* 02.06.1918, Přerov.
† 27.01.1991, Sawston, UK.
The Eastly Years
František Vindiš was born on 2 June, 1918 in Přerov, a city some 130 miles south-east of Prague. His parents were from Čejč, a small village about 40 miles south of Přerov and shortly after František’s birth they returned there. František spent his youth in Čejč, where he attended the local school. After five years of primary education, he attended secondary school for three years, then continued his education for three years at a trade academy from which he matriculated.
On completion of his education, he was employed as a waiter but, like many other young men of that time, he was enchanted by aviation and aspired to join that elite group of men.
Czechoslovak Air Force
On reaching 18, he was required to do his mandatory military service, and on 1 October 1936 he joined the Czechoslovak Air Force and was assigned to their Military Aviation Academy at Prostějov as a cadet for his basic military training. There he was selected for pilot training which he successfully completed and then trained as a fighter pilot. František graduated in 1938 and served as a fighter pilot in the Czechoslovak Air Force.
Munich Dictat
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, the British Prime Minister, Daladier, the French President, Hitler, the German Chancellor and Mussolini, the Italian Dictator, met in Munich. The outcome of this was the Munich Agreement of 30 September 1938 wherein the Sudeten regions were ceded to Germany. Eduard Beneš, the Czechoslovak President, was not invited to participate in the discussion concerning the future of his country, instead, 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. As a result of that Agreement, in addition to Germany being ceded the Sudeten regions, Poland and Hungary took this opportunity to take some Czechoslovak territory on ethnicity grounds. Thus, 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.
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.
On the evening before the invasion, on March 14, 1939, Czechoslovak intelligence officers called a meeting where they announced that the threat of invasion was imminent and recommended measures which would prevent most important assets from falling into German hands. However, no orders were handed down until too late. The Chief of the Czechoslovak Air Force General Fajfr and his deputy General Vicherek ordered that no aircraft were allowed to take-off. The Department of the Ministry of National Defence started organising the transfer of the aircraft to several airfields in Moravia with the intention to get the airfleet to Romania and Yugoslavia. None of these planned intentions were carried out. 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 Czechoslovakia.
After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, they disbanded the Czechoslovak military, and all personnel were dismissed.
Resistance
But just four days later internal resistance organisations were being established. 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 into Poland. František was one of the many Czechoslovak airmen and soldiers who clearly saw it was their duty to go to Poland from where they could participate in efforts to achieve the liberation of their homeland.
To Poland
In Spring 1939, František was one of the first to, covertly cross over the border and escape to Poland. where he had been advised that Czechoslovak Military units were being formed and would be fighting for the liberation of his homeland. Once in Poland, he made his way to Kraków and reported to the Czechoslovak Consulate.
Disappointment in Poland
However, once there he was informed that the formation of Czechoslovak military units in Poland were unfortunately 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, they learnt that Vladimír Znojemský, 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 the German Protectorate of Czechoslovakia, where their execution or deportation to a concentration camp would be the most likely outcome.
František, like most of the Czechoslovak escapees, decided that his best choice was to go to France. At first he was accommodated at the ‘Dom Turystczny’, a cheap tourist hostel near the Czechoslovak Consulate whilst preparations were made for their onward journey to France.
He was then transferred to Bronowice Małe, a derelict former Polish Army barracks from the Austro-Hungarian era, on the outskirts of Krákow, which was then being utilised as a temporary transit camp for the escaped Czechoslovak military prior to their transfer to France. The barracks, which were in poor condition, were already well inhabited by escapees whilst arrangements were made for their transportation, by sea, to France.
To France
After a short stay in Poland, František, along with 138 other Czechoslovak military escapees, 42 of whom were airmen, travelled by train to the Polish Baltic port of Gdynia, where on 17 June they boarded the ‘Sobieski’, a Polish passenger ship and sailed to Boulogne, France, arriving on 19 June.
France
On arrival, František and his fellow escapees were met by the Air Attaché from the Czechoslovak Consulate, Paris. Each escapee was given 20 francs to cover their immediate needs, and after two days there, they travelled by train to the French Foreign Legion’s recruitment barracks at Place Balard, in the south-west of Paris, for medical examination and recruitment documentation to be completed for their acceptance into the Foreign Legion.
French Foreign Legion
This time was to serve as a familiarisation period to learn the ways of the Legion and to study French on crash courses, and they took every opportunity to practise their new language skills with French girls.
