* 09.08.1912, Vlkaneč.
† 23.06.1976, Darvel, UK.
Pre WW2:
Josef Kopřiva was born on 9 August 1912 in Vlkaneč, a village in the Kutná Hora region of Czechoslovakia, some 75 km South-East of Prague. After completing his education, he trained as an electrician at the Kubizňák company in Golčov Jeníkov, about 2km away, and then attended a two-year training course at the vocational school at Kutná Hora.
In October 1930, for his mandatory military service, he volunteered for the Air Force and was selected to attend the Military Aviation Academy, at Prostějov, for pilot training. Amongst his fellow pupils on that course were František Chábera, Otto Hanzlíček, Miroslav Mansfeld and Raimund Půda, who were later to join Josef in the RAF in England, and fly in the Battle of Britain. He graduated from Prostějov, being awarded his pilot’s wings, in 1932 and was posted to the observation squadron of the 4th Air Regiment deployed at Hradec Králove, who were equipped with two-seater Letov Š-328 biplane reconnaissance aircraft. On completion of his mandatory military service, he decided to make the military his career. In 1934 he returned to Prostějov for training as a fighter pilot from which he graduated.
Josef then returned to the 4th Air Regiment, at Hradec Králove, and in 1937, he completed a course on night flying, amongst the others attending that course were František Bernard and Karel Körber who were later also to fly in the Battle of Britain. By the time of the German occupation in March 1939, Josef had achieved 980 flying hours and had attained the rank of četař [Sergeant].
Munich Betrayal:
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.
German Occupation:
The Germans occupied Czechoslovakia on 15 March 1939. Under pressure, Emil Hácha, the Czechoslovak President, had acceded 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.
Upon occupation, the Czechoslovak Air Force was disbanded by the Germans and all personnel demobilised. The airmen were given the opportunity to enlist in the Luftwaffe or join Lufthansa. Only a handful did.
But just four days later, on 19 March 1939, former Senior officers of the now-disbanded Czechoslovak military had started to form an underground army, known as Obrana Národa [Defence 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. Usually, this was by crossing the border from the Ostrava region.
To Poland:
Josef was amongst the many Czechoslovak airmen and soldiers who regarded the German occupation as unacceptable and who saw it was their duty to go to Poland from where they could fight to achieve the liberation of Czechoslovakia.
With the help of those two organisations, Josef covertly escaped over the border to Poland on 10 June and travelled to Krakow where he reported for military duty at the Czechoslovak Consulate.
Polish Disapointment:
However, there he was informed that the formation of Czechoslovak military units in Poland were just rumours because the Polish authorities would not allow Czechoslovak military units to be formed on its territory for fear of provoking Nazi Germany.
Instead, he learnt that the Czechoslovak Consul had, via his counterpart in Paris, negotiated with the French Government that the escaped Czechoslovak military would be permitted to travel to France. But there was a condition: as French Law did not permit foreign military personnel on its territory during peacetime, the Czechoslovaks would be required to enlist in the French Foreign Legion for a period of five years – but with the assurance that in the event of war being declared, the Czechoslovaks would be released from the Legion and transferred into French military units. The alternative was that they would be sent back to Czechoslovakia, now a German Protectorate, where execution or deportation to a concentration camp would be the most likely outcome.
Josef, like most of the Czechoslovak escapees, decided that their best choice was to go to France.
Initially, Josef and his fellow escapees were accommodated at the ‘Dom Turystczny’, a cheap tourist hostel near the Czechoslovak Consulate whilst preparations were made for their onward journey to France. The hostel was now overfull with Czechoslovaks , so they were then transferred to Bronowice Małe, a derelict former Polish Army barracks from the Austro-Hungarian era, on the outskirts of Krakow This was then being utilised as a temporary transit camp for the escaped Czechoslovak military prior to their transfer to France. Josef went there on 26 June 1939, the 531st Czechoslovak escapee to have arrived there. The barracks, which were in poor condition, were already well inhabited by Czechoslovak escapees who stayed whilst arrangements were made for their transportation, by sea, to France.
France:
On arrival in France, Josef and his fellow escapees were met by the Czechoslovak Defence Attaché from the Czechoslovak Embassy, Paris, who gave each of them a little French money for their immediate needs. After some food they boarded a train for the 13-hour journey to Paris. They arrived there at 17:30 and were taken by coach to the Foreign Legion’s recruitment centre at Place Balard in Paris to complete formalities and undertake medical examinations for their enlistment into the Legion prior to their transfer to the Legion’s training base at Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria. While there, they attended French classes and any free time was usually spent exploring the sights of Paris and taking the opportunity to practising their newly-learnt French with the girls they met.
