperate their losses. Whilst at RAF Drem, the squadrons role was to protect the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow against German naval or air attacks.
Two days later he made his first flight with the squadron, flying Hurricane P3106, with fellow Czechoslovak Sgt Miroslav Mansfeld for a 30 minute formation flight led by P/O Peter Simpson. Four further training flights, including dog-fighting, beam and head-on attacks and gun firing were undertaken for the next four days. His first operational flight in the Battle of Britain came on 16 October when he was scrambled at 11:20, a flight that lasted 10 minutes but during which no enemy aircraft sighted.
Whilst he did not achieve any combat success during the Battle of Britain itself, his first Luftwaffe victory, a He III, shot down into the North Sea, was to come on 13 November 1940.
After the Battle of Britain:
With 111 Sqn, together with P/O Peter J. Simpson (Yellow 1) and fellow Czechoslovak Sgt Miroslav Mansfeld, (Yellow 3) and himself flying Hurricane P3470 (Yellow 2), Otmar achieved his first combat success with a shared victory of a He III at around 13:10. The German plane was flying at 750 feet and crashed into the North Sea about 30 miles East of Aberdeen. Only one of the He III airmen was seen to bail out of the stricken aircraft. The three 111 Sqn Hurricanes were undamaged in the combat and landed back at Dyce at 13:40, having fired a total of 5990 rounds in that combat.
Otmar was promoted to the rank of F/Sgt on 7 March 1941 and on 15 April he was posted to 312 (Czechoslovak) Sqn who were based at RAF Valley, in North Wales, and equipped with Hurricane Mk II’s. The squadron’s role was to protect Liverpool docks from Luftwaffe attacks and also Allied shipping in the Irish Sea. On 29 May 1941, the squadron was redeployed to RAF Kenley, in Surrey. Here, he achieved further combat success with two victories during the summer of 1941 and a Ju 88 on 16 February 1942.
On 14 April 1942, Otmar was commissioned at the rank of P/O and posted to 313 (Czechoslovak) Sqn, who were based at RAF Fairlop, North East of London, and equipped with Spitfire Mk Vb’s.
More Combat Success:
He achieved further combat success on 5 May 1942, when the Hornchurch Wing, comprising Spitfires from 64, 122 and 313 squadrons was assigned as high-cover fighter protection for 6 Boston bomber aircraft on a raid on Lille, France. 313 Sqn took-off at 14:40 from Hornchurch and returned between 16:05 and 16:20. Otmar was flying Spitfire Vb BM323 in Blue section. 313 Sqn were over Lille at 15:35 when they were attacked by Luftwaffe FW 190s. Otmar’s combat report for that sortie reads:
I was Blue 1, and after breaking formation over Lille I saw 4 F/W 190’s about to attack our section. I turned to starboard, and then to port and saw 6 F/W 190’s also about to attack. I approached one of these e/a from the left, made a slight turn to starboard, and fired a short burst from an opening range of 200 yds closing to 100 yds. This was a quarter port attack at a height of 18,000 ft. I immediately saw a large part of the wing fall off the e.a. and white then black smoke poured from it. I was about to follow, but had to pull out as several e/a were behind me. I last saw the F/W190 that I had attacked at a height of 15,000 ft, still smoking and in a vertical dive. At this time I observed a F/W190 going down in smoke followed by a Spitfire. I could not locate my squadron, and formed up with 122 squadron. I landed at Fairlop at 16:55 hours. I claim the e/a as probably destroyed.
He completed his operational tour on 8 May 1942 and was posted to the Czechoslovak Inspectorate General [CIG] in London and on 29 September was promoted to F/O. He remained with CIG until 1 January 1943 when he returned to 313 Sqn, now at RAF Churchstanton, to start his 2nd operational tour.