František was accepted into the 1st Regiment of the French Foreign Legion, and on 28 June transferred to Marseille and then onto the Legion’s 1st Regiment’s training base at Sidi-bel-Abbès, Algeria, arriving there on 17 June 1939.
l’Armée de l’Air
With the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, the British and French declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939. František and his fellow Czechoslovaks were released from their Foreign Legion service and transferred to l’Armée de l’Air. He was posted to Escadrille Régional de Chasse 572 [ERC 572] of their Colonial Air Force deployed at Oran La Sénia airbase, Algeria. On 27 November he was transferred to their Ecole Centre d’Instruction – Escadron d’Entrainement at Blida airbase, Algeria, for re-training on French fighter aircraft. On 16 November, František was posted to ERC 571, along with fellow Czechoslovaks Karel Čap, Ondřej Poslužný, Josef Příhoda and Ladislav Zadrobílek, to Maison Blanche airbase, Algieria.
The relative calm of the Phoney War ended at 05:35 on 10 May 1940 when Germany attacked Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and France, and the rapid advance of their Blitzkrieg quickly indicated that the collapse of France was imminent. Encouraged by the German success, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France on 10 May.
On 17 May, with František, now at the rank of Caporal chef, ERC 571 was re-designated GC III/4 and redeployed to Casablanca, on the Moroccan Atlantic coast which was equipped with outdated Nieuport-Delage NiD-622 biplane fighter aircraft. These were later replaced with Dewoitine Dw-510 s which, although mono-planes, were still outdated when compared to contemporary fighter aircraft of that time. On 10 June, GC III /4 redeployed to Mansouriah airbase, in north-west Algeria, in anticipation of attacks by the Regia Aeronautica [Italian Air Force].
Evacuation to England
It was there that they learned that France had capitulated on 22 June. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, appealed to all the evacuated Czechoslovak airmen to come to Britain and continue the fight from there. The l’Armée de l’Air released the Czechoslovak airmen from their service so that they could make their way to Britain. They left on 23 June 1940 for the four-day train journey to Casablanca. There, on 29 June, with more Czechoslovak airmen, they boarded the ship ‘Brittanic’ which took them to Gibraltar, arriving on 30 June. There they transferred to the ‘Neuralia’, which sailed on 2 July in a convoy of 30 ships going deep out into the Atlantic to avoid air attacks from French-based Luftwaffe aircraft and safely reached Liverpool, on 12 July 1940.
RAF
On arrival at Liverpool, František’s first path, as for most of the Czechoslovaks, led to the Czechoslovak resettlement camp at Cholmondeley Park, near Chester. The first Czechoslovaks boarded a train to Nantwich, Cheshire, some 30 miles away, and from there marched to Cholmondeley Castle, 8 miles away. Here they were billeted in a tented camp in the grounds where they were security vetted. The Battle of Britain was now in progress and there was an urgent need for fighter pilots. As a trained pilot he was quickly transferred to the Czechoslovak RAF Depot, Cosford, where, on 26 July 1940, he was admitted to the Volunteer Reserve of the RAF, swore his oath of allegiance to King George VI, at the rank of AC2, and began his RAF training and also English language classes.
On 28 September, having reached the standard required by the RAF, František was promoted to Sgt. Along with 18 other Czechoslovak pilots he was posted from RAF Cosford to 6 OTU at Sutton Bridge for converting onto Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft. Training began on the slow and forgiving Tiger Moth, a dual-seater biplane, then graduating to the dual-seater Miles Magister monoplane, and then the more powerful dual-seater Harvard monoplane. When, in his instructor’s opinion, the required standard had been achieved, František progressed to flying solo on Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft and was awarded his RAF pilot’s wings.
Battle of Britain
Since 1 October, the Battle of Britain had entered its 4th and final phase –where the Luftwaffe concentrated on night bombing of British cities. Known as the Blitz this was a tactic to break British morale, disrupt industry and infrastructure and force Britain to surrender or negotiate peace.
On 14 October, P/O’s František Burda, Josef Hanuš, and Josef Hýbler and Sgt’s Alois Dvořák, Jan Chalupa and František were posted to 310 (Czechoslovak) Sqn, at Duxford, for the closing days of the Battle of Britain. His first operational flight was on 20 October in Hurricane P3621, taking off at 15:40 for a routine patrol, landing at 16:40 with no Luftwaffe aircraft sighted, thus qualifying him for the coveted Battle of Britain clasp.
František was to fly a further two sorties before the 31 October, all of which were routine patrols with no enemy aircraft sighted. His total flying time in the Battle was 3.5 hours.
After the Battle
With the ending of the Battle of Britain on 30th October, combat activity for 310 Sqn rapidly declined, with engagement of enemy aircraft being replaced by uneventful patrols.
On 1 November 1940, when returning from a patrol in the Maidstone and Sheerness area of south-east England, František had to make an emergency landing at 15:45 at RAF Mildenhall, as the engine oil pressure on his Hurricane Mk I P8809 ‘T’ was falling. The fault was repaired and he took -off but crashed in poor visibility at 17:15 near Sudbury on approach to RAF Wattisham. He received slight injuries in the crash.