French Foreign Legion:
Josef was accepted into the Legion on 17 August, at the rank of soldat and, with other Czechoslovaks, travelled to Marseille from where they boarded a ship which took them to Oran, Algeria. From there, they went by train to Sidi Bel Abbès. The Germans invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 and two days later, France and the UK declared war with Germany. Josef was released from his Foreign Legion service contract and transferred to the l’Armée de l’Air at Blida for pilot training. In November he was transferred back to mainland France to the l’Armée de l’Air at their B117 centre at Dugny, on the outskirts of Paris.
l’Armée de l’air
On 30 November 1939 he was transferred, at the rank of Caporal-Chef to Centre d’Instruction de Chasse at Chartres, the l’Armée de l’air training airbase for fighter pilots, about 50 miles South-West of Paris, for re-training on French equipment.
On 10 May 1940, the Phoney war ended when the Germans launched an attack on Western Europe, by invading, through the Ardennes, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and then moving Westwards into France.
With his re-training completed, Josef was posted for operational flying to GC II /2 on 17 May 1940. GC II /2 were equipped with MS-406C fighter aircraft and deployed at Belleville airbase at Plessis, 40 km North-East of Paris. The rapidity of the German blitzkrieg caused GC II/ 2 to have to move, virtually on a daily basis, to other airfields, as they retreated westward. By 17 June, with the French Armistice imminent, GC II/ 2 were now at Montpellier airbase in south-west France.
During the short Battle of France Josef achieved combat success:
| Date: | Time: | Aircraft: | Action: |
15.06.40 | 15:40 | MS-406 | a shared Do 17 victory near Neufchâteau, Belgium. |
Operation Aerial Evacuation:
Since 15 June, Operation Aerial, the evacuation of Allied military forces and civilians from ports in Western France, had been in operation. On 21 June, Josef and the unit‘s eight other Czechoslovak airmen were released from their l’Armée de l’Air service so that they could be evacuated to continue the war from England. They made their way to Port Vendres, about 40 km away. From there, with other Czechoslovak military personnel they boarded the ‘Général Chanzy’, on 24 June 1940, and sailed to Oran, Algeria, under the command of Captain Emil Bušina. From there, they went for a four-day journey by train across the Sahara Desert to Casablanca, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. After a five-day wait there, they were able to board the ship ‘Gib-el-Dersa’ which took them to Gibraltar. Here they transferred to the ‘Neuralia’ which sailed in a convoy far out into the Atlantic to avoid Luftwaffe attacks, before changing course for England, arriving at Liverpool on 12 July.
RAF:
On arrival in England, Josef and his fellow evacuees went first to the Czechoslovak resettlement camp at Cholmondeley Park, near Chester, for security vetting. From there, on 26 July, Josef was accepted into the RAF Volunteer Reserve, with the rank of AC2 and transfered to the Czechoslovak RAF Depot at RAF Cosford, near Wolverhampton, for basic RAF training and English lessons. He was promoted to the rank of Sgt on 18 September.
Battle of Britain:
Since the French capitulation, Luftwaffe air raids were increasing with the Battle of Britain regarded as having started on 12 July 1940. On 6 August Josef, at the rank of Sgt, and 23 other Czechoslovak pilots were posted to the newly formed 310 Sqn (Czechoslovak) at RAF Duxford, near Cambridge, thus becoming some of the squadron’s founding members. The following day, nine more Czechoslovak pilots were posted to the squadron. The Battle was now reaching a critical phase with the RAF having a desperate need for more pilots. Thus, for the Czechoslovak pilots arriving at RAF Duxford, the priority was toundertake a crash course in rudimentary English, learning RAF radio codes in the Officers’ Mess and immediately, hasty re-training on Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighter aircraft. By 17 August, 16 of the pilots had completed their retraining and the squadron was declared operational. By then, Josef’s re-training had not been completed and he was assigned to the squadron‘s reserve pool of pilots.
After completing his re-training Josef was awarded his RAF pilot‘s wings and made his first operational flight on 21 August in Hurricane P3887. It was a routine patrol, led by S/Ldr Gordon Sinclair, yellow 1, with Stanislav Plzák yellow 2 and Josef yellow 3. Take-off was at 15:40 and they returned at 16:55 after no encounters with the Luftwaffe.
Shot Down:
On 2 September, whilst on patrol in Hurricane Mk I P8811, NN-F, Josef was in a dog-fight at around 10:30 near Chelmsford, Essex, with a Me 110 from JG III /ZG26, which was escorting Do 17 bombers on a raid on RAF North Weald airfield. In the resulting combat, his aircraft was hit in the oil tank and radiator and caught fire. Rather than bail out, he decided to remain in the aircraft and make a crash landing. In attempting to land, he managed to avoid a farmhouse and other dwelings, but the flames had spread to the wings and were engulfing the cockit. At about 50 feet, the wing tank on his Hurricane exploded causing the aircraft to distintegrate, throwing him out of the cockpit. With burns to his hands and face, he woke up to find himself lying on the ground about 50 yards from where his Hurricane had crashed, near Easywick Hall Farm, south of Hunsdon, Hertfordshire. He was taken to Hertford Hospital where his 3rd degree burns were treated. Whilst there he received a letter from the occupants of the farm, thanking him for missing the farmhouse and thus saving their lives. He also received a letter from Lord and Lady Hunson, on whose estate he had crashed, thanking him for bringing his hurricane down with „“such skill, at great risk to himself, so that the village suffered no harm.“ He remained in hospital recuperating until 1 October when he returned back to the squadron.
