* 16.11.1911, Lugansk, Ukraine.
† 13.02.1941, Talagre, North Wales.
Pre WW2:
Jindřich Bartoš originated from Lugansk, some 400 miles South East of Kiev in the Ukraine which was then part of the former Russian Empire where there was a Czech community. He was born there on 16 November 1911.
After his schooling, for his mandatory military service he joined the Military Academy at Hranice, Czechoslovakia. He was selected for a pilot training course and sent to the Military Aviation Academy at Prostějov. He graduated from there in 1935, achieving his pilot’s wings, and was posted as an operational pilot to the 2nd ‘Dr. Edvard Beneš‘ Air Regiment who were deployed at Prague-Kbely airbase. They were equipped with Avia B-534 biplane fighter aircraft, the most advanced fighter used by the Czechoslovak Air Force. Later he was posted to the 34 Fighter Sqn of the 1st Air Regiment ‘T.G. Masaryk’, deployed at Hradec Králove airbase, who were also equipped with Avia B-534 biplane fighters. He would meet up with many of his peers from there later while serving with the RAF.
Munich Betrayal:
The threatening overtures by neighbouring Nazi Germany regarding the Sudeten regions – the German speaking areas – of Czechoslovakia caused the Czechoslovak Government to declare a mobilisation on 23 September 1938. Following this threat, Chamberlain, Daladier (the French prime Minister) Hitler and Mussolini met in Munich. The outcome of this was the Munich Agreement of 30 September 1938 wherein the Sudeten regions were ceded to Germany. Dr Emil Hácha, the Czechoslovak President, was not invited to participate in the discussion concerning the future of his country. He was merely told by Chamberlain and Daladier to either accept the agreement or Czechoslovakia would have to defend itself without any support from Britain and France, despite there being a tri-lateral defence agreement between the three countries.
An unfortunate consequence of the Munich Diktat or Munich Agreement was that Poland and Hungary took advantage of the situation and also annexed some Czechoslovak territory. About 30% of Czechoslovakian territory was lost and the new revised German border was now only 20 miles from Prague.
German Occupation:
Despite assurances given by Hitler at the Munich Agreement, that he had no further interest in territorial gains for Germany, just a few months later he extended his demands that the remaining regions of Czechoslovakia become part of Germany.
The Germans occupied Czechoslovakia on 15 March 1939. Under pressure, Emil Hácha, the Czechoslovak President had acceded to their demands and, in the early hours of that day, he had ordered all Czechoslovak military units to stand down, remain in their barracks and not resist the occupation. 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.
Poland:
By this time, Jindřich was an experienced pilot having achieved 738 flying hours. Upon occupation, the Czechoslovak Air Force was disbanded by the Germans and all personnel dismissed. 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.
Poland Disappointment:
Jindřich was one of the many former Czechoslovak military who decided to escape and enlist in one of those units. He covertly crossed over the border to Poland, then travelled to Kraków, where he reported for duty at the Czechoslovak Consulate.
The Polish Authorities, whilst recognising the new State of Slovakia, had shown little interest in the Czechoslovak Air Force airmen who were crossing into their country in groups and would not allow independent Czechoslovak units to be established on its territory. Jindřich was advised that the Czechoslovak Consul had, via his counterpart in Paris, that after lengthy negotiations with the French Government, that the later had agreed that 4,000 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, they 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.
Initially, Jindřich 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 Czechoslovak escapers 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. He arrived there on 5 August 1939, the 1399th Czechoslovak escapee to get there. Morale was not high in the barracks, which were in poor condition, and already well inhabited by Czechoslovak escapees, whilst arrangements were made for their transportation, by sea, to France.
To France:
On 17 August, a total of 88 Czechoslovak airmen and 189 Czechoslovak soldiers , including Jindřich, went by train to Gynia where they boarded the Swedish steamship SS ‘Kastelhome’, a 921 tonne Swedish coastal-cruising ship, and sailed to Calais, France. It was to be the last departure of Czechoslovak escapees from Poland to France as the German invasion of Poland would soon commence.
France:
They arrived at Calais four days later. Jindřich and his fellow escapees were met by the Czechoslovak Defence Attaché from the Paris Embassy, who gave them each a little French money for their immediate needs, and after some food, they boarded a train for the 13-hour journey to Paris.
French Foreign Legion:
They arrived there at 17:30 and were taken by coach to the Foreign Legion’s recruitment centre at Place Balard to complete enlistment formalities and undertake medical examinations. Whilst the necessary documentation was prepared for their enlistment into the Legion, they spent their time as a familiarisation period learning the ways of the Legion and having a crash-course in French. Any free time was usually spent in Paris exploring the sights and practising their newly-learnt French with the girls they met.