On 17 May 1943, he was sent on a course at the Flight Leaders School at Millfield returning to 313 Sqn on 8 June. He was then appointed as Flight Commander of ‘B’ Flight on 1 September 1943. On 17 September, whilst on a Ramrod offensive patrol over Northern France, he achieved his final combat success when he shot down a Luftwaffe Fw 190 near Conches.
Otmar completed his 2nd operational tour on 1 May 1944 and returned to the Czechoslovak Inspectorate General and on 31 May was promoted to the rank of F/Lt. There he was appointed Czechoslovak Liaison Officer for 19 Group of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. He returned to 313 Sqn, at RAF North Weald, on 15 November 1944 having been appointed their Commanding Officer. He returned to Czechoslovakia on 13 August 1945, having achieved 550 operational flying hours with the RAF.
Return to Czechoslovakia:
Sadly, on his return Otmar found that his mother had not survived the war. He decided to remain in the Czechoslovak Air Force, at the rank of nadporučík [F/O] and was appointed Personnel Officer for the 3rd Airbourne Division at Brno. That 8 September he was promoted to the rank of kapitán [F/lt]. On 15 November 1946 he was appointed the Commander of the Divisions Training Squadron.
On 6 September 1948 he was appointed Commander, with the rank of štábní kapitán major [S/Ldr] of the 7th Aviation Regiment, at Brno, who were equipped with Avia S-199 (Czechoslovak built Me 109g) fighter aircraft.
Communist Czechoslovakia:
Following the Communist take-over in February 1948, the Czechoslovaks who fought for the Allies in WW2 were regarded as being tainted by Capitalism and many were arrested, imprisoned and subjected to other persecution.
On 11 January 1949, Otmar was dismissed from the Czechoslovak Air Force and demoted in rank from Major to Private. He was arrested on 14 January by the StB – Státní bezpečnost – the State Security Police and interrogated at the Hradčanský domeček, at Hradčany, Prague. It was a former military prison from the Austro-Hungarian era and used by the Gestapo during WW2 and then the StB as a ‘detention centre’ or, more precisely, a torture chamber to extract information from its inmates.
In February he was moved to Špilberk prison at Brno. On 3 June 1949, Otmar was tried by the Brno State Court for anti-State activities but the case was dismissed for lack of evidence. Despite this, he was stripped of his Czechoslovak medals, he and his family were evicted from their flat and he was only permitted to do manual work working in a quarry or as a porter.
Otmar died of cancer, aged 80, on 6 June 1995 in Brno.
Medals:
Distinguished Flying Cross
1939 – 45 Star with Battle of Britain clasp
Air Crew Europe Star with Fance & Germany clasp
Defence Medal
War Medal with with Mentioned in Despatches Oak Leaf
Czechoslovakia / Československo:
Válečný kříž 1939 and 4 bars
Za chrabrost před nepřítelem and 2 bars.
Za zásluhy I.stupně
Pamětní medaile se štítky F–VB
Post WW2:
Řád Milana Rastislava Štefánika III. třídy
Remembered:
Czech Republic:
Brno:
Memorial Plaque at his former home in Brno.
Prague 1 – Klárov:
In November 2017, his name, along with the names of 2533 other Czechoslovak men and women who had served in the RAF during WW2, was unveiled at the Winged Lion Monument at Klárov, Prague 1.
Great Britain:
Capel-le_Ferne, Kent:
He is commemorated, along with the other 2940 Battle of Britain aircrew, on the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall at the National Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne, Kent:
Hawkinge:
Otmar is remembered on the Czechoslovak Battle of Britain pilots memorial at the Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge, Kent. It was unveiled on 28 October 2025, to commemorate the 88 Czechoslovaks who flew in that battle.
London – Battle of Britain Memorial:
He is also commemorated on the London Battle of Britain Memorial:
Article last updated: 31.10.2025.
Good morning, is it possible to have a photograph about Jakub (or Jacques) and Egon Schall (LAC and Sgt in the RAF unit 310). I am working on them (their work in France before the war). Thank you very much, Anne de Thoisy-Dallem