October 2006: Czech WWII hero František Fajtl dies

Lieutenant General František Fajtl, a WWII hero who commanded an RAF squadron and later got hard labour in communist Czechoslovakia, died on October 4, 2006.

František Fajtl|Photo: Archive of Jiří Rajlich

František Fajtl was born on August 20, 1912 in Donín in the Louny district. He discovered his love for aviation as a boy while watching sightseeing flights. However, his path to the cockpit led him first to study at the Business Academy in Teplice and then at the Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1935 as an air force lieutenant.

After the Nazi occupation of the Czech lands in March 1939 he did not hesitate for a moment and left the country, travelling through Poland to France, where he fought in the ranks of the Armée de l’Air.

František Fajtl|Photo: Memory of Nations

After France’s surrender, Fajtl headed to the UK, where he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF). On April 28, 1942, he became commander of the 122nd British Squadron (“City of Bombay”), the first Czechoslovak ever to command British and Belgian pilots. Later, he also headed the 313th Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron.

In May 1942, during a raid over northern France, his aircraft was shot down. Fajtl managed to escape German encirclement and set off on foot on a dramatic journey across occupied Europe. He crossed the Pyrenees into Spain, where he ended up in a Francoist internment camp.

František Fajtl|Photo: Zbynekmduda, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Thanks to British diplomacy, however, he was able to return to active service. He later captured this harrowing experience in his most famous autobiographical book Sestřelen (Shot Down).

But Fajtl’s wartime journey did not end there. At the turn of 1943 and 1944, he went to the Eastern Front as part of Allied assistance, and as commander of the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Fighter Aviation Regiment (“Zvolen” Regiment) flew to assist the Slovak National Uprising. He also put his experience to use in the fighting for Ostrava.

After the war, Fajtl returned to his homeland a celebrated hero. However, the Communist Party seized power in 1948 and veterans from the Western Front became unwelcome.

František Fajtl|Photo: Memory of Nations

In January 1950, František Fajtl was arrested and imprisoned without trial for 17 months in a forced-labour camp in Mírov. After his release, he was forbidden from working at airports or on the railways and joined a construction firm. Despite facing persecution, he refused to go into exile because of his ill mother and young family.

The Order of the White Lion|Photo: Magdalena Hrozínková, Radio Prague International

Fajtl received partial rehabilitation and had his rank of colonel restored in 1964. However, full recognition and restitution were not granted until after the fall of communism in 1989. In May 1990, he was promoted to major general, and in 2002 to lieutenant general in retirement.

He was awarded the highest state and military honors, including the Order of the White Lion, the Order of Milan Rastislav Štefánik, the British Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and the Czechoslovak War Cross.

Decoration of Major General František Fajtl|Photo: Klára Stejskalová, Radio Prague International

František Fajtl passed on his story, as well as the memory of his fallen comrades, through 18 books and countless talks with students. His literary work also became one of the sources of inspiration for the film Dark Blue World.