František Fajtl

František Fajtl
Born	(1912-08-20)20 August 1912 Donín, Austria-Hungary
Died	4 October 2006(2006-10-04) (aged 94) Prague, Czech Republic
Allegiance	Czech Republic
Service/branch	Czechoslovak Air Force Armée de l'Air  Royal Air Force Soviet Air Force
Years of service	1935–1948
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	1st Czechoslovak Independent Fighter Air Regiment
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of France Battle of Britain Slovak National Uprising
Awards	Order of The White Lion 3rd class military (Řád bílého lva, vojenská skupina, III. třída Czech Republic) Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Grand-Croix of the French Légion d'Honneur (France) Order of The White Lion "For Victory" (Řád bílého lva "Za vítězství", Czechoslovakia) Czechoslovak Military Cross (Československý válečný kříž, Czechoslovakia) – 4x Order of The Slovak National Uprising, 1st class (Řád Slovenského národního povstání 1. třídy, Czechoslovakia) Order of M.R.Štefánik (Czech and Slovak Federative Republic)
Other work	Author

World War II

Lieutenant General František Fajtl (20 August 1912 – 4 October 2006) was a Czech fighter pilot of World War II. He was a British Royal Air Force (RAF) squadron and wing commander and led a group of Czechoslovak fighter pilots who formed an air regiment under Soviet Air Force command, supporting the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. He was dismissed from the Czechoslovakian Air Force and was held in prison for a year and a half without a trial after the Communists came to power in 1948, and was only fully rehabilitated after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. He wrote many autobiographical books about his wartime experiences, and was an inspiration for the 2001 film Tmavomodrý svět (Dark Blue World).

František Fajtl was born in Donín in northern Bohemia, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until after World War I, when it become Czechoslovakia in 1918, and now is a part of the Czech Republic. In 1933, he attended, and in 1935 graduated from, the Military Academy in Hranice as a Pilot Officer. He became Lieutenant Pilot in the Czechoslovakian Air Force in 1935, flying observation biplanes, mostly Aero A.100 and Aero A.101 with No. 63 Squadron in the 2nd Air Regiment "Edvard Beneš", based at Olomouc and Přerov in Moravia.

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