On 1 September 1941 he was promoted to the rank of F/Sgt and on 25 October he married Esme Johnson whom he had met at a local services dance.
During this period, František achieved two combat successes:
On 4 February 1942, František participated in a scramble at 11:55 from RAF Perranporth by four 310 Sqn Spitfires for a convoy patrol near the Scillies Islands. During the patrol, Sgt Škarvada’s Spitfire disappeared for reasons unknown. The other three aircraft returned to base at 13:10. At 13:35, five Spitfires took off to search for him but no trace of him was found. Whilst searching low down over the sea a Luftwaffe Ju88 was encountered.
On seeing the Spitfire’s approaching, the Ju88 turned to port. F/Lt Foit [Green 1], engaged and opened fire with two 2-second burst with his machine guns. This was followed by František [Green 2], who gave three bursts of 4 seconds, followed by F/Lt Burda [Blue 1] who fired three bursts of 2 seconds and then Sgt Šrom [Blue 2], who gave three bursts of 2 seconds. All attacks were to the stern starboard side of the Ju88, with firing commencing from 200 yards closing to 30 yards. The Ju88 returned fire from the dorsal and central gun positions but as it was swerving no hits on the Spitfires was achieved, before those gun positions were silenced. Pieces were seen falling off the Ju88 and thick black smoke came from its starboard engine. As the Ju88 sheered off into low cloud, a large hole was visible in the starboard wing. The combat had lasted only about 30 seconds. The Spitfires returned undamaged to base at 14:50.
Then on 28 April 1942, 310 Sqn had been making numerous patrol sorties to protect two Allied convoys as they sailed past the Scilly Isles on their way to the Bristol Channel.The Scillies are in the English channel At 20:15, the Spitfires of F/Lt Emil Foit and František took off from RAF Perranporth to patrol the St Eval area of the convoy’s journey. Foit was flying [Blue 1] and František [Blue 2] in Spitfire BM258. At about 21:00, František received a radio message from the convoy escort ship that an enemy aircraft had been sighted about 2 miles from where it was. The Spitfires went after the enemy and sighted a Ju88 flying near sea level. František went into the attack first and fired six bursts of 2 seconds with both his cannons and machine guns. Hits were scored on its port side wing roots, setting the reserve fuel tank on fire. The Ju88 was returning fire and hit František’s Spitfire rudder, putting it out of action, and also put some bullets in the leading edge on the underside of the port wing and a bullet in the propellor spinner. The Ju88 then tried to climb and turn to port, when F/Lt Foit, who had been flying above at 200 feet, dived down and engaged, closing to about 50 feet, shooting up the starboard engine. Bits were shot off it, and the engine caught fire, then the plane exploded and crashed into the sea in flames, immediately disappearing. No trace of the Luftwaffe crew was seen, and both Spitfires then set course for home. František’s Spitfire was difficult to steer with its damaged rudder control, but they landed back at Perranporth at 21:45 with no further incidents.
He was promoted to the rank of W/O on 26 October 1942 and shortly after completed his operational tour. For his mandatory rest tour from operational flying, František was posted, on 23 December 1942, to No 10 Flying Instructor School, at RAF Woodley, for a flying instructor course. His next posting, on 6 January 1943, was to RAF St Athan, in south Wales, then, on 19 February 1943, to No 2 Delivery Flight, at RAF Colerne as a ferry-pilot.
2nd Operational Tour
František returned to 310 Sqn, now based at RAF Exeter, and equipped with Spitfire Mk Vc’s, on 15 June 1943, for his 2nd operational tour. On 26th June, 310 Sqn re-deployed to RAF Castletown, near Caithness, Scotland, for a rest period. Here their role was the aerial defence of the Royal Navy ships and installations at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, and the squadron was equipped with high-altitude Spitfire VI’s. A detachment was also based at RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Isles. During this period there were only a few encounters with Luftwaffe aircraft.
On 21 December 1943, František was commissioned at the rank of P/O with promotion to the rank of F/O on 7 March 1944.
Leading up to D-Day – Operation Overlord, the invasion of occupied France on 6 June – it was a busy period for 310 Sqn who, since 4 April 1944, were deployed at RAF Appledram, near Chichester, in preparation for D-Day. After 6 June, they were now flying daily sorties over the beachhead to protect the Allied land and sea forces of the invasion.
One such sortie was on 17 June. At 18:25, 12 Spitfires from the squadron took-off, led by F/Lt Bernard with F/O Otto Smík, flying [Blue 1], František [Blue 2], F/O Jindřich Skirka [Blue 3] and Sgt Johan Kravec [Blue 4]. The squadron was informed at 19:00 hours that 30 Me 109’s were flying 25 miles south of Caen, proceeding north. Soon that two enemy aircraft were sighted above Caen. The four Spitfires of Blue section climbed across the sun towards Caen. When reaching 12,000 feet the 2 enemy aircraft were identified as 2 Fw 190’s and the other aircraft were seen to be a squadron of Spitfires. F/O Smík and František went after the enemy aircraft, Smík getting the first one, and destroying it while František went after the second one, but failed at first to catch up with it. Smík turned on the 2nd e/a, fired at it and hit it, exhausting his ammunition, but František was able to follow up and finish it off, Blue 3 and 4 meanwhile covered the attack and witnessed it.
