Jaroslav Vedral

Jaroslav Vedral

Jaroslav Vedral (born November 17, 1895 in Mělník nad Sázavou ; † October 6, 1944 in Vyšný Komárnik ) was a Czechoslovak soldier, legionnaire , general in Czechoslovakia and a personality of the resistance 1939-1945 against National Socialism .

Life

After studying at the grammar school in Kolín and a business school in Chrudim , where he passed the Abitur, Vedral became the 36th Infantry Regiment in Liberec . After basic training and a course for infantry officers, he was transferred to the Russian front in July 1915 , where he went into Russian captivity in September 1915. In March 1916 he enlisted in the Czechoslovak legions and served in the rifle regiment in Kiev , later in the marshes near Pinsk ; in July 1917 he took part in the Battle of Zborów . He was promoted to captain (captain). When retreating from Ukraine, he took part in several battles against both the German and the Bolshevik armies , which wanted to prevent the Czechoslovak legions from traveling to Vladivostok . In April 1920 he returned to Czechoslovakia. He visited Prague two years courses of Vysoká škola válečná (War College) in Prague, for was Staff Captain ( Staff Captain ) promoted and as an officer of the General Staff, he served in the 3rd Infantry Division in Litoměřice , later in Ves , and commanded a battalion in Sabinov . In 1933/1934 he taught as a professor of general tactics at the War College, and then continued teaching at the Ministry of Defense as head of the training department of the General Staff . From January 1937 he was Colonel of the General Staff.

After the occupation of the country by the Wehrmacht , Vedral took up work in the Obrana národa resistance group : he provided new financial resources, radio communications with the government in exile in London and - together with Colonel Vilém Stanovský - supervised the emigration of soldiers to western countries. After Colonel Čeněk Kudláček emigrated, he took over his position as chief of staff of the Obrana národa. When the first arrests were made in late 1939 and early 1940, Vedral and his family fled to France via Budapest and Belgrade in January 1940 , where he worked in the military administration of the Czechoslovak National Committee in Paris. Here he adopted the code name Sázavský, which he used until his death. After the occupation of France, he went to London, where he worked in the government-in-exile in London in the Ministry of Defense . In August 1944 he was voluntarily transferred to the Czechoslovak units in the Soviet Union , where he was given command of the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Brigade in the USSR . At the same time he was promoted to Brigadier General , along with Bohumil Boček and Karel Klapálek , with whom he came to Moscow from London .

With the 1st Brigade, Vedral immediately went to the front and intervened in the fighting of the Eastern Carpathian operation in the area of ​​the Duklapass . On October 6, 1944, the pass was finally taken and the Czechoslovak army, which was decisively involved in the heavy fighting, reached the pre-war state border. On this occasion, General Vedral's staff car hit a land mine about 100 meters beyond the border , killing all of the inmates, including Vedral. This makes him the only general in the Czechoslovak army who died in direct combat.

Jaroslav Vedral was raised to the rank of divisional general in memoriam in 1945 .

Awards

(Selection, some in memoriam )

• Czechoslovak War Cross 1914–1918
• Czechoslovak War Cross 1939
• Czechoslovak Revolution Medal
• Czechoslovak victory medal
• Russian Order of Saint George

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• ES: VEDRAL Jaroslav , In: Vojenské osobnosti československého odboje 1939–1945 , Publication of the Historical Military Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic, AVIS, Prague 2005, p. 310, online (archived) at: vojenskaakademiehranice.ic.cz / ...
• Přehled popravených, umučených a padlých československých generálů , keyword brigádní generál Jaroslav VEDRAL , biography, online at: codyprint.cz / ...
• Ivo Pejčoch: Československý generál, který padl v bitvě na Dukle . Report of the Military Historical Institute (VHÚ), Prague, online at: vhu.cz / ...