He remained with 310 squadron until 13 December 1940. During the Battle of Britain, Josef had made a total of 16 flights totalling 16 hrs 55 min.
After the Battle:
Josef was promoted to the rank of W/O on 1 March 1941 and six days later was posted to 19 Sqn who were deployed at nearby RAF Fowlmere and equipped with Spitfire Mk IIs. There he re-trained for Spitfires and remained with the squadron until 16 June 1941.
Having completed his operational tour, for his rest period, on 16 June 1941, he was posted to 54 OTU [54 Operational Training Unit], at RAF Church Fenton, for a Night Flying training course and training to fly twin-engined Bristol Beaufighters aircraft. There he crewed up with fellow Czechoslovak, Jaroslav Kovanda for his radar operator.
On 12 August, having completed the course, they along with fellow Czechoslovaks F/Sgt Eduard Prchal and Sgt. Rudolf Husár, theywere posted to 255 Sqn, a night-fighter squadron, equiped with Bristol Beaufighters, and deployed at RAF Coltishall, near Norwich for night-time air defence of the UK from Luftwaffe bombers. There they were assigned to its B‘ Flight and Josef made several training flights totalling 4.5 hours. On 21 August he was comissioned at the rank of P/O. But on 23 August, after several flying accidents with fatalities, the squadron was stood down from operational flying so that its crews could undertake further conversion and training on Beaufighters.
On 15 September after completion of this conversion, the four Czechoslovaks were posted to 68 Sqn, who were deployed at RAF High Ercall, a night-fighter squadron equipped with Beaufighters. There they were assigned to B-flight which already consisted mainly of Czechoslovak airmen. On 1 March 1942 he was promoted to F/O and a year later to F/Lt. Josef flew operationally with the squadron totalling 40 hours, but continuous service for the last three years was taking its toll and without completing this operational tour he requested to be stood down from operational flying.
Czechoslovak Inspectorate General:
On 1 June 1943, he was posted to the Czechoslovak Inspectorate General [CIG], in London where he was appointed liaison officer to RAF Fighter Command and was stationed at Bentley Priory at Stanmore. In April 1944 he was appointed Deputy-Head of CIG’s Personnel Dept and on 4 December promoted to Head of the Intelligence and Propaganda Department at CIG. He returned to Czechoslovakia on 16 August 1945.
Return to Czechoslovakia:
In August 1941, Josef had married a British WAAF and the family returned to Czechoslovakia. Josef, at the rank of kapitán in the Czechoslovak Air Force, was posted to Letecký náhradní pluk 1 [LNP-1] at Prague-Kebly airbase where he had an administrative role with the training of new recruits.
On 1 December 1945, he was posted to the Main Staff of the Air Force Command in Prague as a clerk in the 3rd Department (training). On 1 January 1946, he decided to remain in the Czechoslovak Air Force and in May 1947 he was posted to the Ministry of Defence.
Second Exile:
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. Before he could be arrested, he had his wife and child repatriated back to England by the British Embassy, Prague. Then in March, he escaped to the West by covertly travelling though the Šumava forests in the south-west region of Czechoslovakia and crossed the border into the American Zone of Germany. Josef then returned to England and found employement as a clerk for British Rail. He became a naturalised British subject on 26 September 1949 and changed his surname to Goodreid, his wife’s maiden surname.
He died on 23 June 1976, aged 63, at Nottingham, UK. His remains were interred at the family grave at the cemetery in Vlkaneč.
Medals Awarded:
1939 – 45 Star with Battle of Britain clasp
Air Crew Europe Star
Defence Medal
1939-1945 War Medal
2 x Válečný kříž 1939[War Cross 1939]
2 x Za chrabrost před nepřítelem [For gallantry against the enemy and bar]
Za zásluhy I.stupně [Medal of Merit Grade I]
Pamětní medaile se štítky F–VB [Memorial Medal of Czechoslovak Foreign Army abroad with France and Great Britain clasps]
Croix de Guerre
Remembered:
Great Britain:
Capel-le-Ferne:
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:
Josef 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:
Czech Republic:
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.
Vlkaneč:
In 2023, a memorial plaque to commemorate him was unveiled at his birth village of Vlkaneč.
Article last updated: 31.10.2025.
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