František’s combat report for that shared victory is:
On June 17 1944 I was Blue 2 in 310 (Czech) Squadron at 4000 feet on beachhead patrol in the Caen-Bayeux area. At approx 19:00 hours control reported 30 Me 109 South of Caen. While climbing to 12000 feet we saw 2 Fw190’s 5 miles to starboard. We got up sun and they spotted us as we were about to attack them and turned to port. Blue 1 attacked the Number 2 and I attacked the leading E/A. As soon as I got on his tail the FW climbed steeply into sun and then began to turn to port. I was now at 100 yards range and fired all through the 360 deg turn observing strikes from the first burst of cannon and machine gun. He now tried to escape diving but I kept him in range of 500 yards and made more hits as he went down. F/O Smik now came from underneath and fired on e/a getting strikes on starboard followed by thick black smoke. I side-slipped and fired from 30 deg port a barrage through which the e/a passed again suffering hits. The FW now began another diving turn to port and I saw him crash behind some trees 12 miles S.E. Caen.
No 310 Sqn aircraft were lost that day, landing back at 20:30. Smík and František each claimed a half share of the second Fw190.
He remained with 310 Sqn until 15 November 1944 when, for health reasons, he had to step down from operational flying. František was posted to No. 6310 (Czech) Servicing Echelon for training for Air Traffic Controller duties. On 9 January 1945 he was posted to the Controller Training Unit at Fighter Command Head Quarters, at Bentley Priory, in north-west London. Next posting was to RAF North Weald on 4 February 1945 then to RAF Biggin Hill for further controller training.
On 28 December 1944 he was awarded the DFC, the citation for this award reads:
Flying Officer Vindiš has completed much operational flying and has invariably displayed a high degree of skill, courage and determination. In the course of his assignments, he has attacked varied targets, including many operations against enemy shipping and ground targets. Flying Officer Vindiš has shared in the destruction of 2 enemy aircraft and has damaged another.
On 12 April 1945 he was posted to RAF Manston for Liaison Officer duties. On 15 May, he was posted to 313 Sqn, also at RAF Manston, for a Flying Refresher course on Spitfire HF Mk IX’s. In preparation for returning back to Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak RAF officers resigned their commission and now wore their Czechoslovak Air Force ranks on their uniforms. In František’s case he now held the rank of podporučík [P/O]. During his RAF service he had flown 280 operational sorties and completed two operational tours.
Going Home
Some three months after the war ended, the Russians eventually permitted the Czechoslovak RAF airmen to return to their homeland. On 7 August, the three Czechoslovak fighter squadrons, some 54 Spitfires, left Manston, for the flight back to Prague, with František flying one of those Spitfires. After a flight of two hours and 25 minutes they landed at Hildesheim, Germany, to refuel before continuing their flight home. But then it started to rain and became foggy preventing any further flying. After a week’s delay there, they were able to continue their flight via Plzeň to Prague, where they twice flew low over the city in close formation before landing at Ruzyně airport, Prague, on 13 August at around 5pm.
Post WW2
On his return, he remained in the Czechoslovak Air Force. However, due to his pro-western views and concerns about the rising influence of the Communist party in Czechoslovakia, František returned to the UK in 1947 with his British wife and family. He returned to the RAF on 20 April 1949 where he flew operationally until 1954. He then served on ground-duties as an Air Traffic Controller until 1965, when he retired from the RAF at the rank of F/Lt. He then concentrated on building up the thriving motor vehicle dealership he had started in 1960 in the Cambridge area.
F/Lt František Vindiš died, aged 72, on 27 January 1991 at Sawston, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Medals Awarded
Distinguished Flying Cross
1939 – 45 Star with Battle of Britain clasp
Air Crew Europe Star
Defence Medal
1939-1945 War Medal
General Service Medal
Válečný kříž 1939 x 5
Za chrabrost x 3
Za zásluhy I.stupně
Pamětní medaile se štítky F-VB
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:
František 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:
Čejč:
He is named on a memorial plaque at Čejč, along with F/Lt František Masařík MBE, AFC, both of whom were from Čejč.
Prague 1 – Klárov:
In November 2017, his name, along with the names of 2524 other Czechoslovak men and women who had served in the RAF during WW2, was unveiled at the Winged Lion Monument at Klárov, Prague 1.
Article last updated: 30.10.2025.
