Jaroslav Čihák

Jaroslav Čihák

Jaroslav Čihák (born July 24, 1891 in Kratonohy ; † April 30, 1944 in London ) was a Czechoslovak soldier, legionnaire , division general in the Czechoslovak army , member of the Czechoslovak army in exile in London and, as a member of the Obrana národa resistance group, a personality of the Czechoslovak resistance 1939–1945 against National Socialism .

Life

After graduating from secondary school in Nový Bydžov and two semesters at a mining academy, Čihák volunteered for the army in 1912; In 1913 he finished an officer's school and was classified as a reservist. After the outbreak of World War I , Čihák was sent to the Russian front . In 1916 he was taken prisoner and enlisted in the Czechoslovak legions . After a course for officers in Boryspil , among others , he fought in the legions with the 1st Assault Regiment against the Red Army in Ukraine and along the legions' retreat on the Trans-Siberian Railway . In September 1920 Čihák returned to Czechoslovakia.

After a short period of service in Bohemia ( Turnov and Domažlice ), Čihák was transferred to Slovakia in December 1920 , where he commanded several battalions . Between November 1926 and September 1928 he lectured at the Vysoká škola válečná (War College) in Prague, and from 1929 to 1931 - already as a colonel - at a school for commanders. Several command posts followed in a regiment in Khust in Carpathian Ukraine and Milovice . In January 1938 he received the degree of general and commanded the 21st division in Veselí nad Moravou .

After the occupation of the country by the Wehrmacht and the proclamation of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , Čihák joined the resistance organization Obrana národa and was appointed its representative and contact person at the resistance organization Petiční výbor Věrni zůstaneme . During the first big wave of arrests by the Gestapo in autumn 1939 and early 1940, he escaped arrest and emigrated to France. He became deputy commander of the infantry of the 1st Czechoslovak Division of the Czechoslovak Army in Exile, which was formed in France , and coordinated the withdrawal of the units and their evacuation to Great Britain after the occupation of France . In London he took over the chairmanship of the staff of the Ministry of Defense in the Czechoslovak government in exile and other various military and political functions, including chairing the Czechoslovak Red Cross ( ČSČK ), then based in London, from 1940 to 1944 . As a result of a serious illness, Čihák died on April 30, 1944.

In October 1946 Jaroslav Čihák received in memoriam the degree of division general.

Awards

• Czechoslovak War Cross 1914–1918
• Order of the Falcon (Czechoslovakia)
• Czechoslovak Revolution Medal
• Czechoslovak victory medal
• Russian Order of Saint Anne
• Czechoslovak War Cross 1939

and other.

swell

• Přehled popravených, umučených a padlých československých generálů , keyword divizní generál Mikuláš DOLEŽAL , biography, online at: codyprint.cz / ...

Individual evidence

1. ↑ NÁRODNÍ SPOLEČNOST ČESKÝ ČERVENÝ KŘÍŽ . Historical considerations by the Czech Red Cross, online at: cervenykriz.eu/ , p. 5