Josef František

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Josef František

Sergeant Josef František (born October 7, 1914 in Otaslavice, † October 8, 1940 ) was a Czechoslovakian pilot and an ace during the Second World War . He served in the Air Forces of Czechoslovakia , Poland , France and the United Kingdom . During the Battle of Britain he was the Royal Air Force's most successful foreign fighter pilot . Only three British pilots were more successful than him.

František joined the Czechoslovak Air Force in 1936. In 1938 he became a fighter pilot on an Avia B.534 of the 40th Fighter Squadron in Prague. After the defeat of Czechoslovakia , like many other soldiers, he emigrated to Poland to join the Polish Air Force . There he became a flight instructor at the Officers' College of the Polish Air Force in Dęblin .

During the German attack on Poland he was assigned to a reconnaissance squadron. Here he flew a RWD -8. Since the machine was unarmed, he bombed German troops with hand grenades. On September 20, it was shot down over Złoczów , but was rescued by Polish pilots who landed under enemy fire. On September 22nd, his unit received the order to withdraw to Romania.

He finally got to France via North Africa, where he joined the Armée de l'air and destroyed 11 enemy machines. For this he was awarded the Croix de guerre .

After the defeat of France, František was evacuated to England and assigned to Dywizjon 303 (No. 303 Polish Squadron), which was stationed in Northolt . He repeatedly refused to be transferred to a Czechoslovak unit. In Dywizjon 303, František flew a Hawker Hurricane fighter plane . His first confirmed kill in the Royal Air Force was a Messerschmitt Bf 109 on September 2, 1940. As before in Poland, František repeatedly violated military discipline at the RAF . So he kept breaking out of the formation to fly alone to the Channel coast . There he ambushed German planes that were on their return flight to France. Because František was very successful with his method, his superiors finally declared him a guest of the relay so that he would no longer have to be disciplined. It fell on October 8th when it crashed for some unknown reason. Some of his comrades speculated about suicide . In total, František shot down at least 17 enemy planes in just five weeks. František has been awarded a number of medals, including the Virtuti Militari and the Distinguished Flying Medal with clasp. His grave is in Northwood Cemetery , where around 50 Polish pilots were buried.

swell

  • Battle of Britain: Remembering the Czech aces among 'The Few' - 20-09-2005 - Radio Prague
  • Lynne Olson / Stanley Cloud: For your Freedom and Ours. The Kosciuszko Squadron - Forgotten Heroes of World War II , Arrow Books, London 2004, ISBN 978-0-09-942812-1 , pp.
  • RAF Top Scorers in the Battle
  • Jiří Rajlich: Josef František in: Lotnictwo Wojskowe nr 2/1999 (in Polish)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lynne Olson / Stanley Cloud: For your Freedom and Ours. The Kosciuszko Squadron - Forgotten Heroes of World War II , Arrow Books, London 2004, ISBN 978-0-09-942812-1 , p. 157
  2. ^ Lynne Olson / Stanley Cloud: For your Freedom and Ours. The Kosciuszko Squadron - Forgotten Heroes of World War II , Arrow Books, London 2004, ISBN 978-0-09-942812-1 , p. 158
  3. ^ Lynne Olson / Stanley Cloud: For your Freedom and Ours. The Kosciuszko Squadron - Forgotten Heroes of World War II , Arrow Books, London 2004, ISBN 978-0-09-942812-1 , p. 427 f
personal data
SURNAME František, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak pilot
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Otaslavice
DATE OF DEATH October 8, 1940