Strana 52
EP110, F/Lt Otmar Kučera, No. 313 Squadron, RAF Hawkinge, Kent,
United Kingdom, August-September 1943
BM210, S/Ldr František Fajtl, CO of No. 122 Squadron, RAF Hornchurch, Devon,
United Kingdom, May 1942
The Spitfire LF Mk.Vb EP110 flown by B Flight
Commander of No. 313 Squadron RAF, Otmar
Kučera, DFC, had the code RY
-
R and here is
portrayed its appearance during Operation
Starkey on September 9, 1943. During this
operation, black and white invasion stripes
were used for the first time to distinguish own
and foreign aircraft. They were also painted on
aircraft that were to take part in low-altitude
operations that day. But the stripes looked
different from the well-known “invasion” ones of
the later Normandy landings. No. 313 Squadron
moved to Hawkinge Airfield, which was under the
command of No. 11 Group, Fighter Air Command,
in mid-August 1943 after a recuperation stay
and patrolling in the north over the Orkneys.
The squadron thus became involved in operational
flights of the deceptive Operation Starkey as part
of the Hawkinge Wing. During these operations,
the unit also scored one air combat victory
thanks to its commander S/Ldr. Jaroslav Himr.
František Fajtl was born on August 20, 1912, in
Donín, Louny district. He graduated from the
Military Academy in Hranice and graduated in
1935 as an air force lieutenant. In June 1939 he
fled to France via Poland, where he joined Armée
de l’Air as a sergeant. He fought in the Bloch
MB.152 and Morane-Saulnier MS.406 and when
France fell, he retreated to North Africa and
from there made his way to England via Gibraltar.
In the ranks of No. 1 and No. 17 Squadron he
took part in the Battle of Britain. In 1941 he
became commander of No. 313 Squadron, and
a year later he became the first Czechoslovak to
take command of an English squadron, namely
No. 122 (City of Bombay) Squadron. Already on
May 5, 1942, he was shot down over France and
made an emergency landing in the occupied
territory. In dramatic circumstances, he made it
across France and the Pyrenees to Spain, where
he was captured and imprisoned in the Miranda
concentration camp. On his release he returned
to England, was promoted to the rank of Wing
Commander and, at his own request, returned to
combat as CO of No. 313 Squadron. In January 1944
he was appointed commander of a group of pilots
who went to the Soviet Union. After retraining
as a La-5FN, he led the 1st Czechoslovak
Independent Fighter Regiment in the USSR.
Like other pilots fighting on the Western Front,
he was discharged from the army after the
war and imprisoned. Afterwards he worked
as a labourer and as a clerk. He was not fully
rehabilitated until after the fall of communism.
He died at the age of 94. In all, he shot down
four enemy planes during his wartime career,
certainly, and damaged two.
KITS 10/2024
INFO Eduard52
October 2024