About Czechoslovak pilots during WWII
On 15 March 1939 Germany occupied Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), the Luftwaffe confiscated all Czechoslovak Air Force aircraft. Emigration was strictly controlled and former air force personnel were not allowed to leave the country Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (
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After France capitulated to Germany on 22 June 1940, many Czechoslovak airmen escaped to the United Kingdom. The RAF quickly created new squadrons formed of Czechoslovak pilots. The first fighter unit was No. 310 Squadron RAF (
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Many of the Czechoslovak pilots died during WWII. Their memorials are located in many places in Western Europe, but also in Czech Republic. The monuments have different shapes and sizes. One of the typical forms is the memorial plaque located on the houses where the pilot was born or where they lived for some time.
Plaque Inscription:
ZDE V TOMTO DOME SE NARODIL
VÁCLAV OBŠIL
KTERÝ JAKO PPOR.CS.LETECTVA
V ZAHRANICÍ, POLOŽIL SVUJ MLADÝ
ŽIVOT ZA VLAST DNE 13/10.1942.
VE SCROPTON-DERBYSHIRE
ANGLIE.
SVAZ BRANNOSTI
The memorial plaque is located on the wall of childhood home of Václav Obšil.
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Odveden 21.8.1939, Polsko; Krakov a Strední Východ;ceská, osobní císlo Z-10.500.674. Jednotka pri úmrtí RAF, 27th Operational Training Unit, podporucík, osobní císlo RAF/788138, radioperátor, palubní strelec. Zahynul ve Watery Lane, Scropton, 500 m jižne od letište Church Broughton. Osádka stroje, jejímž byl clenem, pravdepodobne nezachytila zprávu o náhlém zhoršení pocasí a snažila se pristát i za zhoršených povetrnostních podmínek. Letoun typu Vickers Wellington Mk.IC výrobního císla Z8854 (KX-V) havaroval a šesticlenná osádka zahynula. Pohrben16.10.1942 na hrbitove ve Scroptonu, Derbyshire, hrob c. 104.