A delegation of the Slovak MOD to the UK pays tribute to the Czechoslovak airmen and soldiers fallen in WW2

To mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (VE Day 80), Deputy Minister of Defence Martin Vojtašovič led a delegation of the Slovak Ministry of Defence (MOD) on a three-day official trip to the United Kingdom on 20-22 May 2025, to honour the Czechoslovak airmen and soldiers fallen in WW2. While visiting WW2 memorials in London, Runnymede and Brookwood, they paid tribute to the Slovak and Czech airmen and soldiers of the WW2 Czechoslovak military forces in the United Kingdom – usually referred to in Czechoslovak history as the 'WW2 Czechoslovak Foreign Resistance in Great Britain in 1939 - 1945' – these were the Czechoslovak forces organised, equipped and trained by the United Kingdom.

The SVK MOD delegation to the UK also comprised Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Defence Maj Gen (Ret'd) Miroslav Kocian, Director of the MOD Personnel and Social Affairs Dept Martin Rímeš, Director of the Institute of Military History Col Miloslav Čaplovič, and Chaplain-in-Chief of the Ecumenical and Pastoral Service in the Slovak Armed Forces and Armed Corps Col Viktor Sabo.

Speaking of the Czechoslovak forces operating in and outside of the UK during WW2, Col Miloslav Čaplovič said: “Ultimately, the aim of the trip was to remember the Slovaks and Czechs who fought in or outside of Great Britain – whether they were RAF pilots, airmen and ground personnel, paratroopers and resistance operatives, or soldiers of the Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade. Of some 2,512 Czechoslovak RAF airmen and women who underwent aviation training and fought in Britain, 250 were originally from Slovakia. Czechoslovak RAF and Army personnel served in British forces and engaged in operations in and outside of the UK, from the summer of 1940 and until the end of the Second World War.”

In London, the delegation members saw a number of WW2 memorials and historic sites associated with the heroics of Czechoslovakia's WW2 Resistance. They paid tribute to the British-trained Czechoslovak paratroopers at the Operation Anthropoid Memorial Plaque on the Porchester Gate building on Bayswater Road, which housed the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile (GIE) Military Intelligence Service. It was there that in October 1941 Czechoslovak paratroopers and resistance operatives – including Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš – were in the final phase of training and planning for Operation Anthropoid, which led to the assassination of the Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich in Prague on 27 May 1942.

While still in London, they made a special journey to St Clement Danes Church, the Central Church of the Royal Air Force (RAF), where they met the representatives of the local parish community and held a brief memorial service in tribute to the Czechoslovak forces who served and fought with the Allies in the West. The church holds the Books of Remembrance with the names of all those who have died in service in the Royal Air Force. Embedded in the church floor, there are over 1,000 slate badges of RAF commands, groups, stations, squadrons and other formations, including the Czechoslovak Squadrons RAF (68 Sqn, 310 Sqn, 311 Sqn, 312 Sqn and 313 Sqn).

Another site of remembrance at which they paused to remember the Czechoslovak RAF airmen was the RAF Bomber Command Memorial, which stands as a fitting tribute to over 55,000 Bomber Command crew who lost their lives in the Second World War. Among them were the Czechoslovak airmen of No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF who became significantly involved in hunting U-Boats in the Atlantic and conducting bomber raids over Nazi-occupied Europe. Elsewhere, at the Battle of Britain Monument, they honoured the memory of 88 Czechoslovak RAF pilots who joined the Battle of Britain air campaign against Nazi Germany from July to October 1940. It was a major defensive victory, averting the planned Nazi invasion of Britain – Operation Sea Lion.

After a tour of the Imperial War Museum (IWM), one of the finest military museums in the world, the official programme continued with a guided tour to the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede by Mr Tom Dolezal of the Free Czechoslovak Air Force Associates ltd (FCAFA ltd), the son of P/O Oldřich Doležal of 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF. The Memorial commemorates by name 20,263 members of the RAF who have no known graves – among them are 150 Czechoslovak RAF airmen, including 15 Slovaks. The SVK delegation paused to remember their actions, laid wreaths at the Memorial, and signed the visitors' book.

The delegation then paid a memorable visit to Brookwood Military Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) site in the UK, where there are the WW2 graves of men and women from across the Commonwealth as well as French, Czechoslovak, Italian, Belgian, Polish and American war graves. At the Czechoslovak National Memorial in ​​the Czechoslovak Section of the cemetery, the members of the delegation placed a red carnation and the Slovak and Czech national flags by each grave in tribute to the 49 Czechoslovak RAF airmen who are buried there. Deputy Minister of Defence Martin Vojtašovič laid a bouquet of flowers at the Memorial and delivered a VE Day 80 speech. The memorial service concluded with Chaplain-in-Chief Col Viktor Sabo's spiritual word and the singing of the Slovak National Anthem.

Recalling the stories of WW2 SVK RAF heroes like Ján Ambruš, Jozef Kaňa, Otto Smik and Karol Valach at the Czechoslovak National Memorial at Brookwood, Deputy Minister of Defence Martin Vojtašovič said: “In addition to Great Britain, our soldiers also fought in the Middle East, North Africa, France, the former Soviet Union, Poland and Czechoslovakia. At all those places they shed their blood for our freedom. Their graves are an eternal symbol that the very freedom we take for granted today was bought with the blood and suffering of those who fought for it, far from their beloved homeland and with the deep love they cherished for it in their hearts.”

Afterwards, the delegation honoured the memory of Maj Gen Ivan Otto Schwarz, air gunner of No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF and representative of the Czechoslovak community in exile in Britain, who lies at rest in the Post-WW2 Czechoslovak Section of the cemetery.

Mr Martin Vojtašovič added: “Our gratitude must not be merely symbolic. We must carry the legacy of our heroes in our minds even today, at a time when peace is once again being severely tested. It is the duty of all of us to protect the enduring values ​​for which our heroes died: freedom and democracy.” He went on to conclude: “I want to give thanks to the CWGC Brookwood for taking care of the WW2 Czechoslovak graves, the Memorial Association for Free Czechoslovak Veterans (MAFCSV) for the Post-WW2 Czechoslovak graves, and the Free Czechoslovak Air Force Associates ltd (FCAFA ltd) team for keeping the legacy of WW2 Czechoslovak heroes alive and their candle lights aglow as they help to preserve our historical memory.”

Our memorial services in the UK are an expression of Slovakia's deep gratitude to all those who contributed to the victory over Nazism and to the restoration of peace in Europe. Such commemorative events strengthen our historical memory and build awareness of the Slovak contribution to our collective struggle for freedom in the world.