Jindřich was accepted to join the Legion at the rank of soldat, but before arrangements were completed to transfer the Czechoslovaks to the Legion’s training base at Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria, Germany invaded Poland on 1 September and two days later after Germany ignored their ultimatum, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. Instead Jindřich and the other Czechoslovak airmen were transferred to the l’Armée de l’Air at their BA117 recruitment centre at Dugny, near Paris.
L’Armée de l’Air:
Jindřich was accepted into l’Armée de l’Air, at the rank of caporal, and on 9 October was posted to Centre d’Instruction de Chasse at Chartres, the l’Armée de l’Air training airbase, about 50 miles South-West of Paris. Here he underwent a conversion course to train him to fly French equipment, firstly on the Potez XXV and Morane-Saulnier MS.230 elementary trainers and then the Morane-Saulnier MS-406c fighter aircraft.
On 10 May 1940, the ‘phoney war’ ended when the Germans launched an attack, through the Ardennes, on Holland, Belgium and France. The following day, having completed 40 hours of retraining, he was posted, as an operational fighter pilot to GC I/3 who were deployed at Thuisy airfield, near Wez, some 140km east of Paris and only 70km from the Ardennes. With him from Chartres went fellow Czechoslovak pilots caporal-chef Frantšek Glauder and Lietenant Otakar Korec. The unit was equipped with a Dewoitine D.520 fighter aircraft.
The chaos caused by the lightning speed and ferocity of the German Blitzkrieg attack caused the l’Armée de l’Air to rapidly withdraw its units westwards. GC I/3 was redeployed, on 16 May, west to Esbly airfield, nr Meaux, on 16 May, then to Étampes, 30km south-west of Paris, on 9 June.
Combat Success:
During the Battle of France, he achieved combat success when he was credited with the shooting down of a He111 near Paris, on 3 June. That day the D.520s of GC I/3 took-off at 13:10, from Meaux-Esbly airbase, some 35 Km west of Paris, to defend the capital from an approaching Luftwaffe bomber formation from KG 51. GC I/3 was flying at 16,000 feet when they saw the Luftwaffe bombers below them at about 13,000 feet and went into the attack over Lagny-sur-Marne in the eastern suburbs of the city. Jindřich singled out a He III and attacked. On his 3rd attack, he saw smoke coming from its port engine. The He III’s gunner returned fire hitting the D.520 on the right-hand side of the cockpit. Undeterred, Jindřich made his fourth attack, but this time his aircraft received hits to its engine, the wing fuel tank and the surface controls on its tail. With this damage, Jindřich sought out a suitable place to make a forced landing. At 14:15, near Lognes-Emmerainville airfield, he saw a suitable field and attempted to land. However, instead of making a belly-landing, he lowered the aircraft’s undercarriage and on landing the D.520 flipped over because the tyres had been damaged by the He III’s return fire. Despite being upside down, Jindřich managed to get out of the cockpit but suffered a slight head wound in the crash. During the ensuing Battle of France, Jan flew 45 operational hours, achieving combat success during the heavy fighting with the Luftwaffe:
| Date | Time | Aircraft | Action |
| 03/06/40 | 13:10 | D-520 | He III, probable near Lagny-sur-Marne . |
By mid-June, the Battle for France had become a hopeless situation and the fall of France was inevitable. The French high command ordered what remained of the Armée de l’Air to evacuate their aircraft to the French colonies in North Africa to continue the fight. By 17 June, CG I/3 had already redeployed westwards to three other airfields before getting to La Salanque airfield, at Perpignan in south-west France near the Spanish border. During that period, his training colleague Lt Otakar Korec had been shot down and killed in combat.
Evacuation from mainland France:
At La Salanque airfield there were some 250 aircraft from other units already congregated there en-route for evacuation to Algeria. At La Salanque airfield everything was very chaotic, and with few ground-crew available, the pilots of GC I/3 had to refuel their aircraft themselves. The D.520s needed to be fitted with long-range fuel tanks as even with the extra range given by them, and without the aircraft carrying any ammunition, the 900km direct flight over the Mediterranean Sea was only just achievable. Further weight saving was achieved with the pilots themselves limited to only a small bag containing real essentials – all their other possessions had to be left behind. In the event of being forced to engage with any Luftwaffe aircraft en-route to Algeria, the D.520s would not have enough fuel to reach the Algerian coast. The following morning the aircraft of GC I/3 took-off and after a 900km uneventful flight, they reached the Algerian coast and landed at the l’Armée d’Air airbase at Oran, Algeria.
In Algeria, with the imminent capitulation of France, the Czechoslovak airmen learned that Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, had appealed to all the evacuated Czechoslovak airmen to come to Britain and continue their fight against the Germans from there. The Armée d l’Air released the Czechoslovak airmen from their service and told them to report to British Officers who would assist with arrangements to get them by train to Casablanca, Morocco, and then to Britain. France capitulated on 22 June 1940.
