Czech town calls for recognition of WWII parachutists

Council leaders from the south-east Moravian town of Bystřice pod Hostýnem have called on Czech president Miloš Zeman to give recognition to a group of WWII Czech parachutists on the 70th anniversary of their mission. The three, Antonín Bartoš, Čestmír Šikola and Jiří Štokman, returned to their occupied homeland near Bystřice in the Spring of 1944 to help create an intelligence network. The three survived until Soviet forces reached the region towards the end of the war. The parachutists, none of whom is still living, were later given the freedom of Bystřice in honour of their action but have not been awarded with any national recognition.