Fajtl, František.

Fajtl, František, born 20-08-1912 in Donín in northern Bohemia, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until after World War I, when it become Czechoslovakia in 1918, and now is a part of the Czech Republic. As a child, he was brought up in the spirit of patriotism and obedience. He was an active member of the Sokol organization. He studied in a commercial academy then joined the military, passing the exams to the Military Academy in Hranice na Moravě.

Following the town primary school, General Fajtl studied, in 1928-32, the secondary school of commerce at Teplice-Šanov, where he successfully completed his school-leaving exam on 24-6-1932. In 1933, he attended, and in 1935 graduated from, the Military Academy in Hranice  as a Pilot Officer. František became Lieutenant Pilot in the Czechoslovakian Air Force in 1935, flying observation biplanes, mostly Aero A.100 and Aero A.101 with No. 63 Squadron in the 2^nd Air Regiment “Edvard Beneš, based at Olomouc and Přerov in Moravia.

After the Occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, in common with many Czech and Slovak soldiers, he fled through Poland to France. Fajtl joined the Armée de l’Air (French Air Force)

  ranked Sergent á titre étranger (Foreign Sergeant) and fought in two Groupe de chasse (fighter wings) near Lyon and Paris, flying Bloch MB-152 and Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 aircraft. After the Fall of France he escaped to North Africa through Port-Vendres, and traveled to Great Britain via Gibraltar, where he joined the Royal Air Force. see Hermann Goering (did you know). As a RAF Pilot Officer he took part in the Battle of Britain. František was a member of No. 1 Squadron under command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Henry Robert Brooke-Popham , at RAF Northolt and then No. XVII Squadron, flying Hawker Hurricanes. He transferred to No. 313 Squadron, which was formed at RAF Catterick in May 1941 from Czechoslovakian pilots flying Spitfires. The squadron moved to Cornwall to escort bombers attacking north-west France, and later moved to RAF Hornchurch  in December 1941, to conduct ground attack operations in the Pas de Calais. Despite some apprehension at foreign pilots flying in the RAF, his leadership was recognised, and he was promoted to Squadron Leader to command No. 122 Squadron in 1942.

After Brooke-Popham relinquished his role as President of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes Council, he lived in retirement. Brooke-Popham died in the hospital at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire on 20-10-1953, age 75,. His funeral took place at St. Edburg’s Church in Bicester and he was buried privately in Somerset.

On 05-05-1942 František’s Spitfire was shot down over northern France while escorting bombers attacking Lille, and crash-landed near Hazebrouck, within the heavily defended Atlantic Wall. He evaded capture and made his way through the occupied and “free” Vichy France, over the Pyrenees to Spain where he was captured and imprisoned in a concentration camp at Miranda de Ebro. As a result of British diplomatic intervention Fajtl was released after few weeks and returned to his squadron in England via Gibraltar.  After this episode he become a Liaison Officer. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in November 1942, and promoted to Wing Commander. František commanded the fighter station at RAF Skeabrae in the Orkney Islands, but dropped a rank to return to command No. 313 Squadron , flying Spitfires from RAF Ibsley.

In January 1944, František Fajtl was assigned to command a group of 20 Czechoslovak pilots, forming the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Fighter Air Regiment, in the Soviet Union as result of negotiations between the London-based Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile and the Military Mission in the Soviet Union. The Air Regiment was part of the 1st Czechoslovak Army corps, but was under the command of the Soviet Air Force . The Government-in-Exile’s intentions were to support the rebellion in occupied Czechoslovakia, which become later known as the Slovak National Uprising launched on 29-08-1944 in Banská Bystrica.

On 17-09-1944 Fajtl landed with the Regiment on Zolná airport near Zvolen from where, and also Tri Duby airport, they supported the rebellion with Lavochkin La-5 FN fighters. The Air Group was a significant power, mostly due to their surprise effect. The Germans did not realize the presence of a fighter group based within the region. When the Slovak National Uprising was suppressed in October 1944, the air regiment returned to a Soviet controlled airbase in Poland. His last military assignment was during the Ostrava Operation in 1945.

Shortly after World War II, František Fajtl was awarded many orders and medals and served as a Lieutenant Colonel in Czechoslovak Army.

Fajtl was treated as a hero on his return to Prague in 1945,  but was dismissed from the Czechoslovak Air Force  after the Communists seizure of political power in February, 1948. He was arrested by the Stalinist government in 1950, because of his connections to Britain. He spent 17 months in a labour camp at Mírov. For many years, he was forced to live outside Prague and was subject to many other restrictions. He was partially rehabilitated in 1968 during the Prague Spring, but was only restored to his rank after the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

František Fajtl became a chairman of the Czech Airmen Association and was promoted to Lieutenant General, the second highest rank in the Czech Army. On 28-09-2004, he was awarded the highest order of the Czech Republic – the Order of the White Lion. Fajtl was married with Hana Fajtlová  here in the Royal Air Force memorial park in Vokovice, Prague 6, during the unveiling ceremony in 2017.

Death and burial ground of Fajtl, František.

        František Fajtl died on 04-09-2006 in Prague, survived by his wife Hana and two daughters. He is buried on the cemetery Jana Želivského street, Prague, near the graves of Soviet soldiers and Radek Hroch kindly sent me the grave photo’s..

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