Category Archives: POW

Pametni deska Pavlu Svobodovi

Vážení návštěvníci této stránky, chtěli bychom Vás tu průběžně informovat o stavu příprav instalace pamětní desky. Dear visitors to our page. We aim to keep you informed about the work in progress to install this memorial plaque. Ve spolupráci s … Continue reading

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Escapes of Karel Stastny

Karel Šťastný was a 311 (Czechoslovak) Sqn pilot who was born at Hošťálková, Czechoslovakia on 3 August 1918. Pre-WW2 he was a pilot, at the rank of Kapitan, in the Czechoslovak Air Force. When the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia, on 15 … Continue reading

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Thank you Milena

Děkujeme, Mileno Whilst on a visit to Poland, in 2019, for the 75th anniversary of the Great Escape, from Stalag Luft III Prisoner of War camp at Żagań, Milena Kolaříková BEM, also visited the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) Section … Continue reading

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Czech the Great Escape

The night of 24/25 March 1944 saw the most audacious Prisoner of War (PoW) escapes take place from Stalag Luft III (Stammlager Luft or Permanent Camps for Airmen) at Sagan, Germany (now Żagań, Upper Silesia, Poland), 100 miles south-east of … Continue reading

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An RAF airman’s life in Communist Czechoslovakia

Život příslušníka RAF v době komunismu Major General Alois Šiška, my late father, would have celebrated his hundredth birthday on 15th May 2014. His wartime story is well known because of Wellington KX-B North Sea crash-landing following the bombing raid … Continue reading

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Arnost Valenta – One of the Fifty

The early years. Raná léta. Arnošt Valenta was born on 25 October 1912 in the small mountain village of Svébohov, near Zábřeh, which was about 50 km north of Olomouc in the Moravia region of Czechoslovakia. His parents, Adolf and … Continue reading

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Colditz Tale

. It started out as just a visit to a military site of historic interest………….!. In planning our return trip from the Czech Republic we found ourselves passing close to the town of Colditz in the former German Democratic Republic. … Continue reading

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Jaroslav Nyc

. A Brief Biography of W/O Jaroslav Nýč (Formerly of 311 (Czechoslovakian) Sqn RAF) Adapted from an article in ‘The Roundel’ – the station magazine of RAF Bahrain (Sept’ 1963) As a boy Jaroslav Nýč always wanted to fly and … Continue reading

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Pavel Svoboda remembers

Recollections of W/O Pavel Svoboda, Air Gunner with 311 Czechoslovak Sqn:- I was born on 28 June 1916 at Bohuslavice u Kyjova, Hodonín, Czechoslovakia. In 1939, I was studying at the Law Faculty of Masaryk University, Brno, Czechoslovakia. I was … Continue reading

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Arnost Zabrs remembers

Recollections of W/O Arnošt Zábrš, pilot with 311 Czechoslovak Sqn: I was born on the 19.4.1912 in Brno (Brunn), Czechoslovakia, son of a man, who died at the end of the World War 1, as a consequence of that war … Continue reading

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