Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion

Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion – East
Active	World War II
Country	Czechoslovakia
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Engagements	Syria–Lebanon Campaign, Siege of Tobruk
Commanders
Colonel of the Regiment	Lt-Col Karel Klapálek, DSO
Notable commanders	Lt-Col Karel Klapálek, DSO

The Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion – East (Czech: 11. československý pěší prapor — Východní) was a Czechoslovak infantry battalion in the Second World War. It served under the British Middle East Command in the Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre.

Several thousand Czechoslovak soldiers served in the Battle of France. 206 Czechoslovak Army volunteers were in Beirut, Lebanon, waiting to be posted to join the Czechoslovak 1st Infantry Division in France when France capitulated to Nazi Germany. Vichy France could have interned the men and surrendered them to the German military authorities, had not the Czechoslovak Consul-General in Jerusalem secured visas for them to move to Mandatory Palestine.

The Czechoslovaks were housed in a camp at Al-Sumayriyya north of Acre. Further arrivals increased the group to 280 and it was formed into the 4th Infantry Regiment as part of the Czechoslovak 1st Infantry Division. The regiment was then transferred south to a camp at Gedera near Tel Aviv to be armed and trained. On 1 October 1940 at Gedera the regiment was reconstituted as the 11th Infantry Battalion. Lt-Col Karel Klapálek was appointed commanding officer.

In December 1940 the battalion received acclimatization training and then was posted to Egypt, where it was assigned guard duty at camps first at Sidi Bishr and then at Agami. On 30 May it was put under the command of the British 23rd Infantry Brigade and posted to Sidi Haneish near Mersa Matruh.

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