With the other Czechoslovak airmen, Jindřich and Frantšek Glauder made the four-day train journey across the Sahara Desert to reach Casablanca on the Atlantic coast of Morrocco. There, under the command of Josef Duda, they boarded the SS ‘Royal Scotsman’, which sailed on 9 July and took them to Gibraltar.
Evacuation to Britain:
There they transferred to the ‘David Livingstone’ which departed on 21 July 1940, in a convoy of 69 vessels, and sailed westwards far into the Atlantic to avoid attack by Luftwaffe aircraft on their route to the UK, arriving at Cardiff at 05:00 on 5 August 1940.
On arrival in England, after security clearance, like most of the Czechoslovaks, Jindřich’s path first led to the Czechoslovak resettlement camp at Cholmondeley Park, near Chester. The Battle of Britain was now in progress and there was an urgent need for fighter pilots. As a trained fighter pilot he was quickly admitted to the voluntary reserves of the RAF, at the rank of P/O, on 5 August and transferred to the Czechoslovak RAF Depot, Cosford.
On 5 September he was posted to the newly formed 312 (Czechoslovak) Sqn which was stationed at Duxford who were equipped with Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighter aircraft. He was one of the squadrons founding members, who were all experienced pilots and had seen combat during the Battle of France.
There, Jindřich and his fellow Czechoslovak pilots were re-trained to fly Hawker Hurricanes. Firstly, the theoretical aspect of flying Hurricanes and then the practical aspect, initially in dual seater Miles Magister training aircraft. Once having reached the required standard, then the training continued in single-seater Hurricanes. The practical part of this training was slow as the squadron initially only had one Magister available. Later, when 310 Sqn, also at Duxford, became operational on 17 August, their Magister was also able to be used for 312 Sqn training. Part of this training period involved undertaking English lessons to enable at least elementary airborne radio communication to the required RAF standard.
Battle of Britain:
On 26 September, 312 Squadron was deployed to Speke airfield, with a detachment at RAF Penhros, at Holyhead in North Wales. Their role was the aerial defence of Liverpool, its docks and Allied shipping in the Irish Sea. The squadron was declared operational on 2 October, and on 9 October, Jindřich made his first operational sortie in the Battle of Britain, flying Hurricane MkI L7148. He was to make a further six operational flights during that Battle, totalling four hours 20 minutes, but without any contact with the Luftwaffe.
Fateful Flight:
During the afternoon of 13 February 1941, Jindřich, recently promoted to the rank of F/O and now Deputy Flight Leader of ‘B’ Flight, and Sgt Bohumil Votruba had taken off from RAF Speke to practise dog-fighting. Jindřich was flying Hurricane V6685, DU-V. The Hurricanes were seen swooping around in the sky over the range at Talacre, North Wales, at about 5,000 feet, when suddenly one of the aircraft fell away and went into a dive and, with a diving turn, crashed into the ground near Talacre at about 14:30. The aircraft was buried up to its wings by the force of the impact (the fuselage was the correct way up, but stuck out of the ground at about 45 degrees with its tail in the air). The reason for the crash is unknown, but it is thought that it was caused by the failure of his oxygen equipment.
Jindřich had achieved approximately 863 flying hours to his credit, with 27 of these on Hurricanes.
F/O Jindřich Bartoš, aged 29, was buried with full military honours on 18 February 1941 in a collective grave with Sgt Otto Hanzlicek, in grave 392, in section 11 of Liverpool (West Derby) cemetery.
Medals Awarded:
1939 – 45 Star with Battle of Britain clasp
Air Crew Europe Star
Defence Medal
1939-1945 War Medal
Válečný kříž 1939
Za zásluhy I.stupně
Pamětní medaile se štítky F–VB
Croix de Guerre avec palme
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:
Jindřich 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:
London – St Clement Danes:
Jindřich Bartoš is remembered in the Remembrance book at St Clements Danes Church, London.
London – West Hampstead / Londýn – West Hampstead:
He is remembered on the Memorial Plaque at the Bohemia House, he former Czechoslovak National House, at West Hampstead, London.
Czech Republic:
Prague 1 – St Vitus Cathedral:
He is remembered in the Remembrance book at St Vitus Cathedral, Hradčany, Prague.
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.
Prague 3 – The Army Museum:
He is remembered on the Memorial Plaque at the Military History Institute, at Žižkov Prague.
Prague 4 – Nusle:
He is commemorated on the WW2 Memorial at Na Jezerce, in the Nusle District of Prague 4.
Prague 6 – Dejvice:
He is named on the Memorial for the fallen Czechoslovak airmen of 1939-1945, at Dejvice, Prague 6.
Železná:
He is commemorated on the WW2 Memorial at Železná.
Article last updated: 31.10.2025.
Widgets
