311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron
Code Letters:KX, PP
Date and place of establishment: 29th July 1940/29
Date of Disband: 15th February 1946/15. 2. 1946
After completion of operational services the 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron provided transportation from the UK to Czechoslovakia. During this time, it flew from the bases in Manston, Pershore and Blackbush.
Squadron Commanders of 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron
W/Cdr Karel TOMAN − MAREŠ, DFC, W/Cdr John GRIFFITHS, DFC (British/britský spoluvelitel), W/Cdr William S. P. SIMMONDS (British/britský spoluvelitel), W/Cdr Josef SCHEJBAL, W/Cdr Josef OCELKA, DFC, W/Cdr Josef ŠNAJDR, DFC, W/Cdr Jindrich BREICETL, DFC, W/Cdr Vladimír NEDVED, MBE, DFC, W/Cdr Josef ŠEJBL, DFC,
W/Cdr Jan KOSTOHRYZ, DSO
311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron used Wellington and Liberator planes.
Its first sortie took place on 10th September 1940, and the target was the marshalling yard in Brussels.
Squdron was posted from Bomber Command to Coastal Command beause high losses and no backups in year 1942.
During service crews of 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron carried out 3,140 sorties lasting nearly 27,000 operational hours, while a total of 246 flying personnel were killed or went missing. During its existence the air gunners shot down eight planes with certainty, seven probably, and damaged fifteen. Its crews sank two submarines with certainty, three with high probability and four were damaged enough that they likely sank.
The most frequent target of the 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron under the Bomber Command were Bremen and Cologne, which this squadron attacked seventeen times.
The squadron’s greatest success was the sinking of the blockade runner Alsterufer, which transported over 300 tons of rare tungsten from Japan to Germany. Airmen of this squadron successfully attacked the blockade runner Himalaya and damaged it and the cruiser Prinz Eugen which was probably hit.
The squadron member with the most flight hours in the Bomber Command was pilot W/Cdr Josef Ocelka, DFC, who flew forty-four operational flights totalling a time of 224.5 hours.
The squadron member with the most flight hours in the Coastal Command was wireless operator F/Lt Miroslav Vild, DFC, who flew 102 operational missions in the Coastal Command, with a total time of 1,178 hours and 32 minutes (and additionally, four operational flights totalling 18 hours and 32 minutes in the Bomber Command).
The personnel of the 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron was then assigned to the air transport Regiment and the 6th Air Division, which consisted of Aviation Regiment 24, redeployed to the Plzen – Bory airbase, and as of 3rd March 1948 bearing the honorable name “Biskajský” and Aviation Regiment 25, relocated to the airbase in Havlíckuv Brod, and as of 3rd March 1948 bearing the honorable name “Atlantic”.
The 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron also participated in the Fuller operation – an effort to prevent the escape of the German flotilla through the La Manche channel, Millenium (attacks by approximately 1,000 planes on a single target), Overlord (operation Cork) – protection of the La Manche channel against German submarines and it also attacked targets in Italy.
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| Aerial view of the first base of the 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron in Honington. Archive of Pavel Simet |
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| Record in the diary of the 311 (Czechoslovak) Bomber Squadron. Copy of a letter from navigator Emil BUŠINA from a prison camp. He became a prisoner of war after his plane accidentally landed at an occupied airport during his return from a raid on Boulogne. The radio operator in this crew was Arnošt VALENTA, the only Czechoslovak airman who did not return from captivity – he was murdered by the Gestapo. His profile is displayed in another section of this exhibition. I assume that the Ernst, for whom he is requesting clothing, is that Arnošt VALENTA. Frank could be František CIGOŠ, the pilot of BUŠINA’s aircraft. Archive of Petra Tonder. |
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Curated by Filip Procházka living history group 276th Sqdn. (reenacted) RAF