Strana 8
Although the northern neighbour was now the
socialist state of East Germany from 1949, the
state border divided the mountain region. With
the rise of the Kremlin-controlled communist
government in Czechoslovakia and the onset of
the Cold War, efforts were made to erase the me-
mory of U.S. military involvement in the liberation
of parts of Czech territory. While memories of the
tragic air battle of September 11, 1944, were par-
tially preserved on the German side of the Ore
Mountains, few on the Czech side were aware of
it, and it was not encouraged to take an interest
in the American aerial combat with the Germans.
As a result, the children of the new residents
went to school in Kovářská with no knowledge of
the dramatic event that had taken place in the
autumn of 1944, right in their school building.
Revived History
Gradually, however, the events of the war be-
gan to resurface. Wreckage of planes remained
in the area, visible traces of damage lingered on
houses, and some residents shared memories or
passed along information. Aviation archaeology
slowly became possible during the final two de-
cades of the communist regime. A group of local
enthusiasts, including my current colleague Jan
Zdiarský, began investigating the details of the air
battle—who had participated, where the wrec-
kage of downed planes lay, and, often, where the
remains of airmen were located. In 1984, a boys‘
amateur search began, which led, more than
a decade later, to the opening of a museum dedi-
cated to the air battle. The year 1989 and the fall
of the communist dictatorship brought freedom
of travel and communication, making it possible
to connect with veterans from both sides of the
conflict. This allowed collaboration with rese-
arch groups in the Czech Republic, neighboring
Germany, and various memorials and archives,
which together uncovered the full and unexpec-
ted scale of the air battle, helping to piece to-
gether the larger historical picture.
On the 50th anniversary of the battle, Septem-
ber 11, 1994, a monument to the downed airmen
was unveiled in Kovářská. The local elementa-
ry school, already known for the fact that the
rear part of one of the downed B-17s had fallen
on it during the battle, was given the honorary
name „Sgt. J. C. Kluttz Elementary School,“ af-
ter the B-17 tail gunner, who survived the crash.
The memorial was unveiled by Czech aviation ve-
terans, including members of the British Royal Air
Force. Two of them, Gen. František Fajtl, DFC, and
Col. Alois Šiška, removed the white cloth from the
monument dedicated to their Allied comrades, as
well as their former Luftwaffe enemies, at the pre-
cise moment when the watch of one of the downed
airmen had stopped fifty years earlier.
The Museum of the Air Battle Over the Ore
Mountains was founded in 1996, following more
than twelve years of documentation and histo-
rical research by the Letecko historická skupina
Kovářská (Kovářská aviation historical group)
and the SLET Plzeň. The third founding entity was
the municipality of Kovářská, which provided the
premises, financial support, and continues to be
a key supporter of the museum‘s activities.
On the eve of the main day of the meeting, on Friday, 7 September, the new part of the exhibition, which the muse-
um had been preparing for several years, was officially opened.
Two couples from the group of American guests at this year’s meeting. Lodi and Tim Claypole on the left and Cher-
yl and Brad Hempy on the right. The display case behind Lodi Claypole belongs to the crew of Lt. Howard R. Schul-
te, in which her father, Sgt. Lester Swink, served as radio operator. Brad Hempy’s uncle, Lt. Harry M. Hempy, along
with his co-pilot Jack W. Janssen, brought their B-17 back to base from that battle with only two working engines.
This B-17 is the subject of the display case that Brad Hempy is currently standing at. Both cases were previously
represented in the display, but were given more space in the newly opened section where they were moved.
Gunner Butler, a member of the current U.S. Air Force,
stands near the wreckage of the tail of B-17G 42-97834
in which his great-grandfather, S/Sgt. William E. Kenney,
the rear gunner of the crew of Lt. Everitt, was seriously
wounded.
INFO Eduard8
October 2024