S/Ldr FAJTL Frantisek

Fajtl F.

Official No.: 82 544 Date and place of birth: 20th August 1912, Donin Date and place of death: 4th October 2006, Praha

War Service

Unit	Since	To	Rank
1	10.09.1940	25.09.1940	P/O
17	25.09.1940	24.01.19410	P/O
17	01.04.1941	27.05.1941	P/O, F/O
313	27.05.1941	27.04.1942	F/O, F/Lt
122	27.04.1942	05.05.1942	S/Ldr
No. 10 Group	02.10.1942	15.05.1943	S/Ldr
HQFC	15.05.1943	25.09.1943	S/Ldr, W/Cdr
313	25.09.1943	01.02.1944	S/Ldr
1.CSSLP	01.02.1944	14.05.1945	skpt., mjr.

After retraining On Hurricane at No. 6 O.T.U. at Sutton Bridge, on 10th September 1940 he started operational duty at No. 1 Squadron at Wittering. There he stayed short time and on 25th September he was transfered to No. 17 Squadron to Debden. On 2nd October he took part in shot down of enemy Dornier Do 17Z. After the fight his Hurricane I P3788 (YB-X) run out of fuel and he landed on field with undercarriage down. At No. 17 Squadron he stayed till end of May 1941 except rest from 24th January to 1st April 1941. On 27th May 1941 he moved to newly created No. 313 Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron and on 15th December he became the leader of flight "A" of this unit. On 27th April 1942 he took command over No. 122 Squadron "BOMBAY" as the first Czechoslovak who command British Squadron. During escort of bombers to Lille on 5th May 1942 he was at 15.40 shot down by Fw 190 from I/JG26 and he made crash landing with his Spitfire VB BM210 (MT-F) near Hazebrouck. He avoided captivity and after distressful journey across France he crossed Pirineos to Spain. From Spain he returned to England on 21th August 1942 on the board of transport Hudson. On 30th August he came to Torquay for convalescence with his good friend W/Cdr Karel Mrazek. In Septemeber 1942 he was shortly directed to No. 11 Group and on 2nd October 1942 he was appointed to the function of Liaison Officer at No. 10 Group at Rudloe Manor. On 28th November 1942 he was decorated by Distinguished Flying Cross (D.F.C.) at Church Fenton. In June 1943 he was promoted to the rank of W/Cdr and he moved to Church Stanton where he served as Station Commander together with W/Cdr George Blackwood. In the same function he served from 28th June at Skeabre and from 22th September at Ibsley. On 25th September 1943 he returned to operational duty and in reduced rank of S/Ldr he became the leader of No. 313 Squadron. In this function he stayed till the end of January 1944 when he left RAF VR and sailed to the Soviet Union as the leader of the group of 21 Czechoslovaks who were the foundation of first Czechoslovak air unit in the Soviet Union. There he from 15th June 1944 served as the leader of 1. CSSLP (1st Czechoslovak Fighter Air Regiment ). This unit operated with Soviet fighters Lavockin La-5FN and later La-7. After reorganization of Czechoslovak air units in the Soviet Union he became on 5th January 1945 the leader of No. 1 Czechoslovak Fighter Regiment named "Zvolensky". In spring 1949 he was fired out from Czechoslovak Air Force and degraded to private. Next year he was arested for 17 months at working camp at Mirov. After discharge he worked as workman and later as clerk. As a pensioner he wrote many books about his war service. He died on 4. 10. 2006 in Praha in the rank of generalmajor as the last Czechoslovak fighter pilot who took part in the Battle of Britain.